Are they going to find you dead?
2020© by John Schofield

Verse 1
Out of the darkness
Comes the night owl’s hoot
You take to the alley
A much shorter route

Verse 2
You sense a presence,
Hear nothing at all
Your eye catches something
A shadow on the wall

Chorus:
Breathing’s hard, sweating hands
Chest is gripped by steel bands
It’s in the mind, it’s in your head
Or are they going to find you dead?

Verse 3
The night owl’s warning
Hoots again in your mind
Was that the faint footsteps
Of something behind?

Bridge:
I want a world where it’s safe to tread
Alone at night without this dread

Chorus:
Breathing’s hard, sweating hands
Chest is gripped by steel bands
It’s in the mind, it’s in your head
Or are they going to find you dead?

Zanzibar
2020© by John Schofield

Verse 1
On a moonlit beach in Zanzibar
Strumming my old guitar
Our eyes met across a driftwood fire
Smouldering with desire

Verse 2
Beside the fire’s dying embers
That’s where we surrendered
On a blanket, under the stars
That night in Zanzibar

Chorus:
African rhythms, eastern spices
Sultry nights, a million stars
Exotic dishes, papaya slices
That’s the magic of, Zanzibar

Verse 3
I wonder now if she remembers
That night beside the embers
Of a driftwood fire under the stars
One night in Zanzibar

Chorus:
African rhythms, eastern spices
Sultry nights with a million stars
Exotic dishes, papaya slices
That’s the magic of Zanzibar

Climate Hero
©2020 John Schofield

Verse 1
I used to be a jetsetter
Around the globe I’d trot
Now I do it virtually
On my super slim laptop

Verse 2
If I want a new adventure
I Google it on line
About a minute later
I’m cruising down the Rhine

Chorus:
You’ll be a climate hero
Your carbon footprint zero
You’ll be a climate hero
I promise you it’s so

Verse 3
Not the same as really going
Not quite so face to face
But I am not complaining
Coz I’ll save the human race

Bridge:
Let your fingers do the flying
And stop your fellow man from dying

Chorus:
You’ll be a climate hero
Your carbon footprint zero
You’ll be a climate hero
I promise you it’s so

I’m OK now
©2020JohnSchofield

Verse 1
I’m not sure I loved you all that much
I guess it wasn’t love, as such
Just a silly crush, I thought
Some kind of nasty bug I’d caught

Verse 2
When you told me I should take a hike
When you said, go on, get on your bike
I didn’t really care too much
Coz, y’know, it wasn’t love as such

Chorus
You prob’ly thought it really hurt, but
I’m OK now
Bet you thought I cared a lot, but
I’m OK now
I cried myself to sleep last night, but
I’m, OK now

Verse 3
You were going for the fatal blow
But I’m never going to let it show
I’ll hide the pain so deep within
Because I couldn’t let you win

Chorus
You prob’ly thought it really hurt, but
I’m OK now
Bet you thought I cared a lot, but
I’m OK now
I cried myself to sleep last night, but
I’m, OK now

Repeat Verse 3
Repeat chorus

Keep On Moving On
2020© by John Schofield

Verse1
I used to come here as a kid
I’d play my guitar and sing
On a real good night I’d get paid
And sometimes I’d get laid

Verse 2
Now the bar stools are all empty
And the till has lost its ring
A dish towel on the beer pumps says
That this old place is dead

Chorus
Nothing stays the same
Everything moves on
You can’t go back
What’s gone has gone
Just keep on moving on

Verse 3
I called out loud but no one came
There’s nothing here but ghosts
I turned around and walked away
The memories could stay

Chorus
Nothing stays the same
Everything moves on
You can’t go back
What’s gone has gone
Just keep on moving on

Mixed Messages
©2020JohnSchofield

Verse1
At first your look said don’t you dare
But then it said you must
My first thought was well I don’t care
The second one was lust

Verse2
I wish you’d just speak clearly
And then not change your mind
Don’t wanna act prematurely
I’m really not that kind

Chorus
You’re sending me mixed messages
You’re playing with my head
Half of me is outa here,
And half is in your bed

Verse 3
Do you really want to boogie
Or are you saying stop?
I can’t wait much longer for
The other shoe to drop

Chorus
You’re sending me mixed messages
You’re playing with my head
Half of me is outa here,
And half is in your bed

Outro:
OK, now I’m done with this
I think we’ve missed our chance
You’re sending me mixed messages
Yeh, I think we missed our chance

Momentum
©2019JohnSchofield

Verse 1
Tires thudding on the blacktop, wheels slapping like a drum
Bennies with a can of Coke, my head begins to hum
Radio blasting Springsteen, and then Kristofferson
I’m on the road, I’m heading west, I’m chasing down the sun

Verse 2
I left her place in Mobile some time before the dawn
She’ll be drinking coffee now, maybe stiflin’ a yawn
Wrinkled tee shirt, mussed up hair, wondering where I’ve got
I’ll call her when I stop for gas, well maybe, maybe not

Chorus:
Momentum, Newton called it, a body on the move
Likes to stay that way, he said, and what he said is true
I can’t stop now, can’t slow down, this rig is coming through

Verse 4
Sheet lightning blooming brightly, billowing thunder clouds
Big Easy and then Baton Rouge, always westward bound
Windshield wipers slashing, headlights cutting through the night
Houston comes then Beeville, and the Rio Grande’s in sight

Verse 5
Unloading at this one-horse town, just outside Laredo
Easing off now, coming down, I’m starting to feel low
Kick a tyre, slap the hood, shake my head and moan
Gotta turn this rig around, it’s a thousand miles back home

Chorus:
Momentum, Newton called it, a body on the move
Likes to stay that way, he said, and what he said is true
I can’t stop now, can’t slow down, this rig is coming through

Outro:
On the road and rolling, back into the groove
Yeah, momentum, that’s the thing for me
Always on the move

The Call of the Sea
©2020JohnSchofield

Verse 1
We head for the Horn, sails tattered and torn
A cargo of grain from the east
And the albatross glides under gunmetal skies
Over galloping white-capped seas

Verse 2
On deck the men struggle to handle the lines
Their fingers are numb with the cold
The ship pitches and yaws in the jaws of the storm
But the cargo’s secure in the hold

Chorus
Oh, give us fair winds and following seas to carry us home swiftly, oh please
There’s a friendly tavern and pretty maidens waiting in Blighty for me

Verse 3
Across the equator, all canvas flying
For the Doldrums had set us free
Then one fine morning came the call we were yearning
Land-ho! Land-ho! We’re home from the sea

Chorus
Oh, give us fair winds and following seas to carry us home swiftly, oh please
There’s a friendly tavern and pretty maidens waiting in Blighty for me

Verse 4
Safe at the dock, we’ve unloaded the grain
The crew have gone shoreside, they’re free
But before very long I will set sail again
For I must answer the call of the sea

Chorus
Oh, give us fair winds and following seas to carry us home swiftly, oh please
There’s a friendly tavern and pretty maidens waiting in Blighty for me

You can’t eat money
©2021 John Schofield

Chorus:
Watcha gonna eat when we’ve only got money?
When the bees are all gone
And there’s no more honey
Watcha gonna buy with all that bread?
When the waters gone sour
And the fish are all dead
Watcha gonna eat, cos you can’t eat money?

Verse 1
Walking on the tideline
Picking through the driftwood
Most of it is plastic
None of it is any good

Chorus:
Watcha gonna breathe when we’ve only got money?
When the trees are all gone
And the air’s turned funny
Watcha gonna buy with loads of cash?
When the rains have failed
And the crops are all trash
Watch gonna eat, cos you can’t eat money?

Verse 2
Watching all the animals
Running from the bushfires
The icecaps are melting
Governments are liars

Chorus:
Watcha gonna eat when we’ve only got money?
When the bees are all gone
And there’s no more honey
Watcha gonna buy with all that bread?
When the waters gone sour
And the fish are all dead
Watcha gonna eat, cos you can’t eat money?

Bridge:
You can’t eat money, no you can’t eat money
No, no, no, you can’t eat money…

Verse 3
Let’s destroy the planet
Suck up all that black gold
Dig it out, burn it up
Greenhouse gas uncontrolled

Chorus:
Watcha gonna breathe when we’ve only got money?
When the trees are all gone
And the air’s turned funny
Watcha gonna buy with loads of cash?
When the rains have failed
And the crops are all trash
Watch gonna eat, cos you can’t eat money?

Outro:
You can’t eat money, no you can’t eat money
No, no, no, you can’t eat money…

Alternative verse 3:

Never mind the planet, Gotta dig the black shit, Dig it out, burn it up, Gasoline cheap as chips

UKSC2021 5 stars, semi-finalist

Shades of Grey
©2020John Schofield
Verse 1
You were my artists palette
Every colour on the planet
My private colour chart
A work of abstract art

Chorus:
My world was filled with colour
Before you went away
Now everything is duller
All I see are shades of grey

Verse 2
You were my English garden
My blue, my green, my carmen
Like a double rainbow
A sunset’s afterglow

Chorus:
My world was filled with colour
Before you went away
Now everything is duller
All I see are shades of grey

Outro:
Yes, everything I see now
Is just a shade of grey
My world was filled with colour
Now all I see is grey