If you haven’t visited sixstr stories in a while, this is what’s been going on. 

(If you have, you can skip this and scroll straight to the songs on Side 7.)

There Are (These Songs, Too) is a collection of 45 songs.

Covering the years 1976 – 2026, I wrote these songs before, during and after putting together my three “officially” released albums: There Are (Songs To Be Sung), Anytime and Five Songs.

These acoustic-guitar-and-vocals (with the occasional harmonica) performances were captured in my home studio, direct-to-two-track, with no overdubs, splicing, editing or other electronic shenanigans.

I’ve chosen to present this collection in nine, five song “Sides.” (I guess you could call this my “box set.”) The song sequence is chronological, by year of initial composition. Any songs that were subject to a re-write and/or re-recorded at a later date are so noted.

Several of these recordings, it will also be noted, have been previously released here on sixstr stories.

Most are available here for the first time.

So, here we go…

Track 31: “Cherish These Moments” – I must say that this is one of my favorite songs. I’m really proud of this one, and I’m still trying to remember to take my own advice.

Cherish These Moments

Younger man
At a table
Dining out with his small daughter.
Box of crayons 
Conversation
Undisturbed by our loud burst of laughter.

My family’s 
Last supper
Before my daughter goes back to school.
Between the ribs and the 
Reminiscing,
How’d we get from there to here so soon?

Tip the waitress, 
Another chuckle
Bundle up and hit the road.
Tired to speak, 
Father to father
Couldn’t find the words ‘till I got home.

Cherish these moments
They go so fast
Cherish these moments
Can’t make them last
Watch them in wonder
Don’t miss a chance
To cherish each moment
And your days will dance.

After all
Kitchen table
Breakfast with my not-small son.
Thought I knew 
Fact from fable
Got to face the pace this race is run.

Cherish these moments
They go so fast
Cherish these moments
Can’t make them last
Watch them in wonder
Don’t miss a chance
To cherish each moment
And your days will dance.

Younger man 
At a table
Dining out with his small daughter.


2003

“Cherish These Moments” was first released here on sixstr stories on December 9, 2011, in the post: “A Song From A Holiday Past.”

Track 32: “Must Be Love” – It certainly was, is and always will be.

Must Be Love

How come you always know before I say a word?
One look is all it takes to set my heart a stir?
When we find our days denying passions late requests
What fills those sleepy hugs with such contentedness?

It must be love, it must be love
Arms around like hand in glove
It must be love, it must be love, love, love
It must be love, it must be love
Still life’s not-so-secret of
It must be love, it must be love.

Can’t explain how it is out here on the road
All at once I need to hear you answering “Hello.”
And those nights I come home late and find you fast asleep,
What’s in one stolen kiss that skips my heart a beat?

It must be love, it must be love
Sent by starlight from above
It must be love, it must be love, love, love
It must be love, it must be love
With its affectionate shoves
It must be love, it must be love.

Come the time for giving thanks, how much do we miss?
Each day leaves one more page added to the list.
And looking back across the years, it’s clear that we’ve been blessed
So, what keeps telling me we’ve yet to see the best?

It must be love, it must be love
Life’s long wonderous journey of
It must be love, it must be love, love, love,
It must be love, it must be love
Still what we need the most of
It must be love, it must be love
It must be love, it must be love
It must be love, it must be love, love, love, love, love
It must be love, it must be love.


2003

Track 33: “Through It All” – Thoughts on my life as it was in 2004, with a fun-to-play guitar solo!

Through It All

Through the storms and the twisting calm
I have warmed these open arms
Holding fast to the good I’ve found
Far away from the gathering crowd.

Through the trials, all the chances missed
I have smiled from kiss to kiss
Twice as much as the songs allow,
Down the aisle, to the here and now.

Through the eyes of the child within
I have spied on my next of kin
Knowing well that the times have changed,
But the power of love is still the same.

Through the years, as the days go by
I will steer this ship of mine
With my hands guided by my heart
And my soul by the twinkling stars.


2004

“Through It All” was first released here on sixstr stories on August 7, 2017, in the post: “Through It All, So Far.”

Track 34: “Now Or Never” – A conversation with myself, while also exercising my inner rocker.

Now Or Never

It’s now or never
Time to decide
Do whatever it takes or say “Goodbye.”

Lose the excuses
Show some resolve
Don’t just let your dreams dissolve.

Can’t keep putting it off any longer
Thinking maybe one more wish
That much stronger.

Answer the question
Don’t serpentine
You’ve had long enough to make up your mind.

You can blame one thing or another
Waiting on a miracle cure
Recently discovered.

It’s now or never
Fly or fall
Step up to the plate, once and for all.

It’s now or never
Once and for all…


2004

Track 35: “1719”

Once upon a time, automobile license plates here in New Hampshire were just numbers, with six being the most that would fit on a plate. So, it was a considered to be a big deal if you had a low-number plate. People in the upper levels of state government, for instance, had one and two number plates. My father was always quite pleased that he had somehow managed to get one with four numbers, and he held onto it for decades. He and my mother were known around town by the “1719” that graced their string of station wagons. The Pontiac “Parisienne” described in this song was the last vehicle to wear it.

1719

Back a little while ago
On my way home
I passed my parent's station wagon
Parked beside the road,
Waving at the traffic
With it's store-bought "for sale" sign
Looking like a relic
From some auld lang syne.

It was a big brown Pontiac
Nineteen, I don't know
Air conditioning, power locks
Cassette and a cruise control.
Just a big brown Pontiac
That once upon a time
Had a four-number license plate
One-seven-one-nine.

Well, Dad had sold it
A couple years before
To a nice young Mom
With a small gang of kids
Hanging off her arms.
Well, she needed all that room 
For carting them around
And heading to the beach
When summer came to town.

Now, that car was well acquainted
With laughing little kids.
My son and my daughter
Can still remember when
Their Nana and their Grampa
Would take them for a ride
Over town and out to lunch
When they would spend the night.

It was a big brown Pontiac
Wood grain on the side,
Crushed velour upholstery
None of that front-wheel drive.
Just a big brown Pontiac
That once upon a time
Had a four-number license plate
One-seven-one nine.

Well, that car delivered presents
And bags of Christmas cheer
Deviled eggs and birthday cakes
Several times a year,
Babysitters of Saturday nights
And Monday afternoons, 
We'd watch for that Parisienne 
To pull up to the curb.

Dad did all the driving
When the Doc said Mom should not
For fear that she'd get out there
And wind up good and lost.
But then Dad's arthritis got so bad
That he could hardly walk
Let alone get in a car and
Drive it down the block.

So that was when he sold it
And passed the plates to me.
And homeward now that station wagon's
Nowhere to be seen.
Ah, but I don't need reminding
Of those days gone by
And the sweet loving kindness
Of those dear old folks of mine.

Driving that big brown Pontiac
All dressed up in chrome
From the rocker panels to the roof rack,
Round every window.
Just a big brown Pontiac
That once upon a time 
Had a four-number license plate
One-seven-one-nine.


2004/2023

I finally got a Verse 6 that I liked in 2023.

Hope you enjoyed this new side of songs! Stay tuned for more from There Are (These Songs, Too)!