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Songs Have A Life Of Their Own

by John Lee Sanders

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1.
Songs Have A Life Of Their Own 05:19 video
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2.
Sundown Town 05:25
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Sundown town Words and Music by John Lee Sanders. ©Swampmeister Music I was Washing grandpa’s Cadillac, Tricked out 1948 Like a dream machine all chrome and jet black To the license plate on the back It read land of Lincoln and that got me thinking The Irony in that very state Four score and too many years too late Some folks getting mighty tried to wait People here got a wary eye baked into grandma’s cherry pie Dylan sang times were changing fast But here they’re sleepwalking through the past In a sundown town. Where black and brown ain’t allowed In a sundown town Ain't it a shame how it got the name Of a sundown town I saw a run-down street where I was born, Beale street mama I be torn And ghosts from the past don’t get no sleep til Saint Gabriel blows that horn might be a long way till the judgement day, Sorry papa, but I’ can’t stay Seems like another life not mine, not so far back in time Another one-horse town fallen in decay mercy on its soul I pray Remember this moment, remember the past When November shadows fall too fast Chorus Have you ever walked in someone else’s shoes And the blues they night be living in? Can’t Nobody get to choose shades and Pigments of our skin for sins going way back when, Is it too late to make amends? Time and places of our birth. All God’s children living on this earth Been many years since I headed west And grandpa long since laid to rest And aftertaste may be bittersweet When shadows fall on main street A history lesson might be a confession To pump our pride or hide our shame In this complicit and complicated past Where some folks still ain't free at last Chorus
3.
Elephant in the Room 05:29
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Elephant in the Room - I done heard it from the horse’s mouth Told me who let the cat out of the bag Yellow belly canary flown south Won’t sing a thing, bound and gagged The snitch put a hit on the rat When his tail started to wag Won’t be blowing the whistle Anytime soon in a pine box, draped in a flag Won’t be no second line to the tomb At the bottom of a black lagoon ‘cuz nobody risk the fallout, to call out The Elephant …Elephant in the room. Too big to hide it, too small to saddle up and ride it Elephant in the room. Like the little boy who called out The emperor’s brand new threads The only one who had the balls out No matter what big mama said You see the kang wasn’t wearin’ a thing Not even tighty whitey fruit of the loom That story still rings true I could name a few That the emperor has no clue You may be high and mighty, no one is immune Nobody wanna risk the fallout, to call out the elephant in the room. If we don't talk about it What we don't know want hurt us somehow we allowed it but there's no going back to the circus just trying to stay afloat and grab a rope when there's a two ten hippopotamus under the boat Just lurking beneath the surface But nobody wanna tell of it The Elephant in the room It’s a come to Jesus moment, when he’s got his knees upon us, and so We wait for a superhero with a cape but he ain’t coming anytime soon. So we tiptoe on broken glass, when what really we need is a broom and we gaslight, that’s right till the whole thang goes kaboom, Cover up the smell of it, with some cheap perfume Sign it with a nom-de-plume Cuz nobody wanna call out the-elephant in the room
4.
Put Down Your Phone (and talk to me) 05:12 video
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She got a 6.7 inch Toy Her Fix of a heavenly joy Instagram camera posing more pretty Every swingin hot spot in the city She need a thousand more likes to fit in A hundred more when she show some skin Fingers start scrollin, nasty girls trollin Baby I just can’t win A slave to your social media Every rabbit hole it leads ya And you crave pretty little lies they feed ya Baby I’m the one who needs ya. Put down your phone and talke to me Put down your phone and dance with me Put down your phone and make love with me I need you in the here and now. She’ll never find her Don juan Quixote Sending Red valentine emojis Maybe a Sugar daddy, just a trophy She on the prowl like a wild Coyote. Algorithms done cracked the code Information superhighway overload Before that dopamine drug explode I got to get back to airplane mode To a simpler time, When we met the moment at hand Wish we could rewind, Before my love went to La La Land.
5.
Preaching To The Choir 06:34
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Preaching to the choir, Feb 27 2021 Somebody done mixed the the koolaid In the holy/ wine. Devil preachin a fools game, And the battle for the soul is mine It’s a dangerous concoction A war on the truth. The shamefulness is rotten from the vine to the root You can open your heart without closing your minds Where the blind keep leading the blind \ Ain’t Never gonna change nobody Preachin to the choir Invoking the Name of lord almighty, Throwing fuel on the fire. Ain’t Never find the truth from a long tongue liar Never needed proof , love lift us up higher, Never gonna change nobody preaching to the choir I had my demons, my own Armageddon Where angels feet dare to be treading Couldn't sleep at night, I longed to be whole Sunday school boy, seemed so simple Golden rule boy, be kind be gentle but it shook my faith, caused me to tremble Laid to waste for thieves in the temple Chorus Maybe somebody been misleading Maybe the preacher to the choir is me All religions, their prayers and their pleading Are looking through a glass darkly While false prophets lying deceiving I’m still believing in a God of love I can’t conceive it, like the air I’m breathing In my soul deep down to the bottom of Chorus
6.
The Last Tear To Fall 05:09
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Rovers search for life on /Mars Far from/ Stars and strife whitewash the scars play the anthem, Pay the ransom /, to some Cyber ninja phantom, or the system trickles down to a crawl, like a house of cards way too tall Simpler/ time in my younger years, in my prime, without a fear We never learn from the past at all But the world gonna turn till last tear gonna /fall Takes a village, for a world, to grow and thrive We the privileged, the weak and the marginalized some would pillage, flames they would fan it clear the brown haze over the planet Or wait for the savior to arrive. Or shoot a rocket, on a joy ride Grapes of wrath begin to ripen when Best laid path, of mice and men Or ride out the storm til the last tear gonna fall. Bridge Search for Justice, never sleep Seems we’ve grown accustomed to the belly of the beast when a hurricane rain crack your window pane lose true north on your weathervane, we throw a few crumbs and a crust of bread, for body and soul must be fed For silent tears we never shed. Sooner or later soon or later, gonna fall Is it our God that swings the wrecking ball? When the façade hides the cracks deep in the wall Some be sniffin out good trouble, with the dogs. Among the rubble Search for life or sadly none at all, In that number someday we’re called And those tears of a crocodile May hide your fears for a little while It’s a long way down for the last tear to fall And no safety net big enough to catch them ALL Surely won’t be the last tear to fall I hope there be Tears of Joy, be the last tears to fall ,
7.
Last Tear To Fall (Instrumental Mix) 04:59
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about

In May of 2022, I suffered a stroke that almost wiped out the usage of my right hand. Those fingers which could glide over the keys and saxophone on countless recording sessions and concerts with ease, seemed to have lost the brain to finger connection. Since then I have come a long way in rehabilitation but more work is needed for a full recovery. All of the pre-orders from downloads will go towards rehabilitation and living expenses as I have had to cancel concerts and recording sessions. Thank you so much for those of you who have made such generous contributions from Gofundme and other methods.

I began writing this CD in 2019, on my voice recorder, cocktail napkins at a piano bar gig, melodies from dreams that were heavent sent.
My music career has been more diverse than any I've seen, as a touring artist, session musician backing legendary performers such as Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Donald Fagen, Jimmy Page, and Oscar Winning songwriters such as Bill Withers, Allen & Marilyn Bergan, Ashford & Simpson, Hal David, Jimmy Webb, and Paul Williams.
During the pandemic, much of my days were doing remote session work for clients worldwide, horn sections, piano solos, and full production tracks. I toured Spain in Beautiful grand concert halls in 2020 and 2021, with a wonderful band, John Lee Sanders and the Gospel Messengers,

This release `'Songs Have a Life Of Their Own". are my own lyrics and music. In the year 2022, there were so many themes I wanted to write about, that didn't fit the mold of typical pop, blues, or love songs, that we as artists want to express, with the threat of nuclear war, climate change, systematic racism, The Church, Social media's changing the brain and self image, and the title track, how music, and it's timeless quality connects generations, places, and cultures.

I’m playing most of the instruments on the Cd, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, vocals, Tenor, Alto, Soprano Saxes and flute, and orchestration.

In 1976, I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of North Texas, and University of North Louisiana in the 1970s, with a concentration on Composition and a postgraduate course in Film Scoring in California. Back In those days, there were no courses on songwriting, recording, lyrics, only classical composition, orchestration and jazz. Pop music, R&B, Soul, and Gospel music were looked upon as having little artistic merit with most of my professors, I sought out music education where `I could find it, my church choir director in Birmingham, had a phd, and gave me my first voice lessons at age 13 or 14, when my voice started changing, He had me sing the repertoire of Broadway, when I really wanted to sing like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, but gave me an understanding of the voice, and how to control it.

Many of the lyrics and melodies on my new release came to me in dreams, and the events of these unrivaled transformational times, love, travel, climate change, faith, technology, social media, and the perspective of my 70th year in October.

In 1988, I began working with the legendary Oscar, Golden Globe, Grammy winning songwriter, Paul Williams. Around 2008 Paul became chairman of ASCAP, which led to my working with many of the greatest songwriters of the last 70 years, in ASCAP concerts lobbying Congress for
Protection of our work and livelihood in the era of streaming. Thanks to our work, both houses of Congress passed the Music Modernization act with rare bipartisan support in these polarized times, signed into law by the former president. We gained a bit more of the pie, but the lion's share is still controlled by Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Google, and other major streaming outlets, and is still being challenged in the courts by some who think artists and songwriters still deserve peanuts for their work, when the artists, engineers, session musicians, and writers are the backbone.

Meeting and hearing the stories from these great writers, about the songs that have become the soundtrack to our lives and the common thread of our collective consciousness, became the theme of “Songs have a Life of their own”, the title track of my new release.
In the last few years, I've performed with many of the creators of this music, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Ashford and Simpson, Alan, and the late Marilyn Bergman, Randy Newman, Stephen Schwartz, Bill Withers, Jimmy Webb, and so many more. As a songwriter, it's our dream to create something lasting that touches the heart. and soul, I hope it brings us to a higher love and purpose.

I hope you enjoy the previews and hope I can count on your support for its completion.

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released August 29, 2023

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John Lee Sanders Palos De La Frontera, Spain

Multi-instrumentalist, Composer, Saxophone, Guitar, Piano, vocalist, and Emmy nominated composer, he has evolved a complex musical gumbo, with the flavors of Americana, Rock, Gospel, Pop, Jazz, R&B, Soul, Country, classical, with a deep love of the traditions, and culture of New Orleans. ... more

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