My Wasted Space

Angels with dirty wings

Paul B Womack — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:48:09 +0000

A couple of days ago Sara Hickman’s mom reached out to me on Facebook. We were neighbors when we were kids in Houston. Sara has recorded like 20 albums since the 1990s (I checked out her website www.sarahickman.com). I still just remember her as a kid across the street we played with sometimes. But it got me to thinking about who my favorite female vocalists are. Sara didn’t make this list, but she might once I have a chance to listen to more of her music. Here is who did make the list – I’ve got my top ten, and then half a dozen or more alternates.

Kim Richey
Lucinda Williams
Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies)
Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac)
Allison Moorer
Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders)
Emmylou Harris
Macy Gray
Patty Griffin
Susan Tedeschi

Alternates:
Sheryl Crow
Kate Pearson (The B-52’s)
Carole KingNorah Jones
Tift Merritt
Natalie Merchant
Vickie Thorn (The Waifs)
Maria McKee (Lone Justice)
Alison Krauss

Just Another Ditty

Paul B Womack — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:45:09 +0000

Just another ditty to fill up my day.
I’m tired of trying to see things clearly,
The mushroom clouds are in the way.
So I’ll sing another ditty to pass the day away.

Just another ditty to pass away the time.
I’m so tired of the fear and loathing,
In this seething world of mine.
So I’ll sing another ditty until I find

A different way to fill up my day.
Another way to pass the time.

The world and me don’t see eye to eye,
And this little ditty is just a way,
To fill up my day,
To pass the time away.

Just another ditty to keep my mind off what’s really bothering me.
There’s nothing I can do about it anyway,
Can’t you see.
So I’ll sing this ditty and try

A different way to fill up my day.
Another way to pass the time.

‘Cause the world and me don’t see eye to eye,
And this little ditty is just the way
I fill up my day
And pass the time away.

masque

Paul B Womack — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:34:02 +0000

Look at me.
What do you see?
That isn’t me.

Look again.
You see the man.
You don’t see what’s within.

Listen to my words.
Their call for accord.
A mask of sorts.

Listen to my meaning.
Its call for healing.
Hidden in manufactured feeling.

Taste the emotion.
Your heart all motion.
Fulfilling a function.

Taste the sweetness,
Of life and loneliness.
A mirror or something less.

Feel the tug on your soul.
Recreating something old.
Something you think I told.

Feel the fire in your mind.
Fanned by what I helped you find.
Something that was never mine.

But behind this sensory onslaught
Is what I’d like to introduce you to.

ii.

Openess:
Closed to all intruders.
Yearning:
Hidden by many masks
In this masque of life.
In this dumb-show.
In this rehearsal.
Where we play a part and grasp at words.

Openess:
Peaking out from under.
Yearning:
Permeating every task.
In this masque called life.
In this stage show.
In this curtain call.
Where the part conceals depth below the surface.

Openess:
Confined and torn asunder.
Yearning:
Arranging the pieces of fact.
In a proper masque without life.
In a play without drama.
In a comedy without humor.
Where each part is just a taste of the tragedy.

Openess:
Revealing unknown plunder.
Yearning:
Rich in what I lack.
In this masque of life.
In this movie madness.
In this final scene.
Where some parts make you feel eternity,

Beyond the sensory onslaught.
Deep inside the masque.

For everybody

Paul B Womack — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:45:47 +0000

Shout for joy! Tap your toes!
A savior has come to end our woes.

From out of the sky for all to see,
He came today – it was on TV.

Those who hide deep in their dark souls
Fear the order our savior restores.

But rejoice? Celebrate completion!
Not instant karma – instant salvation.

Bathed now in glorious light we thrive.
Overflowing with His new life.

Final victory He has won.
And we bask in the light of the Son.

Brothers and Sisters

Paul B Womack — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:40:47 +0000

“You’re stupid!” “I hate you!” That’s what they say, but I don’t think it’s true. I never had a sister, especially a smarty pants older sister, just three brothers. An older brother who was my rival. A younger brother we teased mercilessly. And the baby brother we all wanted to protect. These two have all those relationships wrapped up into one. And as much as they can’t stand each other or know the right buttons to push to make each other mad, they are always the first one each of them turn to when something happens, good or bad. Nothing new about all that, but it sure is fun to watch.

Blue : MyPlaylist20427

Paul B Womack — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:32:20 +0000

I had a could of songs I wanted to use in a new Playlist and they both had Blue in the title – Willie Nelson’s Blue Hotel and Alexi Murdoch’s Blue Mind. Thought it might be fun to do an entire list of songs with Blue in the title. Did a little searching and deciding (no Blues, just Blue) and here’s the list I came up with.

No Mom, this doesn’t mean I’m feeling blue, and neither are most of these songs.

Song	Time	Artist	Album
Blue on Black	5:31	Kenny Wayne Shepherd	Trouble Is…
True Blue	5:02	Gary Louris	Vagabonds
For You Blue	2:33	The Beatles	Let It Be
My Blue Heaven	3:34	Django Reinhardt	Swing in Paris
Blue Moon	2:38	Elvis Presley	The Sun Sessions
Blue Hotel	3:31	Willie Nelson	Songbird
Beautiful Bluebird	4:27	Neil Young	Chrome Dreams II
Talkin’ Blue	4:07	Bob Marley & The Wailers	Natty Dread
Way to Blue	3:12	Nick Drake	Five Leaves Left
Out the Blue	3:21	John Lennon	Mind Games
Bluebird	3:25	Paul McCartney & Wings	Band on the Run
Tangled Up in Blue	5:43	Bob Dylan	Blood on the Tracks
Blue Mind	5:44	Alexi Murdoch	Time Without Consequence
Blue Deep Ocean	4:56	Ocean Colour Scene	Ocean Colour Scene
Blue Guitar	6:09	Cowboy Junkies	Miles from Our Home
Blue Eden	6:24	Neil Young & Crazy Horse	Sleeps with Angels
Blue Sky	3:44	Patty Griffin	Flaming Red
Blue Sky Mine	4:20	Midnight Oil	Blue Sky Mining

18 Songs/1.2 Hours

Faces of a Nation Too

Paul B Womack — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:17:38 +0000

Uganda was part of the British Empire or independent member of the Commonwealth from shortly after the source of the Nile river was discovered by John Hanning Speke and Richard Burton (no, not the actor) in the 1860s until Idi Amin’s brutal dictatorship began in 1971. In that 100 plus years the infrastructure of the country was built by the British, including the influx of a servant class from India. All of that ended in 1971 when Amin returned everything of “the Imperial British” to “the people”. As with all dictators, “the people” meant him. The country has been in decay ever since. What is left is the shell of an empire abandoned and a new dictator who has been president for the past 27 years.

But what about “the people”? It is not a question their leaders want to answer.

Why Is It?

Paul B Womack — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:14:15 +0000

Why is it that what you want is never what you get?
Why is it that what happens is always different than what you expect?
Can’t you tell I want to be with you more?
And if you can how come I keep getting the door?

It’s just so hard to tell with you.
Do you love me as much as I love you?
I don’t think you do.

Why is it that we refuse to grow?
Why is that when you come I feel so low?
Can’t you tell I’m trying to love you?
Aren’t you ever going to let me know you love me, too?

Why can’t things be more open between us?
Won’t you just tell me how you feel?
It’s time we did a little talking about us.
It’s time to be honest and not conceal.

Because it’s so hard to tell with you.
Do you love me as much as I want you to?
I just can’t tell if you do.

It’s just so hard to tell with you.
Do you love me as much as I love you?
I don’t think you do.

Just a Feeling…Probably Unwarranted

Paul B Womack — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:04:43 +0000

If I don’t ask how am I supposed to find out?
By osmosis?

If we don’t talk about it how can we come to an understanding?
Through telepathy?

We have fun.

We approach intimacy.

But somewhere there’s a barrier we’ll eventually have to storm.

I’m more than fond of you and I think you like me alright.
But I’m never sure and I’m afraid to ask.

I want to feel some certainty in the future.
You seem to be more concerned with now.

Now is great until it isn’t.

And how much present will the future allow?

That’s the barrier we’ll eventually have to storm.

Faces of a Nation

Paul B Womack — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:48:10 +0000

Three out of four people in Uganda are under the age of thirty. It is a nation of children. What will this nation be when these children are men and women? Will poverty have crushed hope? or will faith provide it? There is joy in these young hearts, undaunted by circumstance. We must quench their longing for love with the water from which they will never thirst again. And in each small way we provide for these we unlock the possibilities of a nation of young minds in pursuit of something more.