Gerard O'Riley

These lyrics are very Billy Eilish inspired. We could describe it as snatchy thoughts and dreams of a suffering psychopath. They're delivering a strong image of the main character.

My favorite song I've ever written. Perhaps my best. It has won 1st place in two contests, and 2nd place in a third. I have had four separate studios ask me to record it, my hesitation being that they would not allow my input in how they arranged it. I clung to it that tightly. Though after further consideration, I have to let it go. While it's mine, people who've read and heard it claim it's means a lot to them, and that they really enjoy it. It's my child; it really is. But like a bird, it has to fly on its own. My stubbornness in holding on to it isn't doing anyone any good. The song is about looking at a picture of my girlfriend, when she wasn't here, and swearing it was moving and speaking to me. Apparently, many people can feel this one like I can. That means a lot.

My girlfriend will not be pleased I posted this here. It's her favorite song of mine that I've written. It's a western-style song, about a charlatan, a con artist, living in the old west before modernity settled in during the early 1900s. This guy runs his scams as a preacher, using saloon girls, to outright robbery, and realizes that the "west" he knows is almost gone. I really enjoy this song. Out of all I've ever written, it's my #2 favorite song. I don't want anyone else to have it, but it's time...

I started writing this song when I was 19, in '99, and found it folded up on a piece of paper in an old book when I was doing some cleaning. I only had the chorus, but a note at the bottom of the page said "Give it a whirl," which is part of the lyrics. I decided to finish it up, after all these years. The song is really about how similar we all are, no matter where we come from, and how we all have a life to live, so live it while we still can. It's a chorus-driven song, even though the chorus isn't very long. In my head it sounds like Keith Urban singing it, for what it's worth.

This started as a talking blues song, with every forth line saying "On my way to leave you," but it ended up sounding too much like Townes' "Dollar Bill Blues" in cadence. So I reworked it here. It has a bit more of a talking-blues song cadence but certainly doesn't have to. It's about a guy who wants to leave his woman but can't bring himself to do it, so he gets around this by ensuring himself that today's the day... though he keeps finding excuses not to leave.