Songs – STEVE LEONARD

Keep Us Warm

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

Steve Leonard – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Bass, Drums
Don Frio – Organ

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Steve Leonard

LYRICS

Let me hear you sing with me
So we can feel the memory
Of everything we hold so dear
The reasons why we all are here

They’re not inside a cookie jar
Not drivin’ a fancy car
Not under a Christmas tree
They’re found inside of you and me

The keepers of a story told
Entrusted with wisdom to behold
Of how to survive the bitter cold
And sing along to growing old

It’s out of our control
We all play our role
Though confusion is the goal
We’re not apart from the whole

Starman will remind us all
Our worries are so very small
There’s no way for you to fall
Take good care of one and all

We were never born
It’s just a temporary form
When we decide to end the storm
The sun will rise and keep us warm
The sun will rise and keep us warm

Let me hear you sing with me
So we can make a memory
That will linger for eternity
Like those that came before you and me

They were never wrong
We’re right where we belong
The story continues on
And the next part goes like this…

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

Love Transmitter

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

Steve Leonard – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synth
John Cappadona – Drums

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Steve Leonard

Like this song? CLICK HERE

LYRICS

It’s all a distraction
We’re a love refraction
Shaping all the world
Timeless vapor swirled

You’re gonna get what you give
From what you transmit
Our flesh is a glove
Upon the hand of love

It comes from far away
Activates our DNA
You are the message to convey
That our ancestors relayed

Children of the Earth
In infinite rebirth
Resonate the sound
Until you lift off of the ground
Then you’ll remember what you are

Love transmitter
You’re a love transmitter
Love transmitter in the face of the bitter
Tune it in, turn it up, you’re a love transmitter

In the endless confusion
It’s all an illusion
You came from above
You’re a spaceship of love

Listen to the sun
Awaken everyone
The light that we see
Shines in you and me

No need to be afraid
Join the parade
Beam your light through the shade
And download the upgrade

It can’t be contained
Never be ashamed
There’s nothing to explain
Let the light invade
And set your dial to the highest frequency

Love transmitter
You’re a love transmitter
Love transmitter in the face of the bitter
Tune it in, turn it up, you’re a love transmitter

Love transmitter (love transmitter)
Love transmitter (love transmitter)
(Love transmitter)
(Love transmitter)
Love transmitter

Love transmitter

Love transmitter (love transmitter)
You’re a love transmitter (love transmitter)
Love transmitter in the face of the bitter
Tune it in, turn it up, you’re a love transmitter

The Abundant Cruft (First Wave)

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

Steve Leonard – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synth
Ryan Krieger – Drums
Steve Anderson – EVI
Don Frio – Piano

Recorded by Steve Leonard and Ryan Krieger
Mixed and mastered by Steve Leonard

Like this song? CLICK HERE

LYRICS

You don’t know why
You don’t know how
You don’t know why
You don’t know how

It’s in your folders
Upon your shoulders
The cruft is stagnant
You must defragment

The abundant cruft keeps pilin’ up
The abundant cruft keeps pilin’ up
The abundant cruft keeps pilin’ up
The abundant cruft keeps pilin’ up

Disappear

by Steve Leonard

Check out the interactive audio/lyric visualizer here:
https://steveleonard.net/visualize/disappear/

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

When you ask me if I miss you
I just wanna kiss you
When you ask me if I need you
I’m just gonna feed you
When you ask me if I love you
I just wanna hug you
When you ask me if I want it
You know how hard it is to fight it

We didn’t get into this business
Hopin’ for forgiveness
There’s no use in hopin’
When the gate is always open

When you tell me what happened
I’ll try to play the captain
You keep lookin’ at the weather
But baby it’s now not never
When you tell me that it hurts
You know I’ll probably make it worse
If you want me to confess
I’ll never have any regrets

We didn’t get into this business
Hopin’ for forgiveness
There’s no use in hopin’ when the gate is always open

When you ask me if I saw it
You know I try to look away
They’re playin’ their part
Just like us
In their own confused way

Belevin’ that we’re separate from each other
Makes it hard to share the love of another
When they finally join in
We’ll forget why they never did before

We didn’t get into this business
Hopin’ for forgiveness
There’s no use in hopin’ when the gate is always open

We can shine right through it
There’s really nothin’ to it
We’ll be the breeze soaring high above
As we all disappear in love
There’s no use in hopin’ when the gate is always open
As we all disappear in love
There’s no use in hopin’ when the gate is always open
As we all disappear in love
There’s no use in hopin’ when the gate is always open
As we all disappear in love

Edward Milton Hays

by Steve Leonard

Music by Steve Leonard
Lyrics by JP Garwood

Steve Leonard – Guitars, Vocals
Steve Graham – Lead Vocals
Don Frio – Piano, Organ, Vocals
Steve Leroy – Bass
Ryan Krieger – Drums

Recorded by Steve Leonard, Ryan Krieger, Don Frio, and Steve Leroy (2022-2023)
Mixed and mastered by Steve Leonard (Dec 2023)

Earlier this year, our musical brother and Mindface drummer, Ryan Krieger, moved on to another plane. Ryan was a great friend, father, and musical force of nature. His talent, focus, and friendship inspired every heart he touched. Last year, Ryan recorded some drum tracks for a few songs I wanted to produce, including the ol’ Mindface track “Edward Milton Hays”, which I wrote with lyrics by JP Garwood. I always dug this song, especially how Ryan played it, slathered with extra mustard. He played everything that way and continuously demonstrated what it means to pour your heart into the music and into life. He showed everyone he played with how to treat music-making with the same regard and attention he did. While we miss Ryan’s presence, every beat we continue to make will forever be shaped by the powerful and loving vibration he shared with us.
-Leonard

DOWNLOAD MP3

Never did the sights and sounds dilute your memory
Nor did the passing of time affect your ears
You were thinkin’ of better days
You were thinkin’ of better days
Weren’t you?
When you were younger

I don’t believe it’s a crime, you lying ’bout your innocence
Pretending you’re not what you seem to be
A simple old man don’t get much praise
Now does he Edward Milton Hays?
For some strange reason

Never did the mindless world stop to remember
Nor did the passing of time reduce its speed
It just keeps movin’ on, it’s just keep movin’ on
And suddenly, find someone else to take your place

So close your tired eyes
Leave on your disguise
Live happy in your lies, they will sustain you
You’re not the only one
Who knows it isn’t fun, to just remain you

If these be the final days
Of Edward Milton Hays
Forget a world that pays no mind
It will only drain you
If these be the final days
Of Edward Milton Hays
Never will the world stop to remember
That’s why no one ever stays
That’s why no one ever stays
That’s why no one ever stays
That’s why no one ever stays

Goodbye Edward Milton Hays
I’ll see you later

Mindface, The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ 2002

Sayonara

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

It’s hard to remember where we’re from
My eyes are open but my mind is numb
Lost upon a shoreless sea
If you’re looking for answers, don’t look to me

It’s hard to float this sunken heart
The maps we made all fell apart
Feeling cold and almost drowned
Alfonso’s nowhere to be found

Take us away
Take us away

It’s hard to not feel in control
We keep on diggin’ out of this hole
It’s a beautiful place here that we stole
Where you can live free, but they tax your soul

Take us away
Take us away

Take us to that other place
Where the desperate feelings are erased
In the healing sound, we’ll find the space
Where the music gives a warm embrace

Beneath the weight of gravity
I think of where we’ll always be
Soaring across a galaxy
Suspended in the symphony

Take us away
Take us away

Take us away
We’re goin’ away

Soaring across a galaxy, suspended in the symphony
Take us away
We’re goin’ away

We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

I’ve seen lights in the sky that no one can explain
I used to be afraid they’d come and take me away
No one knows what they were, but I never could forget
A deeper river flows and we ain’t see nothing yet

We built all the cities, lived among the trees
Flew through the skies, sailed shining seas
Filled up the museums with all the works of art
Studied all the things we were told would make us smart
It’s all just a fraction, minuscule parts
Of something beyond all the dreams in our hearts
Where it’s revealed how the next song starts

We are all artists perfecting our work
How to be kind, how to be a jerk
How to be cool, how to be free
Yet become what it is that you didn’t want to be

How to send a message, how to receive
Did this song come from you? Because it didn’t come from me
Maybe a drop from the river leaked through
A deeper river flows with water that is new
A deeper river flows, we can’t go with you

We must gamble it all, but nothing is the bet
No need to keep track, no reason for regret
Can’t arrive early, never can be late
It’s made out of love but a side effect is hate
It’s not right or wrong, and there’s nothing to escape
A deeper river flow from an eternal lake
Where the deeper river flows there’s no word for mistake

The lights that I saw are different lights for you
But it’s not the lights we seek, but what they lead us to
Where words don’t exist, we’ll forget all the names
Put away your wallet, let’s stop playing games
Where the lights lead us is one and the same
And as we go further it will seem insane
When numbers disappear along with the alphabet
A deeper river flows
A deeper river flows
A deeper river flows and we ain’t seen nothing yet
A deeper river flows and we ain’t seen nothing yet

When The Floodgates Open

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

Can’t get away from the trepidation
Nobody knows what to do
Must be a bug in the simulation

There’s a ship on the horizon
One that we have yet to see
One day we will ride it through the storm
And we will finally be free
And when that time comes, you’ll see

I’ll be there when the floodgates open
You might be surprised
When the floodgates open
The strange truth will be realized
When the floodgates open
We’ll become the light that’s shining through
When the floodgates open
Once again, the world will be brand new

When the floodgates open
When we become the rain
When the floodgates open
We’ll wash away all the pain
When the floodgates open
We’ll find out that nothing is for real
When the floodgates open
And just let go of the wheel

When the floodgates open
We’ll remember this very moment
When the floodgates open
When we all could sing along
Oh, when the floodgates open
There will be nothin’ left to do
When the floodgates open
And I’ll be drowning
I’ll be drowning next to you

When the floodgates open, oooo oooo
When the floodgates open, oooo oooo
When the floodgates open, oooo oooo
When the floodgates open, oooo oooo

When the floodgates open
We’ll drift away to another shore
When the floodgates open
Where we’ll never want for more
When the floodgates open
All of history gets washed away
When the floodgates open
It never mattered anyway
It never mattered anyway
It never mattered anyway
It never mattered anyway

Be Like Alfonso

by Steve Leonard

Music and lyrics by Steve Leonard

If you feelin’ like the world’s gettin’ you down
Be like Alfonso
If your beautiful smile’s turning into a frown
Be like Alfonso

Alfonso is just goin’ with the flow
Alfonso knows a lot of things that you don’t know

When you’re feelin’ tired, and it’s all too much
Be like Alfonso
If you are confused or feelin’ out of touch
Be like Alfonso

Alfonso has the patience of a saint
Every single day he is a model of restraint

Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso

If your plans turned out like you didn’t expect
Be like Alfonso
If you tried to log in, but you couldn’t connect
Be like Alfonso

Alfonso never sailed a ship that sank
He stands on solid ground, you can take that to the bank

Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso

Alfonso has a lot of love to share
and there’s nobody that cares like Alfonso cares

Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso
Be like, be like, be like Alfonso

True This Time

by Steve Leonard

Music by Steve Leonard
Lyrics by JP Garwood

Sometimes I think I see you
In places that you’d never be
Maybe that’s a glitch in the system
Or maybe it’s just me
Hoping that it all came true this time

Sometimes I’m sure I hear your voice
Around corners in a crowded place
Is that the echo of strangers?
Or perhaps it is just a trace
Of you whispering, it all came true this time

But songs with words never heard
By the ones they were written for will do for now
Until, somehow, they finally do
And make it all come true

Sometimes when I dream of you
Your image begins to fade
Like lazy days into the evening
The last float in the parade
I watch march by as if it all came true this time

But songs with words never heard
By the ones they were written for will do for now
Until, somehow, they finally do

Songs with words never heard
By the ones they were written for will do for now
Until, somehow, they finally do
And make it all come true

Make it all come true
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true (come true, come true)
Make it all come true