SLS ~ No Surprise

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a bunch of fun theme words suggested by yours truly in honor of my daughter’s birthday last month. Thanks Jim! “No Surprise” is a 2009 song by Daughtry for their album Leave This Town. Yes, relatively current music from me! Now, that is a surprise, huh!?

Chris Daughtry and others are credited as the writers, and the song peaked at 15 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The band has been compared to Nickelback, which some may think is a bad thing, but I like both bands, so pffft. Great lyrics and a great video that actually tells a story. Hurrah! 🎉

No Surprise

I’ve practiced this for hours, gone round and round
And now I think that I’ve got it all down
And as I say it louder, I love how it sounds
‘Cause I’m not taking the easy way out
Not wrappin’ this in ribbons
Shouldn’t have to give a reason why
It’s no surprise I won’t be here tomorrow
I can’t believe that I stayed till today
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we’ll find this was no surprise
It came out like a river once I let it out
When I thought that I wouldn’t know how
Held onto it forever, just pushing it down
Felt so good to let go of it now
Not wrapping this in ribbons
Shouldn’t have to give a reason why
It’s no surprise I won’t be here tomorrow
I can’t believe that I stayed till today
There’s nothing here in this heart left to borrow
There’s nothing here in this soul left to save
Don’t be surprised when we hate this tomorrow
God knows we tried to find an easier way
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we’ll find this was no surprise
Our favorite place we used to go
The warm embrace that no one knows
The loving look that’s left your eyes
Tt’s why this comes as no, as no surprise
If I could see the future and how this plays out
I bet it’s better than where we are now
But after going through this
It’s easier to see the reason why
It’s no surprise I won’t be here tomorrow
I can’t believe that I stayed till today (stayed till today)
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we’ll find this was no surprise
The kiss goodnight, it comes with me
Both wright and wrong, our memories
The whispering before we sleep
Just one more thing that you can’t keep
Our favorite place we used to go
The warm embrace that no one knows
The loving look that’s left your eyes
But I know in time we’ll find this was no surprise

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Touch

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us two words to use for prompts. I chose touch and “Touch Me in the Morning” by Diana Ross. This was a solo hit for Ms. Ross in 1973 and her second solo No. 1 single. Ron Miller and Michael Masser are credited as the writers.

Touch Me in the Morning

Touch me in the morning
Then just walk away
We don’t have tomorrow
But we had yesterday
Wasn’t it me who said that Nothing good’s gonna last forever?
And wasn’t it me who said, Let’s just be glad for the time together?
It must’ve been hard to tell me
That you’ve given all you had to give
I can understand you’re feeling that way
Everybody’s got their life to live
Well, I can say goodbye in the cold morning light
But I can’t watch love die in the warmth of the night
If I’ve got to be strong
Don’t you know I need to have tonight when you’re gone?
Till you go I need to lie here and think about
The last time that you’ll touch me in the morning
Then just close the door
Leave me as you found me, empty like before
Wasn’t it yesterday We used to laugh at the wind behind us?
Didn’t we run away and hope that time wouldn’t try to find us (Didn’t we run)
Didn’t we take each other to a place where no one’s ever been?
Yeah, I really need you near me tonight
‘Cause you’ll never take me there again
Let me watch you go with the sun in my eyes
We’ve seen how love can grow
Now we’ll see how it dies
If I’ve got to be strong
Don’t you know I need to have tonight when you’re gone?
Till you go I need to hold you until the time
Your hands reach out and touch me
In the morning (Mornings where blue and gold and we could feel one another living)
Then just walk away (We walked with a dream to hold and we could take what the world was giving)
We don’t have tomorrow (There’s no tomorrow here, there’s only love and the time to chase it)
But we had yesterday
(But yesterday’s gone my love, there’s only now and it’s time to face it) touch me in the morning

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Promise/Vow

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. Funny thing, I looked up this song by Eric Clapton because I knew it had the word “vow” in it, and it turns out the title of the song is “Promises.” Hah, a twofer!

This song was released as a single in 1978 and was also a track on Eric Clapton’s album Backless (and compilation albums too). It was written by Richard Feldman and Roger Linn. “Promises” did well in the U.S., reaching #9 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Promises

I don’t care if you never come home
I don’t mind if you just keep on rowin’ away on a distant sea
‘Cause I don’t love you and you don’t love me
You cause a commotion when you come to town
You give ’em a smile and they melt
And your lovers and friends is all good and fine
But I don’t like yours and you don’t like mine
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
I don’t care what you do at night
Oh, I don’t care how you get you delites
We’ll leave it alone and just let it be
I don’t love you and you don’t love me
I got a problem, can you relate
I got a woman callin’ love hate
We made a vow we’d always be friends
How could we know that promises end
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
I tried to love for years upon years
You refuse to take me for real
It’s time you saw what I want you to see
I’d still love you if you’d just love me
I got a problem, can you relate
I got a woman callin’ love hate
We made a vow we’d always be friends
How could we know that promises end
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Wohoo, la la la la la la la

https://youtu.be/GeSqBOdmcMc

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Wow What A Week

I touch my face a billion times per day. Yes, I counted, which is why I haven’t been around much this week. I have itchy eyes and am aways messing with my hair and rubbing my achy neck and just generally transferring germs to my face and from my face to everywhere else. But now that’s a crime and also it’s scary to think that all this time people weren’t washing their hands or cleaning their houses. Gross! 🦠

Just when I think I’ve adjusted to the latest barrage of news about THE THING, here comes a new assault of information. Well, not information so much as stuff we’re not supposed to do anymore. First, it was hey quit hooking up with random men from the internet and I was all no problem been on that diet for over three years now. 👍🏻

Wash hands 87 times per day, got it. Clean everything all the time. Sure, okay. Unlike some of you lunatics, I already had Lysol and wipes and alcohol. Don’t go to China or Italy. Lol, okay. Don’t fly at all. Wait, what? Grrrr, okay… I canceled my trip to Vegas this week. Don’t sit in bars and restaurants. Sigh… I canceled Friday night plans and changed Saturday’s.

Tonight I read that Mayor Garcetti has shut all entertainment in Los Angeles ~ bars, gyms, libraries, museums, etc. Grocery stores are allowed to remain open and you can get restaurant takeout only. Governor Newsom says if you’re over 65 you should self-isolate. Luckily, I’m “only” 58, yet I plan to stay inside most of the time, basically go to work, then come home to work more and read/write/blog, and not do much else.

Oh, that’s actually my normal life! 🤣

Joking, sort of. Even though I’m not the most social of butterflies 🦋 I do make some plans… and I don’t enjoy being told I’m not allowed to. But I get it, I get it. I intend to comply with these guidelines in order to help myself and others too. It’s important.

Happily, we’re not really that isolated now, are we? There are so many ways we can stay connected without sitting next to each other in the same room. I’m looking at the bright side of this situation and saying, okay, how can I optimize my time? Well… read and write more obviously. I have lots of partially finished works in progress that I’d love to get on my Kindle shelf for you guys to buy, hehe. In a previous post, I mentioned that I plan to work on Ghosted this year again. Great opportunity!

And I definitely want to stay connected to Blogville! 💕 I know some of us have been drifting a bit or slowing down some, but I have every intention of soldiering on. My Monday Peeve and Thursday Inspiration posts will continue. I’ll do Jim’s Song Lyric Sundays as long as he hosts them. It’s rare I miss a (new) Wednesday Fandango FPQ, and I enjoy the Friday Flashbacks he began as well. I enjoy the weekly SOCS. Other prompts will happen as the mood moves me…

That brings us to the April A-Z Challenge. Last year, I said I wouldn’t do it again for a variety of reasons, but I’ve changed my mind. What’s funny is that I went to the website and was immediately annoyed just like last year! Oh, here’s one reason why I said I wouldn’t do it again… their ridiculous forms, etc. Well, ya know what? I’m going to do it without linking to them at all or jumping through hoops to get myself listed. I don’t care about trying to get more views here. If new peeps come by, great! But if the only readers I have are my “regulars,” I’m fine with that too. 😻

My theme is gonna be games. But I’m not gonna jabber on boringly about rules and game pieces and game theory and the history of chess or any crap like that you could go google for yourself. No. I’m gonna talk about how a game affected me. This blog is about ME! Me me me me!

~*~

Images credited to Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Take

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Take the L” by the Motels.

This song was written by John S. Carter for the Motels’ 1982 Gold-certified third album All Four One. There aren’t any juicy deets about the creation of “Take the L.” I don’t see that Carter had other songs which focused on clever wordplay. His big claim to fame was revitalizing Tina Turner’s career. There probably is a lot of drama with the Motels generally, given that they began in Berkeley in 1998 and had lots of personnel changes. But the Wikipedia entries are pretty dry. Regardless, here are the lyrics, followed by a link to the video. I love Martha Davis’ voice.

Take the L

Watching my head, holding my face
One more evening gone to waste
No longer do I know my place
Killing time and missing my cues
Watching her belong to you
Tears could only change my view
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Growing up has always been tough
Good intentions never good enough
I would take you far away
Do anything to make you stay
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Every drink and cigarette
All those hands we never met
There are things we should forget
Now it’s over, over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over
Take the L out of lover and it’s over

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ East

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Born in East L.A.” which is a super funny parody of “Born in the USA.” Bruce Springsteen wrote the original and released it in 1984; Cheech & Chong did the 1984 parody, which really only features Cheech Marin, though both are credited. The subsequent movie based on the song also only has Cheech in it. It’s pretty funny too. The song also references bits from Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”

Born in East L.A.

Took a walk to the corner store
Just to buy a loaf of bread and a box of s’mores
Up pulled a guy in a yellow van
Shiny gold badge flashing in his hand
He said, alright all you mojados down here
I want you all to hit the floor
I got one thing to ask you and nothing more
So answer in English, if you can
Where were ya born, man
Huh? Where was I born?
That’s right, I said
Where were ya born?
Hey, are you one of those dudes who do horoscopes, man
Hey, I’m a Cancer with a bad moon rising
Look here el fago, watch my lips
Where were ya born?
I was BORN IN EAST L.A.
Man, I was BORN IN EAST L.A.
Oh yeah, you were BORN IN EAST L.A.
Let’s see your green card
Huh? Green card?
I’m from East LA
Alright, then who’s President of the United States
Oh, that’s easy, man
That guy that used to be on Death Valley Days, John Wayne
Alright, let’s go, come on
Next thing I know, I’m in a foreign land
People talkin so fast, I couldn’t understand
There was nobody there to lend a helping hand
I was cold, it was dark where is a burger stand
I want to go back to East LA
I wish I was back in East LA
I don’t belong here in downtown T.J.
Cause I was born in East LA, ole
I crawled under barbed wire, swam across a stream
Rode in six different trucks packed like a sardine
Walked all day in the burning sun
Now I know what it’s like to be born to run
Up ahead was the promised land
Shining like a star just beyond my hand
All I could see was a golden door
I looked up, a sign said five billion sold
And I was back in East LA
Yes, I was back in East LA
You know I’m never gonna stray
Cause I was born in East LA, oh LA
EAST LA!

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Talk

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Something To Talk About,” which is sung by Bonnie Raitt and written by Shirley Eikhard. It was recorded in 1990 for Bonnie’s album Luck of the Draw along with several single versions. The song peaked at #5 on the charts in 1991. Side note, Anne Murray was discouraged from recording the song in the 1980s because her producers didn’t like it. It remains one of Bonnie’s most popular songs.

Something To Talk About

People are talkin’, talkin’ ’bout people
I hear them whisper, you won’t believe it
They think we’re lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they’re seeing something we don’t, darlin’
Let’s give them something to talk about
Let’s give them something to talk about
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love?
I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You’d act so nervous
Could you be falling for me?
It took a rumor to make me wonder
Now I’m convinced I’m going under
Thinking ’bout you every day
Dreaming ’bout you every night
Hoping that you feel the same way
Now that we know it, let’s really show it, darlin’
Let’s give them something to talk about
A little mystery to figure out
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love, love, love, love?
Let’s give them something to talk about, baby
A little mystery to figure out
Let’s give them something to talk about
How about love, love, love, love?

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Fingers & Toes

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose” by Tony Orlando & Dawn, which has two of the prompt words ~ fingers and toes ~ in it.

SGR was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown for Dawn’s New Ragtime Follies, their 1973 album. The song became the group’s 4th top ten single on Billboard’s Hot 100, peaking at #3.

Sweet Gypsy Rose

We were very happy
Well at least I thought we were
Can’t somebody tell me
What’s got into her
A house, a home, a family
And a man who loves her so
Who’d believe she’d leave us
To join a burlesque show?
Say has anybody seen my
Sweet Gypsy Rose?
Here’s her picture when she was my
Sweet Mary Jo
Now she’s got rings on her fingers
And bells on her toes
Say has anybody seen my
Sweet gypsy Rose?
Oh, I know when Mary Jo’s been dancin’
Here in New Orleans
In this smoke-filled honky-tonk
They call the land of dreams
Whoah, here she comes a-struttin’
In her birthday clothes
Say has anybody seen my
Sweet gypsy Rose?
Whoah, baby, baby,
Won’tcha come home
Say, we all miss ya
And every night we kiss your picture
Whoiah Rose, one night the lights go dim,
And the crowd goes home
That’s the day you wake up
And you find you’re all alone
So let’s say goodbye to Gypsy
Hello Mary Jo
Say has anybody seen my
Sweet Gypsy Rose
So take those rings off your fingers
And bells off your toes
Say has anybody seen my
Now you know just what I mean by
Has anybody seen my Sweet Gypsy Rose

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Come Away With Me

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones.

This song was written and performed by Norah Jones for her debut album in 2002. It was used on the soundtrack for Maid in Manhattan, a very cute rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez. The song reached 21 on US Adult Top 40 and 80 in the UK. Norah Jones’ father is Ravi Shankar.

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song
Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can’t tempt us, with their lies
And I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won’t you try to come
Come away with me and we’ll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I’ll never stop loving you
And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I’m safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Me

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us a variety of words to use for a prompt. I chose me! My song is “Don’t Expect Me To Be Your Friend” by Lobo. I like that the idea that this song mirrors one of my recent Monday Peeves: not staying friends with an ex. Ugh. Painful, or just simply awkward.

The song was written by Roland Kent LaVoie (Lobo) and released as a single in 1972. It peaked at #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Don’t Expect Me To Be Your Friend

I stopped sending flowers to your apartment
You said you aren’t home much anymore
I stopped dropping by without an appointment
Cause I’d hear laughter coming through your door.
Sometimes late at night you’ll still call me
Just before you close your eyes to sleep
You make me vow to try and stop by sometime
Baby that’s a promise I can’t keep.
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So lets just let the story kinda end
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So don’t expect me to be your friend.
I don’t walk down through the village or other places
That we used to go to all the time
I’m trying to erase you from my memory
Cause thinking of you jumbles up my mind.
You always act so happy when I see you
You smile that way you take my hand and then
Introduce me to your latest lover
That’s when I feel the walls start crashing in

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.