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 6.)

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 26: “Lest We Soon Forget”

My wife took most of our family pictures; the framing and hanging was a joint effort. Round the room and down the hall, to say the least. The bridge in this song is one of my favorites. (Title source? A TV Guide interview with actress Bo Derek.)

Lest We Soon Forget

Hang those pictures on the wall
So that we’ll remember
Round the room and down the hall
Lest we soon forget.
Every picture in every frame
So that we’ll remember
Each a story, none the same
Lest we soon forget.

Lest we soon forget, lest we soon forget
So that we’ll remember, oh, lest we soon forget.

Days of sunshine, days of rain
So that we’ll remember
Childhood’s breathless promenade
Lest we soon forget
Posed and perfect Sunday smiles
So that we’ll remember
Family from across the miles
Lest we soon forget.

Lest we soon forget, lest we soon forget
So that we’ll remember, oh, lest we soon forget.

Someday, these days will be among
All those good old days from when we were younger.

Hang those pictures on the wall
So that we’ll remember
Round the room and down the hall
Lest we soon forget.

Lest we soon forget, lest we soon forget
So that we’ll remember, oh, lest we soon forget.
So that we’ll remember, oh, lest we soon forget.


1998

Track 27: “Remaining Seas”

That title was a typo.

I had received a brochure in the mail for an upcoming concert series at a nearby venue. On the page of the brochure with the information about how one could order tickets to a show, there was a careful explanation that “members” would be given first choice of seats. Those holding season tickets would be next in line and then “remaining seas” would be available to the general public after such and such a date.

Remaining Seas

I am sailing on remaining seas
These remaining seas,
I am sailing, sailing
I am sailing on remaining seas.

When I lived on land
I wandered every path
Armed with countless questions
And heedless of the days going past.
But out among the swells
Time is like the breeze
And the need to know the answers
Loses its urgency.

I am sailing on remaining seas
These remaining seas,
I am sailing, sailing
I am sailing on remaining seas.

None of us can be
As young as yesterday
The best that we can hope for
Is not to always act our age.
So, as I set my sails
And cast that anchor free
I’ll face each new horizon
Grateful for remaining seas.

I am sailing on remaining seas
These remaining seas,
I am sailing, sailing
I am sailing on remaining seas.
I am sailing, sailing
I am sailing on remaining seas.


2000

“Remaining Seas” was first released here on sixstr stories on July 2, 2014, in the post: “Remaining Seas.”

Track 28: “There Aren’t (Enough Numbers)”

Ever try to actually make a list of all your blessings? Writing a song seemed easier, with a prompt from my father-in-law. I once performed this song as part of a Family Reunion Talent Show with my wife on tambourine and my daughter on flute.

There Aren’t (Enough Numbers)

There aren’t enough stars in all of the heavens
There aren’t enough fish in the sea
There aren’t enough numbers to count all the blessings
That somehow, I’ve come to receive.

When I get to sit at my kitchen table
With time to linger over my second cup,
I often try, but I’ve never been able
To figure what I did to deserve so much.

Now, there aren’t enough stars in all of the heavens
There aren’t enough fish in the sea
There aren’t enough numbers to count all the blessings
That somehow, I’ve come to receive.

Well, if you took all the waves that crash on the beaches
In one day, the breezes that dance through the trees
Tied them up in a list of the lessons life teaches,
That bundle would be humbled by the gifts that each day brings to me.

Ah, there aren’t enough stars in all of the heavens
There aren’t enough fish in the deep blue sea
There aren’t enough numbers to count all the blessings
That somehow, I’ve come to receive.

Ah, there aren’t enough numbers to count all the blessings
That somehow, I’ve come to receive.


2000

Track 29: “Another Profound And Meaningful Song”

I have a print, an etching, by the New England artist Carol Travers Lummus. It is framed and hanging on the wall behind my left shoulder as I write this. The art work features a whimsical rendering of a mouse, sitting and looking relaxed and quite satisfied. It is titled: “Another Profound And Meaningful Song.”

Inspired by that title, I also borrowed a bit from the imagery in a certain Bob Dylan masterpiece. And yes, the guitar part starts off sounding like a Grateful Dead song.

Finally, much like a couple of the songs on Side 8, the road this song walked was long. It started in 2001 and finished with this recording in 2025.

Another Profound And Meaningful Song

Bright sun shining, pouring down
Jingle jangle morning, just hanging around
No big occasion to celebrate
All the more reason to strike up my own parade.

Grab that six-string, my old friend
Thinking maybe something from way back when
Fingers go to working, they know what to do
Well, if I get lucky these bootheels will be making a move.

Not bad, could be worse
How about a chorus to go with that verse?
Can’t stop, been so long
Looks like another profound and meaningful song.

Rolling right along now, step by step
More than good and ready for whatever comes next
All you gotta do is give it some time
Sit back, relax, savor every inch of the ride.

Not bad, could be worse
Catchy little chorus and a second verse
Can’t stop, been so long
Here comes another profound and meaningful song.

Sunshine slipping back behind the pines
No one to meet, so I really don’t mind.
Most days lately just come and go
When this day’s done, at least I’ll have something to show.

Not bad, could be worse
Catchy little chorus and one last verse
Can’t stop singing along
Nothing like another profound and meaningful
Nothing like another profound and meaningful song.


2001/2025

Track 30: “Round And Round”

So much has happened since this song first emerged. This past September, when I took it out for a spin to celebrate its twenty-fourth birthday, I realized that I needed to update the last verse. So I did, and cut this new recording of “Round And Round” in March, 2026.

Round and Round

Summer’s over, there it goes
Mixed emotions, disbelief
Good intentions, heaven knows
It’s hard to reconcile relief.

Autumn enters, next in line
With its crystal blue persuasive skies
New adventures, hills to climb
Rising up before my eyes.

Round and round
Green turns brown
Hearts rebound
Round and round

Quests and searches, hopes and dreams
Got a few that I pursue.
Lofty perches, finally reached
Seldom offer unobstructed views.

Round and round
Up comes down
Lost gets found
Round and round

I’ve been trying, watching this
Not so new millennium
To have faith and stay convinced
Better days will surely come.

Round and round
Gray gains ground
Love astounds
Round and round


2001/2025

“Round And Round” was first released (with the original last verse) here on sixstr stories on September 11, 2011, in the post: “Everything Changed.”

There you go! I hope you enjoyed this new quintet! Stay tuned for more sides of “There Are (These Songs, Too).”