Last Summer – CD

No I ain’t the guy who got good grades in English
And I ain’t the guy who understands metaphors
I get my dose of poetry on each birthday
From the lousy cards sold in grocery stores

I ain’t the guy to buy you roses and chocolates
Just because I know that you deserve so much more
Wish that I could tell you just how much I love you
In some new way that has never been sung before

But I wanna be with you, I do, I do, you’re my dream come true baby
I wanna be with you, I do I do, I wanna be with you

No I ain’t the guy who writes original love songs
I seem to stick to the same old same chords
And the only words that come to mind have already been sung
A hundred million times or possibly more

But I wanna be with you, I do, I do, and I’ll be true darlin’
I wanna be with you, I do I do, wanna be with you

This don’t mean a love like yours is not unique in all the world

But I ain’t the guy whose song could ever live up to
Or be as magical as you seem to be
But I am that guy who wants to tell you forever
Though it’s been said before it’s brand new to me

Yeah I wanna be with you, I do, I do, and I’ll be true darlin’
I wanna be with you, I do I do, I wanna be with you
I wanna be with you, I do, I do you’re my dream come true baby
I wanna be with you, I do I do, I wanna be with you

Thought we shouldn’t hold on too tight
Did we think we’d push love away
Holding back has a heavy price
We’re paying for today

Planning how to avoid the crowds
We beat the traffic but left too soon
Solitude that’s imposed for now
Has left us all marooned.

We couldn’t believe the day would
Come when ordinary things
Would suddenly seem like treasures
Reserved for kings

WILL WE GET BACK TO
A WORLD WHERE WE HOLD EACH OTHER
WILL WE RETURN TO A TIME WE WERE
ALL TOGETHER
Will We REMEMBER, LAST SUMMER

The boys of summer are ready to go
Stadiums packed with screaming fans
County fairs and rodeos
And rockin’ country bands

We couldn’t believe the day would
Come when ordinary things
Would suddenly seem like treasures
Reserved for kings

WILL WE GET BACK TO
A WORLD WHERE WE HOLD EACH OTHER
WILL WE RETURN TO A TIME WE WERE ALL TOGETHER
WILL WE GET BACK TO
A WORLD WHERE WE HOLD EACH OTHER
WILL WE RETURN TO A TIME WE WERE ALL TOGETHER
WILL WE REMEMBER, LAST SUMMER, LAST SUMMER

Was it always me, or could it have been you
Who’s that voice inside my head insisting that it’s true
Maybe it’s not time to dare to break the mold
Stay inside where it’s warm and hide cause dreams are oversold

Though I try to raise objections they are never heard
My own voice is just too weak, and I can’t find the words to help me

WHY CAN’T I READ THE WRITING ON THE WALL
HAVE I BEEN PRETENDING THERE IS NOTHING THERE AT ALL
WHY CAN’T I SEE THAT WHAT’S AHEAD FOR ME
WHEN EVERY STEP I TAKE JUST TAKES ME DOWN
And I CAN’T TURN AROUND

When I dare to think, today will be the day
I will rise to make a change, the voice says there’s no way
And some where in my mind, I only see the flaws
Every time I have failed before keeps haunting me because
I’ve not won the race too often Don’t know what to do
Maybe I could move ahead if my heart only knew, so tell me

WHY CAN’T I READ THE WRITING ON THE WALL
HAVE I BEEN PRETENDING THERE IS NOTHING THERE AT ALL
WHY CAN’T I SEE THAT WHAT’S AHEAD FOR ME
WHEN EVERY STEP I TAKE JUST TAKES ME DOWN
And I CAN’T TURN AROUND

I am not the only one who’s heard this voice before
Time to tell that voice, just go to hell cause I’m not listening (any more)

I’M GONNA A READ THE WRITING ON THE WALL
SEEING WHAT’S IN FRONT OF ME AND ANSWERING THE CALL
I”LL LEARN TO SEE THE CHOICE IS UP TO ME,
I’LL BE DAMNED IF THAT VOICE TAKES ME DOWN
I’VE GOT TO TURN AROUND

A simple man, with a simple plan
He’ll do what’s best for the leader of the band
Lie after lie, oh it makes me wanna cry
But I won’t be broken

Song after song, all come out wrong
What’s right is right, that’s why I can’t sing along
I know my part, comes straight from the heart
And I won’t be broken

We’re free falling, listen, love is calling
Another day, and the pain won’t go away
But I won’t be broken

I’ve heard this sung, since I was young
I know the words, and where it all comes from
A sense of pride, is dying deep inside
But I won’t be broken

We’re free falling, listen, love is calling
So hear me now, make this solemn vow
I won’t be broken

Raise up your hand if you give a damn
Maybe it’s time, that we break up this band
Hold each other tight, ‘til we see the light
‘cos we won’t be broken

And when it’s time to take back what was yours and mine
This band will play once again in perfect time
Together will sing, let our freedom ring

We won’t be broken. We refuse to be broken

Produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by John Batdorf
Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Keys and Percussion by John Batdorf
Pete Kartsounes / Additional Background Vocals
Electric Guitars by Michael Dowdle
Released and Distributed by BATMAC MUSIC 2019

After we met and it set our destiny, after we took our vows
After the kids high jacked reality, we have hung on til now

After the fears we might fail mis’rably, after the storms have passed
After the counseling and the therapy, lessons were learned at last

Chorus 1

Maybe we’re spending way too much time in polishing up our family veneer
Maybe the question we should be asking is where do we go from here?

Back to the start when you gave your heart to me, everything I’d ever need
Back to the time when we called so anxiously, just to hear each other breathe

Chorus 2

Maybe we’re spending way too much time in managing how things ought to appear
Maybe the question we should be asking is where do we go from here?

Bridge

On the days we can’t remember why we ever fell in love
Was this what we were thinkin’ of
Hope that the children don’t end up in jail, hope I don’t lose my job
Hope that the rest of the family understands, why we’re laying down the law

Chorus 3 and 4

We have been spending way to much time pretending we’re needed to interfere
Hovering o’er everybody’s problems where do we go from here?

Let’s take a trip where nobody knows us sneak into a No-Tell Motel
Sleep in late and hold each other, lettin’ the world go to hell..

Tell you the truth it don’t matter much to me It can be far or near
Long as we are together I don’t really care

Where we go from here, where we go from here,

Baby wherever we go from here

If the wreckage that’s before us, has a chance to be repaired
It will take the ones who are patient and prepared
To restore what has been broken, with a vision for much more
Making it much better than before

Not enough to be reclaiming, it’s as good as it once was
The past might forget, but the future never does
Who knows what will spark the engine, that’ll drive us to our dreams
And beyond to destinies we’ve never seen

Don’t believe the voices saying, it’s beyond our reach

Don’t believe the fear no matter where it’s preached
And don’t believe there is no way we’ll make it there
Don’t despair, don’t despair
Hope is everywhere
Hope is everywhere

Well you might think that it’s crazy, to believe that hope’s alive
It’s taken every hit and yet it still survives
Not drowned by all the rivers not imprisoned by the cells
A story each new generation tells

Chorus

Bridge

Though it’s everywhere, hope cannot be bought or sold
Those who choose to give it up just get angry and get old
And you’ll never find it, by mocking what it means
Dismissing the joy, and killing the dreams

If the wreckage that’s before us, has a chance to be repaired
I’m believing hope will get us there

Chorus

I still believe that hope will get us there

Performed, Produced and Mixed by John Batdorf

I know what girls like, they seem to like me
I see them grinning, every time I’m singing
They think it’s sexy, when I sing high C
I’m pullin’ heartstrings, everywhere I go

I like to write songs, songs that are so deep
Some people ask me “did you write this for me ?”
They wonder if I, know what they’re thinkin’, but
How could I know that, I wrote it long ago

I’m on a mission, of my own volition
I’m really fishin’, for my moment in the sun
I’ll keep on dreamin’, If I’m still breathin’
I’ll keep believin’ ‘til my song hits #1

When I hit the big time, I won’t be changin’
I’ll be the same guy, won’t be saying goodbye
I’ve got some new friends, who say they love me
We’ll be together, singing in the sun… ..sing it! Ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh

I’ve been on a mission, of my own volition
I’m really fishin’, for my moment in the sun
I’ll keep on dreamin’, ‘til I stop breathin’
I’ll keep believin’ ‘til my song hits #1

If you’re still listening, I’ll sing another
I got this new one, sure to bring me stardom
I never gave up, and I still remember,
I had these same thought 50 years ago! Sing it! Ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh

Where did the time go? This party started 50 years ago

Produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by John Batdorf
Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Keys and Percussion by John Batdorf
Pete Kartsounes / Additional Background Vocals
Electric Guitars by Michael Dowdle
Released and Distributed by BATMAC MUSIC 2019

So I said I’d keep prayin’ , prayin’ for a cure for cancer
Prayin’ you will find the answers that you need
I’m prayin’ hard for you and for your family

Then I felt your heart saying God will do what God will do
But what I really need from you is more than prayers
The simple truth is I just need you here oh yes I need you there

So don’t wait another minute if somethin’ says just call
Don’t tip toe around it just listen to it all
I’d trade the time you’re prayin’ for more time that you won’t go
Let me know I’m not alone

So for now I am changin’ gputting faith in more than feeling
Walking more than simply kneeling being where, being where I’m needed when I’m needed there

And for now I’m not waiting I made myself a private vow
I’d find a way to help somehow though it may seem like the smallest thing like the smallest thing

I won’t wait another minute if there’s someone in need
Can’t help if I’m not in it so I’m getting’ off my knees
Prayin’ I’ll be strong enough to never let ‘em go
Let ‘em know they’re not alone let ‘em know

I believe, yes I believe that I can be more than I’ve been before
‘cos now I see, yes now I see a role for me revealing heaven’s love

So for now I am changing putting faith in more than feeling
Walking more than simply kneeling being where, being where I’m needed when I’m needed there
Oh when I’m needed there

So I won’t wait another minute if there’s someone in need
Can’t help if I’m not in it so I’m getting’ off my knees
Prayin’ I’ll be strong enough to never let ‘em go, let ‘em know

So don’t wait another minute if somethin’ says just call
So don’t tip toe around it just listen to it all
I’d trade the time you’re prayin’ for more time that you won’t go
Let me know I’m not alone

So for now, I’ll keep prayin’

I never saw this comin’, I should have never looked away, never looked away
One moment she’s beside me, the next she’s on her merry way, on her merry way
How could I ever be so blind, to think that she was mine,
Yeh she was really mine….So

You don’t have to know my name, you just have to play her part
Help me get through one more day, save me from this broken heart

These days I just keep running, far from where I left it all behind, yeh I got left behind
But I just keep remembrin’, I just can’t get her off my mind, get her off my mind
Why can’t I seem to let her go, ‘cos’ she’s not comin’ home
She’s never comin’ home…So

You don’t have to know my name, you just have to play her part
Help me get through one more day, and save me from this broken heart

But it’s always raining, and I feel every drop
Yes it’s always raining, but she’s not here and I can’t make it stop

You don’t have to know my name, you just have to play her part
Help me get through one more day, and save me from this broken heart
No you don’t have to know my name, you just have to play her part
Help me get through one more day, and save me from this broken heart
Yeh save me from this broken heart

Written, Performed, Recorded and Mixed By John Batdorf
Electric Guitars/Michael Dowdle
Mastered At Capitol Records By Ron McMaster

I see that we, may never be, all we could dream, we’re meant to be
You see the sun is shining and it’s alright
I read the storm is coming soon, you said, not ’til this afternoon so
Take off that raincoat, cause everything’s alright

Chorus

I know all the songs about the heartaches
Every single sad goodbye
All the doubts and the fears
The regrets and the tears and the reasons why
Are my lullabies
But you know every song that celebrates the
High that only love can bring
So on days I’m not sure that our love can endure,
It’s inspiring, just to hear you sing

I think that I am a realist, you say that I’m a pessimist
Then you laugh, and say the truth is I’m afraid of love
I see that you are hopelessly determined to keep on loving me
Believing that we are meant to be together somehow

Chorus

Bridge

You tell me, hey baby, I’m not gonna break your heart
You sing the sun in, then I begin, to find my way out of the dark

Chorus

I see that we may never be, all we could dream we’re meant to be
But you see the sun is shining and it’s alright

Back in the summer of 70, with my whole life in front of me
I took a ride to my destiny, never once looked back
2000 miles from my family, just a kid with a song to sing
But I was where was s’posed to be, I was never goin’ back

‘cos the music, was all that really mattered
It’s the one thing that helped me to get by
Those acoustics, that we all tried to master
Guitars that still keep ringing true today
Come on let’s play, good music never goes away

Oh the 70s were such fun, singing songs then I met someone
And I knew that she was the one, boy I got that right
Now to the winter of 75, tryin’ to keep my career alive
In my heart I knew we could not survive, time to say goodbye

Still that music, of the seventies still mattered
It’s the one thing that helped me to get by
Those acoustics, that we all tried to master
Guitars that still keep ringing true today
Come on let’s play, good music never goes away

Those records, those singers, those songs that
Made us shiver, still today, oh
The magic never ever goes away, when
Joni, and Jackson, and Steely Dan
Play on the radio it brightened up the day

Onto the summer of 76, I formed Silver and had a hit
But we were doomed like a sinking ship, but we all survived

That great music, and all the memories still matter
Such great people I have met along the way
My acoustics, that I’m still tryin’ to master
Guitars that still keep ringing true today
Come on let’s play, good music never goes away

5:30 she’s heading home, quarter to seven, she eats alone

There are no messages left, on her machine
Her calls come mainly in her dreams

She’s a lonely working women, ‘til she falls asleep
Then the ancient rhythms call her, stirring something deep

Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside her somewhere
Oh oh way oh, and she’s dancing to a different drummer

She wakes up, just before dawn
Once she’s made up, she’s up and gone

Starving for affection that her job will never feed
It just beats her spirit ‘til it bleeds

No one held a funeral for the part of her that’s died
Wonder if she will resurrect the Island Girl inside

Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside her somewhere
Oh oh way oh, and she’s dancing to a different drummer
Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside her somewhere
Oh oh way oh, and she’s dancing to a different drummer

Tuesday, at 2:15, there’s a meeting ‘cos her boss could use a hand
No one finds her anywhere, but beneath the desk they found a trail of sand

No one held a funeral for the part of her that died
Guess she resurrected someone buried deep inside

Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside her somewhere
Oh oh way oh, and she’s dancing to a different drummer
Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside her somewhere
Oh oh way oh, and she’s dancing to a different drummer

Oh oh way oh, there’s an Island Girl inside you somewhere
Is she dancing to a different drummer

Oh oh way oh, is an Island Girl inside her somewhere