January/February 2024 Lyric Contest Winners

Congratulations to all our January/February 2024 Lyric Contest winners. Read the winning lyrics for first through fourth place, below.

CLICK HERE to enter the March/April Lyric contest.

1st Place – “Remind Me of Me”

By: Brenda Cay and Mitch Collins

Verse:

When I was five years old, they told me the truth

Now when I’m in a crowd, I can’t help but look for you

I keep on holding on to two things as I’ve grown

The people who love me and the mom I’ve never known

Chorus:

Is your hair blonde like mine; does it show off your dark brown eyes

And did I get your sense of humor cuz mine is kinda dry

Do you have a crazy side, cuz there’s nothing I won’t try

I’m looking for a woman I feel like I’ve seen

I’ll know when I find you; you’ll remind me of me

Verse:

Is your style a summer sundress or faded blue jeans

Do you look in the mirror and try to picture me

I’ve got no complaints, I’ve been given so much

But I often ask how come, how come you gave me up

Did you want me, or did you want to let me go

I’d like to think you did your best, but I may never know

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:

Do you reminisce and wish you could change the past

And do you ask the same things I ask

Repeat Chorus:

Tag:

Yes you’ll remind me of me

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Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2023 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

ENTER THE LYRIC CONTEST

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2nd Place – “Dear Mr. Johnson”

By: Ryan Sanderson

It was down in Mississippi with no moon in the sky

Where a legend was born beneath the darkness of night

A young man alone at the crossroads he knelt

Strumming his guitar a covenant made with hell

Robert Johnson if the story can be believed

He played the blues so hauntingly and sweet

A stir of echoes every time he plucked a string

While ghosts danced and weaved among the sycamore trees

Dear Mr. Johnson, is what they say true

You sold your soul to forever play the blues

In the heart of the Delta the wind still cries your tune

Down at the crossroads the devil still calls for you

In the bars where folks gathered to listen to him wail

He sang about love lost in vain and hellhounds on his trail

With fingers on the frets each note he let ring

The verses a cry the chorus a plea

With a heart full of grief for the price that he paid

Eternal fire the cost for glory and for fame

Haunted by his deal til the end of his mortal days

But oh that guitar he sure could make it play

Dear Mr. Johnson is what they say true

You sold your soul to forever play the blues

In the heart of the Delta the wind still cries your tune

Down at the crossroads the devil still calls for you

From Clarksdale to Memphis his legendary gift

A deal with the devil is it a warning or a myth

To trade an eternity of shadows over light

Dragged below to where the sun never shines

The dark lord will claim what he’s rightly won

But the bluesman’s music plays on and on

Old Scratch may think the deals done

But Robert Johnson’s memory lives on and on

Dear Mr. Johnson, is what they say true

You sold your soul to forever play the blues

In the heart of the Delta the wind still cries your tune

Down at the crossroads the devil still calls for you

In the heart of the Delta the wind still cries your tune

Down at the crossroads the devil still calls for you

Down at the crossroads the devil still calls for you

Dear Mr. Johnson, the devil still calls for you

3rd Place – “Borderline”

By: Kevin Harrington

Borderline

I pulled out of Portland town with something on my mind.

In the mirror, harbor lights were falling far behind.

Westward to the mountains is a lovely, lonely climb,

searching for the winding stream that forms a borderline.

Watercolor mountains, rumbling, rolling clouds,

tributary fountain down where mist fell like a shroud.

It doesn’t really matter where I’ve been or what’s behind.

I’m just searching for the winding stream that forms a borderline.

There was something about her, Lord.

I did all that I could.

I brought her wine, songs to sing

and poems from the wood,

but I’m not really running from a love long lost behind.

I’m just searching for a widening stream that forms a borderline.

Morning into afternoon, I drove through a cold, dark rain

until I reached Route 91 and saw Vermont again:

arm of sun through ancient hills like the reach of God in time

to guide me toward the wond’rous stream that forms a borderline.

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Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2023 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

ENTER THE LYRIC CONTEST

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4th Place – “Last Moving Day”

By: Greg Frazier

V1

The open door pierces the darkness

As our childhood comes in view

A home left waiting for return

From a mother who left too soon

We survey her belongings

Decide what to save or sell

Reminders of family ties

Each one with a story to tell

CH

Memories made, memories lost

Time is a bridge that we all have to cross

Boxes filled with a life gone away

Here on your last moving day

V2

We pull down the portraits

From the nicotine walls

Faded reminders

Of when we were small

Pack up the books

That she read until dawn

And a yellowed yearbook filled

With friends already gone

CH

Memories made, memories lost

Time is a bridge that we all have to cross

Boxes filled with a life gone away

Here on your last moving day

Bridge

The house stands a shell of all we have known

Stripped of its soul it’s no longer a home

Sorrow hangs like mist in the dusty air

We shed our tears and laugh out loud

And pass the bourbon bottle ’round

Raise a toast to the woman we wished were still here

CH

Memories made, memories lost

Time is a bridge that we all have to cross

Boxes filled with a life gone away

Here on your last moving day

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Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2023 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

ENTER THE LYRIC CONTEST

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Honorable Mentions:

“Just Point My Feet Towards Texas”
By Bill Black

“Walls and Fences”
By Richard Abels

“Your Dash”
By Richard Hughes

“Home By Dinner”
By Shawn Chambliss

“Rhythm of the City”
By Ben Diamond and Bob Osgood

“The Otherside”
By Tom Franklin

“Everything Changes But My Love For You”
By Kevin Afflack

“Don’t Step Over Dollars Picking Up Dimes”
By Jonathan Smith

“The Couch”
By Kevin Martin

“The Legend Of Caney Boyd”
By Bryant Bibb

“Love Ain’t Supposed to Hurt”
By Dwayne Collins