March/April 2023 Lyric Contest Winners

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 March/Apr 2023 Lyric Contest

Congratulations to all our March/April 2023 Lyric Contest winners. Read the winning lyrics for the first through fourth place, below.

CLICK HERE to enter the May/June Lyric contest.

1st Place – “Christine”

By Lacy Green

Lyrics:

V1

 Christine was pristine as a white collared shirt

 Spent Sundays singing in the choir at church

 Where the preacher would teach her the husband comes first

 And the congregation said amen

 V2

 Christine was fifteen and left in a lurch

 How do you say no when they taught you to serve

 And the boy down the street claims it’s what he deserves

 And the politicians said amen

 CHORUS

 Now the whole world is weighing in

 On the weight that she’s carrying

 But nobody’s listening

 To Christine

 V3

 Christine was between a hard place and a rock

 The boy down the street says he don’t want to talk

 Walking home with a pamphlet stuck down in her sock

 And the protestors all said amen

 CHORUS

 BRIDGE/OUTRO

 The snake and the apple

 The rib from his side

 The Marys and Marthas

 The mail-order brides

 The father, the son

 And the holy duress

 The shade of your lipstick

 The length of your dress

 The placebo pills

 And the purity rings

 Victoria’s Secret

 Anti-aging creams

 The sluts and the spinsters

 The sweet ingenue

 The pepper spray keychain

 The burden of proof

 The things that they say

 The things that they mean

 And how nobody’s listening

 Nobody’s listening to Christine


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:


2nd Place – “Sky Without Stars”

By David Taub

Lyrics:

You never recover, you only adjust

 What you remember is just never enough

 Some things you discover as you shake off the dust

 Those forgotten pieces in the story of us

 Her keys on the counter, the calendar hearts

 Her voice in the shower singing both parts

 The world was a tower but the shadow was ours

 My life without her is a sky without stars

 They say it gets better, I’m sure that it does

 That sky was brighter, I’m sure that it was

 Now more than ever I stare up above

 With blame more than wonder but not more than love

 Her dress on the hanger, the mess in her car

 The times that I’d thank her when times got real hard

 The world was a tower but the shadow was ours

 My life without her is a sky without stars

 When you’re searching for answers you’re shoveling smoke

 You spend hope like currency till you go broke

 The doctors’ appointments the calendar marks

 Her cries getting louder, my prayers in the dark

 The days spent around her, the hours apart

 When the cold empty quiet knows who you are

 The world was a tower but the shadow was ours

 My life without her is a sky without stars

 The places you’d go to

 Now seem so far

 No one to come home to

 No plans left to start

 There’s small acts of kindness then faith in a spark

 A sound in the silence, a light in the dark

3rd Place – “The Old Yellow Chaise Lounge”

By Peter Sheardy

Lyrics:

 That old yellow chaise lounge

 Oh the stories it could tell

 From laughter in the morning

 To midnight tears that fell

 It’s a novel bound in vinyl

 With rust upon its spine

 Words of Ernest Hemingway

 And songs of Patsy Cline

 It’s a living contribution

 Of everything that’s died

 From childhood and innocence

 To promises and pride

 Yah that old yellow chaise lounge

 Was a summertime companion

 For sleepin’ off a bender

 Or hosting wild abandon

 It was the talk of many parties

 The boast of many men

 The blush of many girls

 But all sacred in the end

 It was as humble as a cradle

 Regal as a throne

 Perfect to hold a couple

 Or just right to be alone

 And that old yellow chaise lounge

 It never gave into time

 It still could make sweet music

 And mumbled words to rhyme

 But one day it finally happened

 We all know the story well

 It was not a change in weather

 But a change in personnel

 It wound up in a landfill

 With other people’s souvenirs

 And ain’t it kind of funny

 It still matters all these years…

4th Place – “Fool’s Form of Torture”

By Jessie Che

Lyrics:

 Verse

 Diggin’ thru ash for the least burnt cigarettes

 Finding ones ain’t quite done yet

 He eyes a few with a shadow of a smile

 The red is faded, along with time,

 But he doesn’t mind

 Verse

 This treasure trove he mines, in a whisky glow

 Should have been gone, so long ago

 But it’s the only way to touch her again

 So with half a dozen in his hand,

 He kisses her again

 Chorus

 (It’s a) Fool’s form of torture

 The torch he carries for her

 In the silence of the lonely night

 He brings her back, in a strike

 N’ he burns his fingers, but he doesn’t care…..

 He’ll hold onto anything……to prove… she once was there…..

 Fool’s form of torture——————-

 Verse

 The candlelight glows off the silver in their home

 Like the cross on her chest’s last breath

 Is ending this the only way to free his mind?

 Wishing he could see things straight

 He stumbles to the safe

 Chorus

 (It’s a) Fool’s form of torture

 The torch he carries for her

 In the silence of the lonely night

 He brings her back, in a strike

 N’ he burns his fingers, but he doesn’t care…..

 He’ll hold onto anything … To prove … she once was there …

 Fool’s form of torture…

 Bridge

 He wakes in the sun, to what he didn’t want to see

 It’s time at last to find, a new reason to breathe

 Chorus 2

 (It’s a) Fool’s form of torture

 The torch he carried for her

 Although there are quiet nights

 Art glows of her living light

 N’ he works his fingers

 Creating things with care

 Something to hold on to, to prove… she once was there…

 Something to hold on to, to prove… she once was there…


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:


Honorable Mention – 

“Baltimore”
By Michael Carpenter

“The Cage”
By  Stephen Austin

“Truth”
By Joanne Eisenberg

“Angeline”
By Daniel Pfeiffer

“School of Life”
By Scott Bliven

“Hey Honey”

By Lindsey Moody

“Every Song”
By Stephen Herreid

“Beauty’s In The Dance”
By Violetta Jean

“Where Rivers Used to Run”
By Darryl Rhoades

“Motel 22”
By Steve B

“Say Goodbye To The Elephants”
By Dave Nachmanoff

Photo courtesy of Lacy Green

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