November/December 2020 Lyric Contest Winners

Congratulations to all our November/December 2020 Lyric Contest winners! CLICK HERE to enter the Jan/Feb 2021 contest, deadline November 15 @ 11:59 PM CST.

1st Place
 
 “The Blindness Excuse”
 By William Simons
 Ware, MA
  
 You say you don’t care if we’re purple or green
 But I’m black and she’s brown so what does that mean?
 If you can’t see color then what can you see?
 Through those rose-colored glasses when you’re looking at me
  
 When evening gives way to the cover of night
 Is my blackness affirmed in the absence of light?
 And would you declare my skin color moot
 If you put your hands up and I still chose to shoot
  
 You can untie the noose
 You can unload the gun
 But the blindness excuse
 Can’t undo what’s been done
  
 You like to tell me I’m articulate and smart
 While you’re stroking my ego and blessing my heart
 But I don’t need your praise, your pity or tears
 Or some colorblind world to magically appear
  
 What I need instead is some faith in you
 That I can be me and you, can be you
 I’m proud to be black and you’re proud to be white
 So, let’s rise up together and fight the good fight
  
 You can untie the noose
 You can unload the gun
 But the blindness excuse
 Can’t undo what’s been done
  
 I closed my eyes for a long time
 Pretending that I couldn’t see
 Then a switch flipped on
 Like the break of dawn
 And for once in my life I felt free
  
 You can untie the noose
 You can unload the gun
 But the blindness excuse
 Can’t undo what’s been done
  
 You can untie the noose
 You can unload the gun
 But the blindness excuse
 Can’t undo what’s been done 
  
  
 2nd Place

 “People Inside of Pictures”
 By Stephen Schuster
 Westborough, MA
  
 People inside of pictures
 Pictures inside of frames
 These are my family fixtures
 All their faces, all their names
  
 Mothers with their husbands
 Fathers with their wives
 All these kids and cousins
 That make up these family lives
  
 Home is where I’m going
 Home is where I’ll run
 To meet those generations
 I’ll see in the world to come
  
 Immigrants with pushcarts
 Ambitious for their sons
 Trying to make a new start
 Like they were the chosen ones
  
 Some choose grand professions
 Some work with their hands
 All had great intentions, sometimes
 God had other plans
  
 Home is where I’m going
 Home is where I’ll run
 To meet those generations
 I’ll see in the world to come
  
 People inside of pictures
 Pictures inside of frames
 These are my family scriptures
 Every story that remains
  
 These are my constellations
 See how they shine
 Upon this congregation
 That makes up my family line
  
 Home is where I’m going
 Home is where I’ll run
 To meet those generations
 I’ll see in the world to come
 I’ll see them when we’re reunited
 in the world to come 
 
 
 
 3rd Place
  
 “I’m Sorry”
 By Charles Mitchell & Dean McConatha
 Sylacauga, AL
  
 By the time you get this letter
 I’ll be doing so much better
 Then I know I’ve done, in almost twenty years
  
 Today I’m three months sober
 And I know the fight ain’t over
 But I’ve grown so much, through all the pain and tears
  
 Chorus
 I’m sorry; I’ve wasted all this time
 All the hurtful things I’ve said to you, haunt me every night
 If I can just forgive myself, maybe one day so can you
 But for now I guess I’m sorry, is the best that I can do
  
 I know that you’ve heard me say these words
 So many times before
 I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to listen anymore
  
 But, I don’t know what else I can do?
 The words may seem the same to you
 But deep inside I know I’ve really changed
  
 Chorus
 I’m sorry; I’ve wasted all this time
 All the hurtful things I’ve said to you, they haunt me every night
 If I can just forgive myself, maybe one day so can you
 But for now I guess I’m sorry, is the best that I can do
  
 I know I can’t un- break the promises I’ve broken
 And I know I can’t take back all the crazy words I’ve spoken
  
 I’m sorry; I’ve wasted all this time
 All the hurtful things I’ve said to you, they haunt me every night
 If I can just forgive myself, maybe one day so can you
 But for now I guess I’m sorry, is the best that I can do
  
 Only time will tell if what I say is true
  
 I’m so sorry 


 
 4th Place
 
 “Five Until Forever”
 By Stephen Hooper
 Negaunee, MI
  
 A thousand new directions
 An ever-changing riverbed
 Unmapped trails we've never traveled
 Just a foggy picture in your head
 In the absence of all certainty
 On the whims of what we're sold
 Watching longingly for signposts
 Entangled in the weeds along the road
  
 Have you the time
 I wanted to share it with you
 People and places we knew
 Five until forever
  
 So we chased the burning summer
 And the promise of the new
 California sunsets
 Sprawling Rocky Mountain views
 We made our home beyond the water
 And the stoic evergreens
 Endless childhood stories
 Up and down these old familiar streets
  
 Have you the time
 I wanted to share it with you
 People and places we knew
 Five until forever
  
 Walk with me a little longer
 Or another sixty years
 I hope our children will remember
 The love we had, my dear 
  
 

Honorable Mention
 
“Grandma’s Kitchen Table”
 By Tim Crowley
 (Des Moines, IA)
  
  
 “Livin It Down”
 By Clint Swank
 (Ithaca, NY)
  
  
 “When You Push The Clouds Away”
 By William Kapac
 (West Wildwood, NJ) 
  
  
 “It’s My Job”
 By Robyn Taylor
 (Nashville, TN)
  
  
 “Staying Close”
 By Joe Colavito
 (Ringwood, NJ)
  
  
 “Burning Man”
 By Mark Meed
 (Willow Grove, PA)
  
  
 “The Pocket Watch”
 By Jason Peterson
 (Lafayette, LA)
  
  
 “This Is My Dirt”
 By Josh Clements
 (Pleasant Hill, NC)
  
  
 “Graveyard Boogie Blues”
 By Fred Reilly
 (Haines City, FL)
 
  
 “Within A Beating Heart”
 By Andy Alatza
 (Westfield, IN) 

CLICK HERE to enter the current American Songwriter Lyric Contest.