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Been
Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
© Rick Lang/Sharon Lang
Some years back, my sister Sharon asked me to stop
by for a visit where she worked. There she showed
me a book she had been reading... written by famed author
Eudora Welty. The book was about the plight of the
South in the early 1900's, in the midst of the depression
where life was incredibly hard and poor folks were
struggling to survive. It was a very powerful book... filled
with emotion and intensity. There was a line on one
of the pages that summed it all up: "I've been down
so long...it looks like up to me". I then decided
to try & write a song based on this sentiment as a
tribute to Eudora (who passed away in 2001). Here
is the tune... .hope you enjoy it!
 Listen
to a demo of Been
Down So Long...
Download the LYRICS
Colorado
© Lincoln Meyers/Rick Lang
I was very fortunate to have befriended the members
of one of my very favorite Bluegrass band Front Range...
back to the early 1990's when they first gained national
attention. Bob Dick, Bob Amos, Ron Lynam and Mike
Lantz are 4 of the nicest (and most talented) people
I've ever met. Mike and Ron reside in Colorado... as
did Bob Amos for a while. Although I've never been
there myself, I have a picture of it in my mind from
all the stories they would tell when we would get
together. Last year Mike tragically lost his life,
and since then I've been thinking a lot of our friendship
and re-living some very fond memories of the past.
I wrote this song as a tribute to Mike and the Front
Range boys. The tune was created around a beautiful
musical passage that my good friend Lincoln Meyers
came up with.
Listen
to a demo of Colorado
Download the LYRICS
Sweetest
Mountain Memory
© Rick Lang
"Many years ago my family and I attended a Bluegrass
Festival in Gettysburg, PA. While there, we visited
the Civil War battlegrounds. It was a very moving
experience. One night, a few months later, I had this
very vivid dream - a story that took place during
that same era. I wrote this song 'Sweetest Mountain
Memory' based on my recollection that dream. On the
demo, my very dear friend, George Claborn, plays some
fantastic clawhammer banjo, which really brings the
song to life."
Listen
to a demo of Sweetest
Mountain Memory
Download the LYRICS
Caroline
© Rick Lang
"I used to travel a lot for a living, and found myself
away from my home & family much more than I would
have liked. I was on a trip out west late one night,
feeling pretty lonely when I wrote this song."
Listen
to a demo of Caroline
Download the LYRICS
Gospel
News
© Ted DeMille/Rick Lang
"For the last several years I have collaborated
on occasion with my good friend Ted DeMille. Ted is
a wonderful singer and member of the Maine Bluegrass
group North Star. He also is a very talented songwriter,
and several of his songs have been featured on North
Star recordings. This is a tune Ted started, and I
joined in on, called 'Gospel News.' I loved the story
line but heard it as a darker/bluesier number. The
resulting version was one we were both pretty happy
with."
Listen
to a demo of Gospel
News
Download the LYRICS
Wind
In The Valley
© Rich Schleckser/Rick Lang
"This song is a collaborative effort with my good
friend Rick Schleckser.... a very lonesome number about
lost love. Rich sings on this one...and really nails
it!
To
listen to a demo of Wind
In The Valley
Download the LYRICS
Eye
Of The Hurricane
© Rick Lang
"Back in the early 1990's Hurricane Andrew ripped
through Florida causing widespread destruction ...and
death. It was one of the worst natural disasters they'd
had in a long long time. One evening, several months
later I was watching a TV documentary of the hurricane....
that included live footage filmed by a man trapped
in his mobile home. I remember hearing his wife in
the other room crying & screaming with fear as the
wind tore off their roof. The video was so frightening
I couldn't breath, and eventually became the inspiration
for this song."
To
listen to a demo of Eye
Of The Hurricane
Download the LYRICS
The
Old Sawmill
© Rick Lang
" I've spent a lot of time at sawmills in the Northeast
during the last 35 years or so. For economic reasons,
one after another have been forced to close down.
One day I had passed by an abandoned Sawmill formerly
owned by a friend of mine, and as I walked around
was filled with sadness reminiscing about the old
days. I decided to write this song as a tribute to
those "hardy" mill operators and their way of life."
To
listen to a demo of The
Old Sawmill
Download the LYRICS
Randall
Hayes
© Rick Lang
"Back in the 1970's there was a gruesome murder
in the town of Exeter NH where I grew up...the very
first anyone could remember. The man who was killed
lived in the woods near the town dump in a tarpaper
shack. He worked part time at the town cemetery, but
mostly survived off the fish and game he caught. I
was cross-country skiing with my wife on a very cold
January day a few years ago when the whole story came
back to me. I tried to write down a few notes but
the pen I had with me kept freezing up. So I rushed
right home and began working on this song".
To
listen to a demo of Randall
Hayes
Download the LYRICS
Johnstown
Flood
© Rick Lang
My good friend David Saxe first told me about the
Johnstown Flood after hearing me sing one of my many
story songs at a gathering at his house, and asked
if I'd be interested in learning more about it. About
a year later, I remembered David's words and tracked
down a terrific book about the Johnstown Flood...
with lots of graphic photos. The Johnstown Flood took
place in the late 18oo's in Johnstown PA when the
mighty South Fork dam broke....releasing the water
from lake Conemaugh on the helpless towns below...destroying
everything in its path...and killing thousands. It
was the worst recorded American national disaster
up to then, calling on the newly formed American Red
Cross for help and relief. The more I read, the more
interested I became, and started working on this song...which
was based on the recollection of the event by one
of the survivors...and took me two years to finish."
To
listen to a demo of Johnstown
Flood
Download the LYRICS
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2005-2008 Haley Anna Music | Rick Lang ~ all rights reserved