Congratulations to all our September/October 2024 Lyric Contest winners. Read the winning lyrics for first through fourth place, below.
Videos by American Songwriter
1st Place – “We’ll Always Have Main Street”
By: Richard-Yves Sitoski
I met her at the Greyhound stop
Dressed in closed eyes and a smile
A traveler with a pilgrim soul
From a green and distant isle
She asked if she could bum a smoke
I hadn’t one to give
But I draped her in my overcoat
And gave her a place to live
Chorus:
She rose as slow as a northern sun
Her days could last a season
Caught between the things she’d done
And things she’d do without a reason
A soul as strong as it was weak
A phoenix on an ember
Trying to set the world alight
In the darkness of December
A flower of the sidewalk
With a PhD in magic
Who spoke in verse and filled her purse
With stories sweet and tragic
She found a home and lost her head
In chess games and percocets
Philosophy and politics
And spelling love in foreign alphabets
Chorus
And she left the way she came to me
A petal on the breeze
From a blossom wilting in the night
When the air begins to freeze
And I don’t think she remembers me
On God’s golden shore
Bringing colours into paradise
No angel’s seen before
Chorus
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2024 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:
2nd Place – “The Dash (Mr. Applegate)”
By: Damon Pullias
Verse:
1920 dash 1998
Is what it reads on the stone
Of Clarence Applegate
Just a weathered old stone
Resting in a field of grass
But so much life was lived
In between the dash
He was a, Tuskegee airman
Born outside LaGrange
He flew his mustang loud & proud
The day that freedom rang
A man of strong convictions
A legend from our past
He loved and lost
And fought two wars
In between the dash
Chorus:
And people think hero’s all wear capes
Not Mr. Applegate
Verse:
He believed in freedom
For everyone it seemed
He was there when Dr. King
Said I have a dream
A husband and father
A teacher from our past
He loved and lost
And fought some more
In between the dash
Chorus:
And people think hero’s all wear capes
Not Mr. Applegate
Instrumental Bridge:
Verse:
He stood for the flag
Walked for civil rights
Bled for our country
He Believed in what was right
On the day God called him home
He was a hero from our past
He changed the world with his time
In between the dash
Chorus:
And people think hero’s all wear capes
We sure need more people here today
Like Mr. Applegate
3rd Place – “Tall Boy”
By: Lauren Murray
V1
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed
As hard as the time my old man
Cursed to himself tryna pin my boutonniere.
A sip of Jack to shake the nerves,
But somethin’ we didn’t rehearse
Was when I caught him cryin’ in the mirror
And he said —
CH
When’d you get so tall, boy?
Yeah, you shot up like a weed
Seems like a far cry from Tonka trucks and little league
Back when you were a small boy
You copied everything I did
Followin’ my footsteps — hell, even I was just a kid
Yesterday I swear I towered over you
Now you’re the one I’m lookin’ up to
When’d you get so tall, boy?
V2
Bought a fixer upper down the road
He patiently showed me the ropes
We raced against the clock for nine short months
Cabinets all baby proofed
Pacin’ in the waiting room
He said it doesn’t hit you ‘til it does
CH2
When’d you get so tall, boy?
Yeah, you shot up like a weed
Seems like a far cry from when they handed you to me
Back when you were a small boy
You copied everything I did
Followin’ my footsteps — hell, even I was just a kid
Everyday you’re gonna question what to do
Just try to be someone worth lookin’ up to
When’d you get so tall, boy?
BR
He taught me everything I know and then some
As his memory slips away, every now and then he says Son —
CH3
When’d you get so tall, boy?
Yeah, you shot up like a weed
Seems like a far cry from raisin’ you in East Tennessee
Back when you were a small boy
You copied everything I did
Never in my wildest did I think you’d turn out like this
When I’m gone, I know you’ll get through
And I’ll be up there, looking after you
When’d you get so tall, boy?
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2024 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:
4th Place – “From this front porch”
By: Goran Kralj and Joe Doyle
From This Front Porch
Sun falling in the valley
Clouds crossing in the red sky
A bluebird singing softly on a old white picket fence
The sight of the roses blooming in the garden
The grace of the water dancing in the fountain
That gravel road winding by the creek it’s all heaven sent
I could search the world for greener grass
For something more than what I have
A better place to sit and watch the time pass
But gently rocking back and forth
Side by side my hand in yours
I see the life I’d be searching for
From this front porch
see an angel doing cartwheels
Wings hidden ‘neath her sundress
Hair flowing like a halo in a hockey suckle breeze
And a Chip off the old block dare devil
Making the most of life at eleven
Upside down hanging from a limb on that tall oak tree
I could search the world for greener grass
For something more than what I have
A better place to sit and watch the time pass
But gently rocking back and forth
Side by side my hand in yours
I see the life I’d be searching for
From this front porch
On this humble piece of ground
On the outskirts of this brave hard working
Lonely map dot town
Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2024 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:
Honorable Mentions:
“When the Clouds Gave Up the Rain”
By John Raymond
“We Hold These Truths”
By Howie Erichson
“Across the world”
By Jan Kølle
“No Flag Higher”
By Norman Chris Nelson
“RAY’S ROCK”
By Malcolm Brabant
“American Dream”
By Douglas Borton
“We Are Brothers”
By Bradley Bell
“I Shall Return (Version 2)”
By Matthew Yedlin
“Come and Follow Me”
By Colby Kean
“The great eagle”
By Peter Sheardy
“The Promiseland”
By David McMillin
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