I've just been listening to a rough mix of my favorite song that I have written. I'm getting ready to send it to my friend Gina in Austin who is going to add some background vocals to it. I'm quite pleased with the electric guitar we put on it and I can't wait to hear what Gina is going to do with it. She's an amazing singer and songwriter. She did background vocals on my Christmas album. Jan and I went to Austin to record most of that album at Gina's studio. It was incredible. Here are the lyrics:

Before You Wake

Verse:

If my heart was a wishing well
Your secrets would be safe
I promise never to tell
I will take them to the grave
All your unspoken dreams
Wouldn’t you rather see what it means

To take a chance, unlock the door
Search the world for something more

Chorus:

One drop of gold from the summer sun
Reveals the blossom in everyone
Take my hand
Let’s walk, discover the seeds of life
They’ll even bloom in the dead of night
Before you wake, before you wake

Verse:

Hold me until the morning comes
I can feel you breathe
Hear whispers from a heart that needs
Solace and a place to hide
I will tempt your lips with a kiss so you will decide

To face the dawn, unwrap the day
Carve out a path, embrace your fate

Chorus:

One drop of gold from the summer sun
Reveals the blossom in everyone
Take my hand
Let’s walk, discover the seeds of life
They’ll even bloom in the dead of night
Before you wake, before you wake

Bridge:

Petals will fall, the colors will end
A new flower grows
And the mystery of birth begins again

Repeat chorus

Written by: Charles Green
c 2004 Charles Green Music (ASCAP)

I'll be performing tonight at Murphy's Loft at 7pm with my friend Sophie. I've been listening to "Falling" all afternoon...this is the song we put guitars on earlier this week and now we're going to add some percussion and background vocals. This is one of the first songs I ever wrote and I have to admit I really didn't like it much until we put the guitars on...I mean I did like..I wrote it..but I sort of let it fall by the wayside when I wrote other things that I liked better..but now I can hear the potential of what it's going to become and I love it all over again....it's really driving with acoustic quitar and after adding some African percussion it's going to be amazing.



Falling

Verse:

Throw me your lifeline please
Save me, save me
From love’s abyss I’m looking in
Your whispers without fail
Reach me, reach me
My balance lost I’m stumbling and

Chorus:

Falling from the edge
Falling to your embrace indeed
Suddenly you swept me off my feet
Falling so aimlessly, falling so far
I never believed
You could fall for me
Shooting stars light my way
Floating through my dreams today
Heading north searching for you

Verse:

Tumbling through the air
See me, see me
Surrender to the lure of the wind
Caressing every breath
Hear me, hear me
Call out to you I’m echoing


Falling from the edge
Falling to your embrace indeed
Suddenly you swept me off my feet
Falling so aimlessly, falling so far
I never believed
You could fall for me
Shooting stars light my way
Floating through my dreams today
Heading north searching for you

Bridge:

I finally know where I belong
I should’ve known all along
In your arms I’m home

Repeat chorus

Written by: Charles Green
c 2005 Charles Green Music

We added guitars this week and it's all starting to take shape. It's amazing how something as simple as adding a guitar can completely transform a song. One of my least favorite songs is slowly becoming one of my favorites. I feel like a real-life-bonafide-songwriter. It's a pretty awesome feeling. We're under the crunch here so hopefully I can keep it all together. I just found out the date I have to deliver the finished product to the manufacturer so I can get it back in time and it's only a few weeks away...YIKES...so this is me in a mad rush....gotta-go-bye.

This has been the month of reunions...well sort of...I'm looking through a Billboard magazine today and lo-and-behold I see that my buddy Dan from college has just co-written and produced the latest Backstreet Boys single. This is the guy who produced my very first demos. I remember singing in his closet in the back bedroom of this house he was renting by Nashville Tech. Those were the good old days..everybody trying to get something going..doing demos anywhere you could..singing whatever, whenever to whomever. ..and then Darci finds me on myspace..she's out in L.A. singing..writing...she just did a song for the movie Napoleon Dynamite - she's an amazing singer check out her site: http://www.darcimonet.com - Then my friend Phillip from L.A. called and we got caught up and I heard all about the new movie he's producing and the stars he's trying to cast..very exciting...maybe I'll get to go to the premiere...or better yet maybe he'll put one of my songs in the film (Phillip are you listening?) it makes me feel good knowing that my friends are successful and haven't given up and keep chasing after the dream day after day (ok I guess by now the dream has just changed into work) Hopefully every time I start feeling down-and-out I will refer back to this entry and see that all is not lost...if my friends continue to keep at it so should I...speaking of friends...no wonder Dan never called me back.

Another day in the studio...I was at the studio until midnight last night and now I'm at another studio where I will be until 6 or 7. Show business sure is glamourous! It's about 5 minutes of fun and then 23 hours and 55 minutes of work. But it will be worth it. This album is going to be great. We're working on background vocals today..sorting out who we want to do what...what version to give them..where in the song we want them to sing...deciding if we want them to stack the vocals or add different harmonies. It's fun but exhausting going through every song. Until I started working with Jan I could never do background vocals...or harmony..I just convinced myself that I couldn't.....the first song Jan and I finished needed backing vocals..so she said "Alright get in there and do them".....I just stared at her with a blank look on my face....but I did it. It's amazing what we convince ourselves we can't do but when we do it...we realize how easy it is and can't believe we ever thought we couldn't do it. Now I'm not trying to say all of my backing vocals are great...because some of them are just plain lousy...but hey at least I did it.

I got another email from Rupaul this morning and she loves the song! I can't believe it....I'm so excited...but now watch this song become the song I'm known for..you try and be a serious songwriter and then you write one silly Christmas song and it follows you the rest of your life...but...I'm sure the guy who wrote "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" enjoys getting those checks year after year. That's the good thing about Christmas it comes around every year and if you write a big Christmas song cha-ching...oh well...beats being back in Texas working on the ranch!

I have the best life! I am completely in love ( well not real love..just admiration) with TY..what an amazing person she is...every time I see her she gives me the biggest hug like we're longtime friends and she doesn't even really know me that well...she has such an amazing energy...and incredibly beautiful too! She showed us her ring today and my jaw dropped....it is incredible..and of course bigger than my hand...and probably cost more dollars than I could earn in 10 years...and me being the idiot that I am jokingly asked "It's beautiful...is it real?" Well duh..of course it's real...hello....open - mouth - insert - foot...like I said...I'm an idiot.

Whew...it's been a long day..I've been updating the
website..working in the studio and emailing back and
forth to RuPaul...who wants to hear a song that Jan
and I wrote a couple of years ago called "Sitting On
Santa's Lap"...that was during my Happy Charles days.
It was a fun song and it's pretty silly...but hey if
Ru wants to record it that would be incredible...it's just
really awesome to have RuPaul's aol screen name and be
able to chat....Talk about extremes...I've worked in
the studio with GB, the ultimate "good-ole-boy", and
corresponded with RuPaul, the ultimate
"good-ole-girl"....isn't life weird?