Original Music

In it's fist iteration, this will be some lyrics. Later, I plan to add recordings in the form of samples. These will link to the actual song out there on whatever streaming services I can figure out. For now, just the words.

All Lyrics are original works by Noah J. Privett.

Please enjoy responsibly.

Man without a Crown

Written in the City of Chicago in 2002, I spent the Summertime people watching as a street musician. It was a very informative time in my life, and I owe John Prince a life-debt for offering his home as a place to sleep. If he was still with us, we'd probably be making music together, he wanted to do a flyover shot of the city, and the year I was set to graduate aviation school, he passed from complications of the H1N1 virus. There's a bit of mythology baked into every good story, here in this introduction, and there in those lyrics. Every time I sing this song, I think of all the nights we drove into the loop and mingled.

Man Without a Crown

The liquid night rests on the shoulders of a bum

Who wears his world around him, and carries with his thumb

a neatly wrapped red package with ribbons hanging down

But no one pays attention much to a man without a crown

The sunken city gleams where local ladies dance

to opposite sides of Rubble, leaving all to chance

But seldom with their spoken word, chase away a frown

As no one pays attention much to a man without a crown

When fast a message written in the sky for all to see

is misinterpreted as meaningless almost instantly

The noise filled wind scatters hard the echo of a sound

When no one pays attention much to a man without a crown

The loud club scene, it kills me, every time I try

to understand the movements of the mouths of the standers-by

I know they try to tell me, but I can never make it out

Why no one pays attention much to a man without a crown

I gave it up all willingly, I never turned around

to see if she was still there, I just hurried back to town

but the Devil, 'e's a tricky one, cause nothing stays profound

So I guess I'll have to live my live as a man without a crown

Lyrics by Noah J. Privett

Best Loved Lady

I was living in Kalamazoo when this song started singing itself in my mind. I was working at a hotel overnight, The Night Auditor! (dun dun DUN!!!), yet another interesting moment in life. If you ever want to be alone with your demons in the middle of the night and get paid for your insomnia, then Night Auditor may be perfect for you. One perk was the weight room, I put on about 40 pounds of muscle and lost 60 pounds of fat, healthiest, and palest, I've ever been.

Best Loved Lady

When nothing ever starts,

it's never ended

When nothing ever ends,

it all goes on

That's good when all you know

is all the good times,

When all you know is bad times

something's wrong

[CHORUS]

And we live, we laugh, we love, we long for reason

Reason seldom comes to those who call

I had to let my best loved lady leave me

I had to let her not be best at all

We have to keep on keeping

on the good path

Our steps have all been measured

from the start

With chains around our legs

We still have freedom

With arrows in our sides

We still have hearts

[CHORUS]

One man is not an island

or an ocean

We are waves against the shore

and we will break

We can't go back to start

at the beginning

What we learn is what

we have to take

[CHORUS]

Now some of you say I

Should have seen it coming

From my perch so high

up on the wall

But I'm not naive

At times I'm sometimes cunning

And I never bow

Before the curtain call

Ah we live, we laugh, we love, we long for reason

Reason seldom comes to those who call

I had to leave the best of life behind me

Then, I had to let it not be best at all

Lyrics by Noah J. Privett

Together Wherever

This is antoher one written in Kalamazoo, around the 2012 timeframe. I'd been doing a lot of open mics, and I didn't have a lot of original material. The song itself feels a little old-school country/talking blues/pre-60s folk... It was my attempt at a love song, when most of what I was writing at the time came from a darker place in my mind. Even as a love song, it's little bitter, a bit sarcastic, and maybe regretful. This may not be everyone's ideal aspect of love, but it's a form I think many are familiar with.

Together Wherever

Well I've seen opportunities fade

I've seen my bed left unmade

I've had troubles all my days

with pretty little girls like you

Oh, you talk of love 'til the sun goes down

Then you strut your stuff in your princess gown

For those innocent boys and the experienced men

And all and everybody in between

But, I'll sing one song for the girl I left behind

You know she was the best I've ever known

If I find her again, I'll take her to my side

And together, wherever, we'll be home

Well I've heard your promising words before

I've heard ladies flirt and more

I've even heard them slam my door

Those pretty little girls like you

But when the negotiating is done

You know I like to have some fun

So, I'll pretend you're honest 'long as you pretend I'm funny

And we'll jump and swing and dance and play and run

And, I'll sing one song for the girl I left behind

You know she was the best I've ever known

If I find her again, I'll take her to my side

And together, wherever, we'll be home

Well I've been on the down and out

I've been travelin' with my thumb stuck out

I've been on my feet and on my back

With pretty little girls like you

But there was one girl, she stood with me

I was blind at the time, she was hard to see

But she held me up, and she smiled sweet,

And she never let me down

So, I'll sing one song for the girl I left behind

You know she was the best I've ever known

If I find her again, I'll take her to my side

And together, wherever, we'll be home

Lyrics by Noah J. Privett

Moonlight Cantata

It was late 2024 when I came to this. I met with a group of local musicians, we played for each other and offered critiques. It's rare for a musician to hear reactions to lyrics... that may be true even for the most recognized artists. But, here, I was able to hear the poetry of others, the musical progressions, the schemes and contradictions of intent... what they wanted it to be versus what it turned out to be. And I decided, after maybe a decade since writing a song, maybe it doesn't have to have all the self-imagined perfections... it just has to be. The name is because of Moonlight Sonata, of course, but I did a bit of looking up words, and found Sonata means instrumental and Cantata refers to singing. This song is the result of a prompt from the guy who hosted the group... sort of like a story that progresses and leads into a slight variation of the chorus each time. The example was the Piña Colada Song by Rupert Holmes... this doesn't sound like that, but I had it in mind.

Moonlight Cantata

I'm seeing the way you're moving through the room for the first time

I'm loving the way you're grooving to the rhythm of the band

I'm making my way over to you, you're looking so fine

The temperature's up, and I offer my hand

And all through the night, we're dancing in the shadow of the moonlight

Waiting on the sunrise, I'll see it shine in your eyes

But dawn is breaking just like our connection

And you go your direction

And I go mine

Time rolls on, but the memory of you is staying so strong

I picture the night we shared, our romance

I dream of the night I'm moving with you, it's been so long

One more time, come one, let's give it a chance

And all through the night, we'll be dancing in the shadow of the moonlight

Waiting on the sunrise, we'll see it shine in our eyes

But dawn is breaking just like our connection

When you went your direction

And I went mine

Then I'm seeing the way you're moving through the room like the first time

Just loving the way you're grooving to the rhythm of the band

I see you making your way over to me, you're looking so fine

The temperature's up, and you offer your hand

And all through the night, we're dancing in the shadow of the moonlight

Waiting on the sunrise, see it sing in our eyes

Though dawn is breaking we keep our connection

And I go your direction

And you go mine

Lyrics by Noah J. Privett

Long and Lonely Road

This one is reminiscence.

Long and Lonely Road

It's all right

It never mattered anyway

We lit the night

But that's gone, it's another day

We both can recall

We had laughter every now and then

Maybe that's all

Nothing more. No, "Start Again"

But I never wanted to see you go

So many things we didn't know

So many nights of staring down

That long and lonely road

There we were

Wasting so much of our, "Plenty of Time"

Now here we are

So far along down different lines

And I never wanted to see you go

How many things we wouldn't know

So many nights of staring down

That long and lonely road

I never wanted to see you go

So many things we couldn't know

So many nights of staring down

That long and lonely road

Lyrics by Noah J. Privett

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