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Episodes
An exploration of songs and songwriting via the music of Scott Simpson and Dancin' Moon Studio of Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Episodes
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
Sunday Apr 04, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Promise of Being Filled
All alone is not alone anymore
Once you make peace with yourself.
Darkness is not a loss of sight
Nor being emptied a loss of wealth.
These snowy hills will be emptied in the spring,
This cutting wind fallen still.
I will relinquish this white-knuckled hold...
Open up the promise of being filled.
Silence has a language no tongue could ever speak,
Holds a wisdom gentle to the ears.
All the chasing, all the grasping, all the noise
Only awaken all the fears.
These snowy hills will be emptied in the spring,
This cutting wind fallen still.
I will relinquish this white-knuckled hold...
Open up the promise of being filled.
(instrumental verse)
These snowy hills will be emptied in the spring,
This cutting wind fallen still.
As I relinquish this white-knuckled hold...
I open up the promise of being filled.
As I relinquish this white-knuckled hold...
I open up the promise of being filled.
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Southwind
Southwind and a pickup truck
On a gravel road and I think I'm in luck
Cause the sun's high in the western sky
And in an hour or two I'll be by your side.
I know these hills like the back of my hand
But they feel like a no-man's land
without you.
Ten days on a workin' trip,
Back's achin' and my jeans are ripped
I'm through.
Southwind and a pickup truck
On a gravel road and I think I'm in luck
Cause the sun's lower in the western sky
And in an hour I know I'll be by your side.
Long shadows stretch across my way
Been counting nights just to make it to this day
Deer standing on the far side
Bodies tense and their eyes wide
Just stay
Southwind and a pickup truck
On a gravel road and I think I'm in luck
Cause the sun's settin' in the western sky
And in a minute more I'll be by your side.
(Instrumental)
Down the canyon and my brights are on
Seems like the last two miles are a million
miles long
I know this road will call me out again
But I hear our dogs barkin' as I pull
This big truck in.
Southwind behind my pickup truck
On that gravel road and I count myself lucky
Cause the sun's gone from the western sky
Just you and me, and we're in for the night.
Yeah the sun's gone from the western sky
And this workin' man ain't nothin' but your
Stay-at-home guy.
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
On That Day
There came a day
We didn’t hug our mothers.
There came a day
We didn’t kiss our lovers.
And on that day
The sun rose like any other,
But we watched the numbers grow—
Those who didn’t recover.
There came a day,
There came a day.
There came a day
We couldn’t leave our houses.
There came a day
We looked at children and spouses
And wondered if they
Could be spared and counted
Among the saved.
There came a day,
There came a day.
And love still remains,
It’s in the stains
On the masks and gloves.
And love still proclaims,
All the names
Of those who risk dying for us.
And love makes a claim
On the heart
That cares enough
To love, and sing this refrain
To remind us
We need the human touch.
Love and sing this refrain
To remind us
We need the human touch.
Love and sing this refrain
To remind us
We need the human touch.
We need the human touch.
There will come a day
We will hug our mothers.
There will come a day
We will kiss our lovers.
And on that day
We’ll be sisters and brothers
And the sun will rise—
May we truly see each other.
On that day,
On that day.
May we truly see each other
On that day,
On that day.
See original LIVE version here
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
In the Pines
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
That's where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold wind blows
My hours and my days
Are filled with a haze
Rising up from the soil
Like a grave,
The dead and the dying
Are far past lying
And their voices come,
The living, to save‚
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
That's where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold wind blows
These hills and these hollows
Are a judge and a gallows
For no one but the guilty
Of heart,
So come bringing light
Be it daytime or night
Those who have gone before
Are ready to start.
(instrumental section)
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
That's where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
The time for justice grows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
As I shiver, and the cold wind blows.
Traditional, with new verses by Scott Simpson, Copyright 2020
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Full of Fear
Gotta leave here tomorrow
gotta leave here tomorrow
poison’s deep in my marrow
gotta leave here tomorrow
Oh, oh, oh the path is straight and clear
Oh, oh, oh, but my heart is full of fear
morning sun shows the way
morning sun shows the way
travel’s safer by day
morning sun shows the way
Oh, oh, oh the path is straight and clear
Oh, oh, oh, but my heart is full of fear
(instrumental section)
who will I be when I’m gone
who will I be when I’m gone
don’t know myself beyond this wrong
who will I be when I’m gone
Oh, oh, oh the path is straight and clear
Oh, oh, oh, but my heart is full of fear
Watch Original FAWM video performance recording of Full of Fear here!
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Making Our Escape
It's dark in here, it's dark in here
Most days I don't even hear, don't even hear
A thing, no not a thing, not a thing...
So many years, it's been so many years
Since he came to check on me, break open a box of tears...
Not sorrow, no not sorrow, just love‚ tears of love
Yeah, we used to fly above the bed
Him on his back me overhead
He put the words right in my mouth
So I'd say in a mighty shout
"We're off to save the whole wide world‚
Every boy and every girl!"
One time he even made me a cape
We were super heroes making our escape.
Is it dark out there? I wonder if it's dark out there too
He doesn't have his favorite bear... see, a guy needs his favorite bear
To fly... oh to Dream... to have a place to put his words, yeah yeah
I'm not alone, I suppose I'm not alone here in this box
Next to me his pocket knife, a rock he found, and a compass that doesn't point north any more...
Yeah, we're all just waiting, here together, like a time capsule he forgot to open up...
Yeah, we used to fly above the bed
Him on his back me overhead
He put the words right in my mouth
So I'd say in a mighty shout
"We're off to save the whole wide world‚
Every boy and every girl!"
One time he even made me a cape
We were super heroes making our escape.
Yeah, we used to fly above the bed
Him on his back me overhead
He put the words right in my mouth
So I'd say in a mighty shout
"We're off to save the whole wide world‚
Every boy and every girl!"
One time he even made me a cape
We were super heroes making our escape.
We were super heroes making our escape.
Did he ever make his escape?
I wonder, did he ever make his escape?
We're all making our escape.
We're super heroes making our escape...
We're all making our escape.
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Ragged Set of Claws
I am not the man
I used to be
I am not the boy
I was
Some days I have trouble
getting used to me
Some nights I fight
A ragged set of claws...
A ragged set of claws...
Brave adventures
Were my future
Back when I dreamed myself
A hero's cape and hood
But every time I leave
My bat cave these days
Some clever joker shows me why
I should stay cave-bound for good...
I should stay cave-bound for good...
My hours have grown narrow
Eat, sleep, do my job
My friends increase their distance
It's taken years to grow
This ragged set of claws...
This ragged set of claws...
(Instrumental)
Just starting out
Is always lovely...
It's when we write the stories
We believe.
Down the road
We meet the monsters
In the battle's when we see
We've been deceived:
The monster's me...
My hours have grown narrow
Eat, sleep, do my job
My friends increase their distance
It's taken years to grow
My hours have grown narrow
I eat, I sleep, I do my job
All my friends seem so distant
It took me years to grow
This ragged set of claws...
This ragged set of claws...
This ragged set of claws...
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Answer to Pane
I look out on an empty field
but I’m not so sure my fate is sealed
They are building, building all the time.
Strip mall, industrial park,
duplex—it’s like a Noah’s ark
replenishing the city, two of every kind
Well, some say the eyes are me to the soul
But I’m not sure they’re big enough holes
To welcome in near enough light.
When someone chooses to pull the shades
The vision dies, the story fades,
And who knew what would come with the
morning light?
The answer to pane, it seems
Is shutter out the world
But darkness only grows
Inside the blind.
When you find you’re in a jamb
Instead of glazing over, man
Just tap... I’ll open up, I don’t mind.
This morning I see some snowflakes fell
I imagine out there’s cold as hell
But we’re warm, rail against the stile.
You read your book, you do your work
I let the sun light up your smirk,
Can we brighten up that grin into a smile?
Let me brighten up that grin into a smile.
The answer to pane, it seems
Is shutter out the world
But darkness only grows
Inside the blind
When you find yourself in a jamb
Instead of glazing over, man,
Just tap... I’ll open up, I don’t mind.
The answer to pane, it seems
Is shutter out the world
But darkness only grows
Inside the blind
When you find you’re in a jamb
Instead of glazing over, man,
Just tap... I’ll open up, I don’t mind.
Just tap... I’ll open up, I don’t mind.
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
Sunday Feb 07, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
Life Begins in Mud
Something green, something new
Something raucous, something true
Something muddy beneath the big, wide blue
Something me, something you,
Something you, something you.
Something you.
Mindful of the butterflies
Monarchs in migratory skies
Something wise and ancient beneath the big, wide blue
Something me, something you,
Something you, something you
Something you.
Take these moments that we meet
Spring is waking hands and feet
Take these growing sprouts and buds
All of life begins...life begins in mud
Life begins in mud
Life begins in mud
Life begins in mud.
(whistling verse)
Something green, something new
Something raucous, something true
Something muddy beneath the big, wide blue
Something me, something you,
Life, life begins in mud
Something you, life begins in mud
Something you, life begins in mud
something you.
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Featured song from 2021's Keys to My Head LP
1987
Sky as blue as ocean
Summer clouds are sailing by
Black-eyed Susans on the shoulder
Sway and dance but they never cry
They never cry...
Setting out is all too easy
You think a map is all you need
But then the road is closed and the
Weather turns...
We will arrive just wait and see.
A log cabin near the Great Divide
Your hair loose in the breeze
Water falls into a lake hung high
There we were just 23...
Just 23...
Setting out is all too easy
You think a map is all you need
But then the road is closed and the
Weather turns...
We will arrive just wait and see.
Windows down, the buzzing desert
Your bare feet, your mirrored shades
Singing every track on Joshua Tree
We set our course with a serenade...
What a serenade...
Setting out It seems so easy
You think a map is all you need
But then the road is closed and the
Weather turns...
We have arrived—-Don’t you see?
We own this road, you and me...
Yeah, It goes on as far as I can see.