Composing – The Lisle Family

February 14, 2009

Valentine for Life

This is a song that I wrote for the love of my life for Valentines day. I attempted to play and sing it to her, which gave us both a good laugh. I eventually slogged my way through it, but I’ll need to record it so that she can hear what it sounds like start to finish.

Shelley I

love you and

I just got to

say.

You’re my

full moon on

dark nights, and

cool shade on hot

days.

Do you re

member our first

C/E

trip out to

G/D

LA?

I got on

one knee and I

C/E

asked you please to

say that you would

Chorus

be my wife (say that you’d)

be my wife, and my

Valentine for

Life

g c g

(trill hi c chord)

You are my

band-aid

when I get a

cut.

You’re so ad

venturous, you

pull me from my

rut.

Do you re

call the night that

C/E

you ran out of

G/D

gas?

We’d wanted to

wait but we knew

C/E

this chance couldn’t

pass

(so won’t you)

Chorus

Please be mine (say you will)

please be mine (say you will)

please be mine, Be my

lifetime

Valen

tine

g c g

(trill hi c chord)

Now that we’re

older, folks think

we should just slow

down.

But,

Shelley I

tell you, you still

make my head spin

round.

It may take

longer, but that

C/E

makes me want to

G/D

sing:

”More of a

good thing, is still

C/E

more of a

D/F#

good

thing!”

(key change to D)

(repeated in new key)

Shelley I

love you and

I just got to

say.

You’re my

full moon on

dark nights, and

cool shade on hot

days.

Do you re

member our first

D/F#

trip out to

A/E

LA?

I got on

one knee and

D/F#

you told me

that you’d

be my wife (you said you’d)

be my wife, and my

Valentine for

Life

(repeat)

a d a

ab d ab

g d g

(trill hi d chord)

October 30, 2008

Don't Check Your Faith at the Door

This is a song for use in the sending forth. It has sort of a Peter Gunn feel to it.

Verse?

Well you’ve heard sermons, and …

to help strengthen your convictions.

We’ve sung hymns and …

Now there’s only one thing more:

Don’t check your faith at the door.

Chorus

Take it out there with you.

Don’t leave it here inside.

You know the world needs to hear you.

So go out there, and …

June 18, 2008December 2, 2010

Should’ve Gone to Nineveh

1st piano take

Intro

(Play just a couple bars from Gilligan’s Island to hint at it, but not give it away?)
G F G F or Eb F G Eb F G
(then) G G/F C/E D/F# G G/F C/E D/F# G G/F C/E Ab/Eb C7 C7/C# D

Verse 1

God spoke to

G/F

Jonah and He

C/E

asked him to

D/F#

off to

G/F

Nine

C/E

veh for

D/F#

Him.

We’re not really

G/F

sure what made

C/E

Jonah

fuse

and

sail off on a

C7/Db

long, sea

cruise.

Sunning on the

G/F

lido deck,

C/E

munching

buf

D/F#

fet,

He was fleeing

G/F#

God, thought he’d

C/E

gotten

D/F#

way.

But

God rocked the

G/F#

boat, made the

C/E

seas get

rough

and said

Jonah

“E

G7/Db

nough is e

nough!”.

Chorus 1

The

sea he was

C/E

C/F

came a

raging

G/B

storm

G/D

He’d heard God

C/E

calling

C/F

but he

didn’t

con

G/B

form.

(Oh-

G/D

no)

We don’t know

C/E

why he

C/F

went the

other

G/B

way, but

G/D

I’ll

bet if you could

C7/Db

ask him he’d

say

“Should’ve gone to

Nineveh”.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh

G/F

C/E

Jonah,

C/Db

what were you

thinking?

(pause here, finger to cheek, head tilted, “Hmm”)

(If the song is running too long, this verse can be dropped)

Verse 2

Well the

crew wished to

G/F

live so Jonah

C/E

walked the

D/F#

plank

and

left him to

G/F

drown in that

C/E

big fish

D/F#

tank

but

God sent a

G/F

fish to gulp him

C/E

into his

D/F#

belly

How gross is

C7/Db

that? And

smelly?

Chorus 2

He was

caught at

C/E

sea in

C/F

wild

G/B

phoon

G/D

God had

C/E

spoken but

C/F

he said

”No” that

G/B

after

G/D

noon.

I don’t know

C/E

why he

C/F

acted

like a buf

G/B

foon but

G/D

I’ll

bet he’s singing

C7/Db

a brand new

tune:

(pause here: spoken “And it goes like this”)

“Should’ve gone to

Nineveh”.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh

G/F

C/E

Jonah,

C/Db

had you been

drinking?

(pause, someone tilt the imaginary bottle up to their lips?)

Verse 3

When

God talks to

G/F

us do we

C/E

always

D/F#

hear?

are we too

G/F

busy to

C/E

lend Him our

D/F#

ear? Will we

end up like

G/F

Jonah on a

C/E

boat that’s

D/F#

leaking,

wishing we had

C7/Db

heard God’s

speaking?

Chorus 3

When the

seas of

C/E

life

C/F

come a

raging

G/B

tempest

G/D

We ig

nore Gods

C/E

nudging

C/F

other things

G/B

tempt us.

G/D

We just want

C/E

to be

C/F

left

lone to have

G/B

fun, but

G/D

might just wish be

C7/Db

fore things are

done

(pause here: spoken “How’s it go?”)

“Should’ve gone to

Nineveh”.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh.

G/F

C/E

D/F#

Should’ve gone to

Nineveh

G/F

C/E

God, can you send

C/Db

me a fish,

too?

Next time I’ll go to

Nineveh.

June 8, 2008

Conversing With Goats

Verse 1

Beyond the fence that runs across my back yard

lies a pasture full of llamas and goats.

Sometimes I’ll lean on the fence after work just

relaxing, watching them chewing on oats.

Well one of those goats looks up and asks me

“Have you noticed the high price of gas?”

June 7, 2008

Looking for the Similar Tune for "I Saw You at the Funeral"

The tune/chords from I Saw You at the Funeral” has been haunting me, and worrying me that I might have taken some existing TV theme, so I searched on iTunes for TV Themes, and I think it is the theme from Hill Street Blues that I’m remembering. Luckily it is quite different, although has a very similar feel. So I’m going to stop worrying now.

I think I’m close to finishing the basic chords and melody, and just need to finalize the lyrics now.

May 24, 2008April 17, 2018

Across 2000 Years

This song woke me at about 3:00 am. It was like someone or something was calling me. I think it was God, but maybe I’m just crazy :-).

This song is like 3 songs put together. The opening intro is very soft and somewhat sad. Then the energy builds with what I’m calling a bridge. A strange thing is that I want to use an Eb in the melody, but I want the chord to be C major and not C minor. I wonder what this is called?

Then it shifts again into a very different rhythm and jazz feel in what I’m calling the Verse. This is fairly busy, compared to the previous 2 being somewhat sparse.

Somewhere later on, I’m not sure if this is an instrumental or what, all 3 become somewhat combined. The left hand plays the part from the chorus combined with the different rhythm right hand and chords from the verse. I’m amazed that it works.

Finally the closing goes back to the intro, very soft and gentle, ending on C major.

This is just a recording that I made to try to remember the ideas.
Across 2000 Years (initial ideas)

Across 2000 Years

Written by Ron Lisle

Intro

It was a gentle sound

calling out my name.

Like a gentle breeze

playing across my lawn.

I could almost hear it.

There, but then gone.

Lost in the steady din of a

life to busy to stop.

Chorus

Can you hear it? It’s calling.

Can you hear him? He’s

calling

Bb/D

out your

name.

Yes He’s calling you. A

Eb/C

cross two

Bb/C

thousand

Fmaj7

years. (straight into verse…)

Verse 1

Fmaj7

Can you hear that voice that …

Gm7

…

May 14, 2008

I Saw You at the Funeral

This song reminds me of Todd Rundgren. I hope I haven’t stolen any of his tunes or words.

This is another song that I woke up in the middle of the night hearing in my head. It was following a funeral that I attended. While at the funeral I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen for a long time. There had been rift in the church awhile back, and a bunch of dear friends left in what can only be described as a most bizarre set of circumstances. It was so good to see this friend, but it felt like the chasm was just too scary to approach. So I guess we both acted like nothing had happened.

This is a very rough, piano-only 1st take.
I Saw You at the Funeral

I saw you at the

G/C

Funer

al.

We smiled and

G/A

said

hel

C/A

lo.

Pretending things were

G/F

still the

C/F

same.

We were still

G/C

friends

…

I can

see that you were

C/A

hurt

G/A

C/A

me.

That was

never my

C/A

intent.

Maybe

some things just

C/A

can’t

G/A

C/A

fixed.

I wish

when (immediately back to…)Ã‚Â

I saw you at the

G/C

Funer

al.

We smiled and

G/C

said

hel

lo.

That things were

G/C

still the

same.

We were still

G/C

friends

May 10, 2008

Water

This is a rough, piano-only 1st take.
Water

The beginning is pretty much 2 bars from the beginning of the Beach Boys song “California”: “Water, water.”

[Then we shift gears into more modern jazzy chords. This is whereÃ‚Â
we’ll redo the lyrics each week to fit the sermon, etc]

Water

Written by Ron Lisle

(except the 2 bars from “California”)

”Jesus walked on it,

Abmaj7

Moses parted it.

Water,

water.

Abmaj7

Noah had quite enough of it, some might say too much 🙂

Water,

water.

…

Ã‚Â

May 7, 2008

I Don't Want To Sound Preachy

Piano-only rough recording.
preachy

I Don’t Want To Sound Preachy

Key:C

Tempo:85

Intro

Maybe Dm7 Em7 F6 Gmaj7

Verse 1

I don’t want to sound

preachy.

Don’t want to

C/A

tell you what to do.

Just want to sing God’s

praises

without sounding like I

F6/G

think I’m better than you. Ã‚Â ‘Cause

Chorus

Dm7

My life was a mess and I

Em7

didn’t know what to do.

Dm7

Jesus You found me and

Em7

You pulled me through.

Dm7

Now I just want to

Em7

sing my songs for

You.

Verse 2

I hope I don’t sound too

crazy

singing of

C/A

something we can’t see.

But I tell you its not

hidden

the changes

F6/G

you’re making in me.

Chorus

Ã‚Â

April 14, 2008June 8, 2010

Fish on the Ground

This is a rough, piano-only version. We’ll probably record it during church in July, 2008.
fish-on-the-ground-very-ro

Pastor Stella approached me about an idea for a song. She had heard a story by a Rabbi about a couple guys that followed Moses out of Egypt. They were so self-centered that they didn’t even see Moses perform any of the miracles. They were busy looking down, and only saw a bunch of fish laying on the ground. I was immediately taken with the idea, and wrote this within the next day.

This song is being written for the summer “water” theme,
and is currently scheduled for July 6th & 13th.

Partridge family feel with a boogey-woogey chorus. Mixolydian mode.

Fish on the Ground

Written by Ron Lisle

Intro

G C Gmaj7 C repeat as long as desired.

Verse 1

A rabbi

told a

story

about

two guys

long

ago.

They followed

Moses from

Egypt,

fleeing

from old

Pha

roah.

He chased them

to the

Red Sea.

Things looked

bad, and

that’s no

laugh.

But God had

other

plans. He

said “Now,

Moses

hold up your

staff.”

Chorus

(boogey-woogey style)

They didn’t notice the miracles, ’cause they were

too busy looking down.

They didn’t see Moses parting the sea, and walls of

water,

C/A

rising, on

G/B

both sides, all

around.

C/A

All they

G/B

saw was

mud and

G/D

fish on the

ground.

Verse 2

We all know the story, how Moses parted the sea.

They walked across to freedom leaving behind the enemy.

Pharoah’s army tried to follow, only to drown in misery.

When the road that they’d been on, turned back into sea.

Chorus

Bridge

Spoken. Loop on intro softly.

Ham it up! Maybe put on fake beards, Yamikas, those orthodix Jewish curly things, etc. Try to speak in a Yiddish accent, etc. Have fun with this, and feel free to ad lib.

Abe: “Hey Zeke”.

Zeke: “Yea, Abe.”

Abe: “Have you noticed how muddy everything is around here?”

Zeke: “You bet I did. I lost a sandal about a mile back in the muck.”

Abe: “And have you seen all the fish lying around?”

Zeke: “Yes, and they’re really grossing me out. The sun is starting to make them really stink.”

Abe: “Oh, you’ve noticed that too. (Turn away, whisper to congregation: I thought it was him)”

Zeke: “Abe, what do you suppose prompted Moses to pick this lousy road?”

Abe: “God only knows, Zeke, God only knows.”

Once done, bass line walk down from G to C to go into the chorus.

Chorus twice and out.