songwriting

"words make you think a thought, music makes you feel a feeling, a song makes you feel a thought." Yip Harburg

Songs by Harry Becker
scroll down or click on songs for audio and lyrics

                           Story Songs
Witness Tree
Goin' Home Song
Dancing The Waltz
The Road To The Fair Of Grand-Bourg
Mollie's Waltz

                             Ballads
Twinkle In Your Eye
Rainy Day
Lonely People
If Not For Loving You
A Night Without You

                          Instrumentals
The Storm
September Sweet
Oratorio
Chamomile
Dreamy Waltz

                             Lyrics Only
It Is What It Is
The House on Wilder Road
Molly Clare
The Fisherman's Song
The Storm (lyrics only)
Gaviotas
Texas Swing

Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2020 in the Lyrics Only Category for "It Is What It Is"

Honorable Mention Award in the 5th Annual American Songwriting Competition 1976

Semi-Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2020 Children's Songs Category "Twinkle In Your Eye" (children's version)

Witness Tree
words and music by Harry Becker ©2021
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker tenor banjo : Elric Walker temple bell : Jan Tesini
software instrumentation: PG Music BIAB

darlin’ won’t you take my hand and come along with me
to where a lazy creek begins its journey to the sea
it flows beneath a bridge of stone as quiet as a prayer
beneath the branches of a tree that towers in the air
there upon a hallowed ground I’ll vow my love for thee
by the giant sycamore they call the witness tree

back in 1862 September seventeen
the union army faced the troops of good ole Bobby Lee
by the time the day was o’er history would recall
in the Battle of Antietam twenty thousand men would fall
no other day in all the wars no greater loss would be
but you don’t have take my word just ask the witness tree

they fell in Miller’s cornfield and they fell on Sunken Road
they fell along Antietam Creek where scarlet waters flowed
the wounded lay from Dunker Church down to the bridge of stone
where metal shard and musket balls cut them to the bone
there beside the river barely tall enough to see
stood a sapling sycamore they call The Witness Tree

one hundred thousand loyal men battled on that day
certain they would not survive they marched into the fray
with letters writ the night before buttoned to their breast
their final words as they prepared to meet their final rest
my death is not in vain my love so don’t you cry for me
my story, will fore’er be told by the witness tree

so pick a flower when it blooms and put it in your hair
pick a a straw from a broom and throw it in the air
pick a rabbit from a hat, a white dove from your sleeve
fool me into seeing something I cannot believe
make me laugh the way I did when I was only three
take my hand and we will dance around the witness tree

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Goin' Home Song
words & music by Harry Becker ©2019
vocal : Harry Becker software instrumentation : PG Music BIAB Piano : Floyd Cramer

the bar’s tryin’ to close, the last quarter goes
in the Jukebox to play one more song
the bartender knows ‘less this ole barstool throws me
I’ll be sittin’ here drinkin’ till dawn
so he turns out a light says let’s call it a night
and takes an old broom to the floor
it’s last call for beer and just time to hear
a goin’ home song once more

goin’ home, goin’ home
I’m drunk and I’m tired and feelin’ alone
put the chairs on the table and polish the chrome
and play me a goin’ home song

I can tell you a story of heartache and glory
but I’ll spare you and cut to the chase
I could show you the scars I got reachin’ for stars
as long as that grin on your face
for now I’ll just leave you with a thought I believe you
may not have considered before
life’s a bottle of beer you drink till you hear
that goin’ home song once more

goin’ home, goin’ home…

don’t play me a song about love that’s gone wrong
it’ll just make me ask myself why
and don’t play a song about heartbreak and longing
it just brings a tear to my eye
the hour’s too late to be questioning fate
it is what it is right or wrong
so as the cowboys all say let’s round up the strays
and sing an old goin’ home song

here’s to young lovers who’ll tell you their love is
the kind that will always be true
and those passed their prime who drink too much wine
and say there’s not much they can do
to those living lives helping others survive
and try to make right what is wrong
when your life’s work is done may there be someone
to sing you a goin’ home song

goin’ home, goin’ home…

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Dancing The Waltz
words & music by Harry Becker©2019
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker

the young ladies were preening their white ballroom dresses
adorned with Gardenias and fine French perfume
the Summer Cotillion was soon to commence
and the young girls were blushing like flowers in bloom

Mrs. Pendleton gazed at the powder room mirror
dreaming of days a long time ago
the belle of the ball she filled every dance card
with all of society’s finest young beaus

but she married a welder who worked at the docks
then went off to fight in the war
he never returned and she never remarried
or danced the waltz anymore

her suitors were rich from the finest of families
with titles and privilege and acres of land
but she chose to elope despite family objections
preferring a man who worked with his hands

she devoted her life to the daughter he gave her
he never heard cry or held in his arms
spent all she had on the finest of schools
to give her the skills to survive on her own

she can still feel his strong arm embracing her waist
like it did when they danced 'round the floor
as the band starts to play she dreams of the day
they’ll be dancing the waltz once more

young men in tuxedos wait in the hallway
where portraits of old men hang on the wall
and black and white photos, yellowed and faded
of people and times they’re too young to recall

her granddaughters hand gently touches her shoulder
she struggles to stand her cane by her side
she jokingly tells her “don’t ever get old’
though she knows it’s not something we get to decide

she married a welder who worked at the docks
and went off to fight in the war
he never returned and she never stopped dreaming
They’d be dancing the waltz once more

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The Road To The Fair Of Grand-Bourg
words & music by Harry Becker©2008
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker

the bells of Grand-Bourg are tolling once more the party is well under way
tis the day of the Fete and the stage has been set for a band of musicians to play
fiddles and flutes and troubadour’s lutes gather as in days of old
when church bells would chime over jugglers and mimes and puppeteer’s tales would be told

stones have been paved, souls have been saved, and the tall grass still sways on the moor
where a warm summer breeze rustles the trees on the road to the Fair of Grand-Bourg

the streets of Grand-Bourg are happy once more they’re setting up tables and chairs
cheerful displays of flowered bouquets for merchants to offer their wares
there’s silk from Ceylon, tea from Hunan, and coffee from land cross the sea
satin from Spain, yarn by the skein, and Lace that was made in Paris

stones have been paved, souls have been saved, and the tall grass still sways on the moor
where a warm summer breeze rustles the trees on the road to the Fair of Grand Bourg

dancers and actors enter the square and prepare to put on a play
an artist unfolds an easel and chair and a sign that says half price on portraits today

and the Bells of Grand Bourg are tolling once more and the faithful have answered the call
falcons still glide over Corsican Pines and perch on the steeples so tall
Percheron’s graze and look up to gaze at the travelers passing their way
like the saints carved in stone peering down from their throne silent with nothing to say

their stone’s been engraved, their souls have been save and the tall grass still sways on the moor
where a warm summer breeze rustles the trees on the road to the Fair of Grand Bourg

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Mollie’s Waltz
words and music by Harry Becker 2020
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker
to the tune of “At The Tryst”© 1891 by Mary (Mollie) Armstrong Tucker (1842-1922)

it’was a time of adventure, the west was still young, and Mollie was only sixteen
when she wed Captain Tucker, a man of the sea, with more than respectable means
he bought her a castle on the coastline of Maine with a river view fit for a queen
and a rosewood piano hand made in Boston the finest she’d ever seen

Mollie would play the waltz everyday as her Captain would look on with pride
but his ventures would fail and his heart would be broken when he could no longer provide
the strain of a life of worry and strife would break someone far less assured
but Mollie was strong and with help from her children she and her castle endured

her first child was Mame who was born for the stage and once toured with Buffalo Bill
her second was Richard who followed the stars, an astronomer’s life would fulfill
Patty would write for the Denver Tribune and fight for the suffragette’s cause
and Will would go west in search of adventure, dreaming of far distant shores

Mollie would play as the years slipped away, her husband no more by her side
he was seventy nine, and she fifty three, the year the old captain died
her youngest now grown, Jennie came home to help her poor mother survive
then devoted her life to care for the castle and keep Mollie’s memory alive

and so Castle Tucker remains undisturbed as grand as it was in the day
when Mollie and Jen would open its doors and the gentry would come for a stay
they’d sit in the parlor now frozen in time like the stories the ladies would share
of the life and adventures of Richard H. Tucker and the hardships they had to bear

then Mollie would play recalling a day when her Captain would look on with pride
distinguished and strong, he was her hero, and she, his starry eyed bride
their story now told, the moral though old is one we’d do well to preserve
“tis rare that one gets the life one expects and rarer the life one deserves”

T’was a time of adventure when the west was still young and Mollie was only sixteen
she wed Captain Tucker, a man of the sea with more than respectable means
he bought her a castle on the coastline of Maine with a river view fit for a queen
and a rosewood piano hand made in Boston the finest she’d ever seen

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Twinkle In Your Eye
words and music by Harry Becker © 2011
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker

wise men say that happiness cant be bought or sold
and love's a very precious thing, more valuable than gold
pretty jewels can blind a fool, they glitter oh so bright
but when I look into your eyes I see the light

some may wish to be a star, the brightest in the sky
but as for me I'd rather be a twinkle in your eye
when you're rich, it may be true, a diamond's sparkle you can buy
that may be but I'd rather see a twinkle in your eye

It's a noble quest to be the best and enjoy your just reward
but a greater prize is in the eyes of one that you adore
cause fame is fleeting and fortunes, they will fall, on this you can rely
but I will shine as long as I'm a twinkle in your eye

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Rainy Day
words by Harry Becker & Jan Tesini, music by Harry Becker ©2006
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker

she can hold my heart in her hand,
put a smile upon my face as I walk along
this moonlit street alone

raindrops falling from the trees
seem to be making melodies
as sweet as a French love song.

and as a firefly lights up my way
through a mist rising from the ground
I know I found a joy
and closing my eyes
she comes into view

and it's not just another rainy day
just another walk alone
for I know when I get home she will be there

It's such a curiosity
but as the thought of her comes over me
a world once familiar and sad seems brighter somehow

and it's not just another rainy day
or just another moon above
it has the look of love upon its face

I know it's just a state of mind
but when you love and know you’re loved in kind
it's easy to find some delight in a rainy day

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Lonely People
English lyrics by Harry Becker ©2006 to the tune of Caminhos Cruzados by Antonio Carlos Jobim
guitar & vocal : Harry Becker

well the story goes Sir Isaac Newton sat beneath a tree
an apple falling on his head disturbed his reverie
averting his attention from what was on his mind
and begged him to find an explanation

but the secrets of the universe were not his only thought
answers to such questions not the only ones he sought
why was he beneath that tree with no one by his side
no one to confide to as he pondered

consider all the sad and lonely people in this world
logic might suggest a remedy
it’s just a matter of time they should find
some comfort in each other’s company

but there’s no place for logic in discussions of the heart
the subject of what’s smart does not arise
the nature of attraction is unclear when two bodies near
the laws of gravitation should apply

and so we plot our journeys and travel to the stars
and wonder just how far we’ve really come
the unresolved equation still remains science can’t explain
all the lonely people.

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If Not For Loving You
music by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, English lyrics by Harry Becker
Lui Collins : vocal and tenor ukulele, Anand Nayak : guitar
to enjoy more of Lui's artistry click here www.luicollins.net

my darling, know this love of ours was always meant to be
I was always meant for you as you were meant for me
know while we may be apart the sadness that we feel
is just the heartache lovers share when love is true and real
but in your sadness know there is no cause for you to cry
for every road I travel leads me closer to your side

how lovely is the moonlight but how lovely would it be
if not for its reflection on the dark and lonely sea
and how would rain fall from the sky to make the flowers grow
is it not the dark and gloomy clouds that make it so
great poems would ne’er be penned if, heartache, poets never knew
and I would not be singing now if not for loving you