You can view lyrics to all songs from our CD by scolling down below. You can also view some of them in our Electronic Press Kit (EPK) through Sonicbids. (In the EPK, select "audio" from the menu at the top to see a selection of sound clips AND lyrics.)

About While Trees Fall While Trees Fall was inspired by an interview with Michael Moore that he included on the DVD of his movie Bowling For Columbine. In it, he mentioned among other things how he was taught as a boy that we will be judged by how we treat the least of us, and also that a camel will have an easier time getting through the eye of a needle than a rich man would have getting into heaven. While many people are familiar with these phrases from their own religious upbringings, I was not; however, they resonated with me and, intrigued, I jotted them down in my songwriting notebook. Many months later, on a day when I was particularly despairing about the sorry state of the planet and the terrifyingly greedy, shortsighted and inhuman cronies that have mostly put us there -- and their deafness to our protests -- I flipped open the notebook, saw the sheet of paper with those words on top, and wrote this song. -Robyn Landis In August 2005, While Trees Fall won first prize in the acoustic category of the William Robert Abate Songwriting Competition. This contest, in conjunction with the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, awards songs that promote peace, love, and community, or speak out against violence, war or hate, and only one winner is chosen in each category. Read an interview with Robyn Landis given to AlphaMusic Group (AMG)--a NYC music PR firm that promoted the William Robert Abate contest and its winners.

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WINTER BLUES This is it nothing I can do Winter is coming And so are the blues Blue like the dusk on snow Blue like a twilight sky Blue like the shadows Blue make me ask why chorus: Night falls, the snow falls We all fall down down down Night falls, darkness falls and robin won't call Won't call or come around Sun's always setting Leaving us ice and stone Summer's always leaving Leaving me alone Blue like a mountain Blue like a day that's done Blue like cold fingers Make me wanna run ... (chorus) ... I make a fist Try to hold the sand I never get used to this Coming up with empty hands Blue like the ocean Blue carried on that breeze Blue tide turning Bringing in the freeze Night falls, the snow falls we all fall down down down Night falls, darkness falls and robin won't call won't call or come around No, Robin won't call call again or come around This is it Nothing I can do Winter is coming And so are the blues ©2004 Robyn Landis * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IN YOUR ARMS Moon on the water Ship lost at sea Child cries for mother A star falls silently Time goes slowly Time goes slowly chorus: Oh to be in your arms right now To hold you close to me I'd give everything I have To be in your arms right now High mountain desert Old bent pine tree Parched cries for water The suns sets endlessly Time goes slowly Time goes slowly ... (chorus) ... Abandoned old farmhouse Yard filled with weeds Wind cries forsaken A bell tolls somewhere Time goes slowly Time goes so slowly ... (chorus) ... ©2004 Steve Amsden

WHILE TREES FALL How we treat the least of us reveals the beast in us I don't like what I see so I turn off the TV They have nothing to say They say it anyway They send us shopping now They tell us where and tell us how … They didn't take my calls behind the whitewashed walls My letters undelivered while trees fall I'm shouting all the time The world should have been mine I have to hand it over filthy with another's crime chorus: They want to get into heaven through the eye of a needle Let me in before the ones in suits can try Can I be an angel so I can ask some questions Before I let them by Before I let them by While someone stalls for time someone collects the dimes We can't see without light so why bother to do what's right There isn't any hell we don't already know so well Like the one they're building for the people they don't tell >>>> They want to get into heaven through the eye of a needle Let me in before the ones in suits can even try Can I be an angel so I can ask some questions Before I let them by If I let them by (Bridge) They never touch the earth or they might feels its pain If they could calculate its worth they'd sell the rain The world's all muffled screams Razor blades in children's dreams They don't know what it means or why they feel ashamed Every day I try to sing Every day is reckoning And wrecking everything that moves or breathes or cries They never take my calls They haven't got the balls They just have lies is all while trees fall and fall and fall They want to get into heaven through the eye of a needle Let me in before the ones in suits can try just let 'em try Can I be an angel so I can ask the questions Before I let them by SEE If I let them by Let 'em by ... I don't buy... Should I let them walk on by... I won't let them walk on by... ©2004 Robyn Landis

SAY GOODBYE Starting to say goodbye Though it's not time Starting to say goodbye without a sign I'm not taking chances planning in advance Say goodbye Starting to let go now so I'll be first Starting to let go now Best to think the worst I'm just practicing Rehearsing well-known scenes Say goodbye Starting to walk on now So slowly you can't see Starting to walk on now so quietly When you do catch on I could be long gone Say goodbye Lie here listening to the clock keep time It's almost time it could happen any time at all You lie there sleeping Do you know anything Don't you know what's happening Can't you read the writing on the wall Starting to say goodbye in my head Starting to say goodbye though nothing has been said It's too soon to tell But I'm preparing well to say goodbye... But if you'd catch me inthe act Maybe you'd bring me abck Or say goodbye ©2004 Steve Amsden & Robyn Landis * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CUTTHROAT You take no prisoners No mercy, no quarter You give it everything You sacrifice your daughter Your sons and daughters Cutthroat, you say that's the only way you play Cut throat then walk away You're gonna lose someday It's not a game You leave a trail of tears A legacy of sorrow You give it everything as if there's no tomorrow There's no tomorrow It seems you win again No second prizes You give it everything That's what the price is That's exactly what the price is ©2004 Steve Amsden

WHEN I GET THERE Driving home real slow Followed by a yellow moon I'm thinking, thinking, always thinking I'm headed somewhere soon Driving home real slow The road winds high and low I meet the sky halfway My wheels know where to go Taking the long way again I think these streetlights are my friends Taking the long way again not gonna stop till I'm really at the end But I'll be there when I get there I'll be there first in my dreams I won't be home until I know where these roads all lead But I'll be there... when I get there... Driving home real slow Heart as black as the road Heart as light as the sky Some things I'm just starting to know Driving home real slow Everyone in bed-all those warm beds My blanket is the heavens tonight Don't want nothing else covering my head Taking the long way again I think these road signs are my friends Taking the long way again not gonna stop till I'm really at the end But I'll be there... And I'll ride the edge of that soft shoulder, I'll feel the wind blow just a little colder Think I'm gonna coast these back streets till I'm a little older Driving home real slow Night vision has kicked in My senses are like radar now I'm wide awake again Driving even slower now Shifting down still lower now I'm crawling through these streets alone now Only my heart can see me home now Only my heart can see me home now Only my heart can see me home See me home... ©2004 Robyn Landis

THAT WAS THEN I sang your praises from high places Called your name out like a prayer Hymns of adoration and psalms of dark despair I worshipped at your altar Made sacrifices in your name Once upon a time I thought I was keeper of the flame But I have to get over it somehow 'Cause that was then and this is now I reveled in your religion I relied upon your grace Said Hail Marys for your mercy Closed my eyes to see your face Cast my bread upon the water and wept over the waste Once upon a time I thought I believed and I was saved But I have to get over it somehow 'Cause that was then and this is now I stood upon the mountain so I could shine your light Held my candle to the wind Left me cursing at the night I stood alone in darkness Saw what I never saw before Once upon a time I thought you were worth the searching for But I have to get over it somehow 'Cause that was then and this is now I put you on your pedestal I sat you on your throne And when at last you finally fell I was first to cast the stone I used to walk through fire for you but I guess you never saw Once upon a time you thought you so were above it all But you have to get over it somehow 'Cause that was then and this is now That was then and this is now ©2004 Steve Amsden * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALICO CREEK Long, long ago where memories are found Now and then my mind goes down the dirt roads that we walked on the fields we ran through to a cool clear stream on a hot afternoon Every day that summer we'd meet down in the shade by the old willow tree And the mockingbird sang us a song so sweet We learned about love on the banks of Calico Creek Summers were long and we were so young Even now I can still hear the sound of the rippling waters the song of a lark We'd lay there and listen until it was dark It doesn't seem like that long ago I was so young then I'm not anymore But I still love you like I did before Now every day we still meet down in the shade of that same willow tree And the mockingbird sings us a song so sweet We're still learning 'bout love on the banks of Calico Creek ©2004 Steve Amsden

I'M IN LOVE Well you call me up on the telephone 3000 miles away, still you've always known what's going on out here - now you ask again This time I dont know what to tell you, my friend chorus: If you could see my face I wouldn't have to say a word If you could hear my heart you'd have already heard I haven't got one thing to say to you but I can sing: I'm in love... If you could see my eyes you'd know they're shining brighter if you could watch my step you'd find it a little lighter If you could see me smile, if you could see me dance But you can't see and I can't say it You'll just have to understand ... (chorus) ... Did you ever think you'd find me at a loss for words Did you ever wonder what I had in store Well you're the one who told me to do just what I'm doing now Talk a little less and live a little more so I'm in love... Well you told me this would happen but I could not see and now this crazy thing has made a liar out of me I only wish that I could tell you how right you were how right it is the spell I'm under ... (chorus) ... ©2004 Robyn Landis * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CLOSING TIME It's closing time I'm giving you last call It's time to go now It's late, it's over, that's all It's closing time Why don't we call it a night Don't mean to be unkind but you're out of time It's time for you to go Don't give me that sad come-on glance You had your chance You've danced your last dance Now it's closing time Why don't we call it a night Dont think I'll miss you or kiss you goodbye Drink up now it's closing time (break) (repeat) ©2004 Steve Amsden

GLAD TO HEAR THE RAIN When I climbed into bed last night Weary to the bone The moon shone a big old spotlight And exposed how I'm alone Turned my back against the window Shut my eyes against the too-bright When I woke, that cold wet window Was a warm and welcome sight Never thought I'd be glad to hear the rain Never knew I'd like the sound Now it beats time on my pane - Counting the memories down Never thought I'd want to see it fall Maybe it's 'cause I've fallen too Never used to like to see the raindrops coming down But now I do….I do When the summer gives up its heat I don't want to know The sun lets her grip go weak But I never want to let go But the stars they have to sleep So the moon told the clouds it was time And this warmth I've been trying to keep I'm reminded it never was mine Never thought I'd be glad to hear the rain Never knew I'd like the sound Now it seems to fit the picture - In this frame of mind that I've found Never thought I'd want to see it fall Maybe it's 'cause I've fallen too Never used to like to see the raindrops coming down But now I do….I do Well every season's different But every year was the same I'd follow sunshine everywhere it went Still winter always came Never thought I'd be glad to hear the rain Never knew I'd like the sound Now I'm finally all ears - Now I'm through running around Never thought I'd want to see it fall Maybe it's 'cause I've fallen too Never used to like to see the raindrops coming down But now I do…I do… ©2004 Robyn Landis

MY AMAZING GRACE Can't remember when I met her Seems like she's always been there Like a gift sent from heaven The answer to a prayer There's nothing else so lovely Her beauty will not fade She's just that way And I swear by all that's holy I've never seen such a pretty face She was meant to be an angel But she's my amazing grace When this world's worries weigh me down and I feel I can't go on When everywhere I turn something else is turning wrong I know she'll have an answer Make everything okay She's just that way And I swear by all that's holy I've never seen such a pretty face She was meant to be an angel But she's my amazing grace I was lost but she saved me with her touch I swear I've never been loved so much And her simple words of honesty break down walls I built for years Her smile is light to my eyes Her laughter music to my ears She's the love in every love song that I'll ever play She's just that way And I swear by all that's holy I've never seen such a pretty face She was meant to be an angel But she's my amazing grace And I swear by all that's holy I've never seen such a pretty face She was meant to be an angel But she's my amazing grace ©2004 Steve Amsden

KISSMET Lyrics coming soon   ©2004 Steve Amsden/Robyn Landis

Sept. 2005 Interview with AlphaMusic Group, the PR firm that promoted William Robert Abate Songwriting Competition winners:

Can you describe your songwriting process, as it is different for every artist/band? And, can you also tell us specifically how you came about the idea for your award winning song (While Trees Fall)?  Steve and I both write songs for us to perform, and usually we write pretty differently. We both love to write and I think we're both good, strong songwriters, but our styles are different. Steve tends to start with music, or get the music and lyrics coming to him simultaneously. He's a word lover like me, yet in songwriting I think he tends toward being music-oriented--and he definitely writes more elaborate music than I do. He's a great guitar player and that is reflected in his writing. I'm more lyric-oriented. I'm one of those people who writes words and phrases and titles and ideas on receipts and napkins and my hand, and keeps notebooks of song ideas. I'm very notebooky. I almost always have lyrics first. But even so, I hear music in my head as the words come. Almost immediately I start to hear a melody, and rhythm and timing too, a "feel." I can usually find the music on the guitar, as I hear it in my head, fairly quickly. I definitely hear melody. But I tend to do more musically with the vocal part than with the guitar. I use my voice more for the melody. The winning song, While Trees Fall, was actually inspired by an interview I heard with Michael Moore that he has on the DVD of his movie Bowling For Columbine. I'm a big fan of Michael Moore because he tells the truth about crucial things--things that are being lied about or concealed--in a really brave, public way. And because he uses the clout he has developed by doing that to help the underdog, about which he clearly cares passionately. I feel a connection to what he does because so much of the different kinds of work I do is about cutting through crap to the heart of the matter, and getting people informed and able to DO something. In this interview, Moore talked about how he was taught as a boy that "we will be judged by how we treat the least of us," and also that "a camel will have an easier time getting through the eye of a needle than a rich man would have getting into heaven." I've since learned that many people are familiar with these phrases from their religious upbringings. I was not, but they resonated with me deeply. So I jotted them both down in my songwriting notebook. Months later, on a winter day, I was lamenting and despairing the sorry state of the planet, and the terrifyingly greedy, shortsighted and inhuman corporations and cronies ("the ones in suits") that put us there. And how often our protests go unheard (like when I write and call my Congresspeople daily and still, legislation is passed that leaps us back to the dark ages). I flipped open my notebook, and the first words I saw were those I'd jotted months ago. I picked up my guitar and wrote "While Trees Fall." I built the whole thing on top of those two phrases. They were the perfect foundation for everything else I was feeling, and I just poured it on. The song definitely seems to resonate with a lot of people who are feeling discouraged about the way we are treating the earth and its people, and their frustration with our helplessness about it--the fact that huge numbers of us protest and protest and protest, and still the government and corporations get their way, do what they want. The concept of people able to have a word with these cretins later when they're trying to steal into heaven--of being an "angel" who can make them answer for what they did--is appealing to many of us. The song is bitter and biting, expresses despair and derision for the skewed values we abhor, but also some hope that there will somehow be judgment for those who are actually choosing destruction at our expense. (Not that I know how that will help the barren planet left behind...) The image of trees falling is for me both specific and symbolic. As an avid environmentalist, some of the most disheartening failures and losses occurring in the world to me are the natural ones--it's all connected of course, nature's losses affect people dramatically in huge chain reactions; to wit global warming. But society's general, widespread disrespect for the natural world and its vitality is galling. Something like the fight against drilling in the Arctic is a good example, where just MASSES of good forward-thinking people are fighting it, at every step and turn, over and over--and we're still losing. For oil. Or rainforests disappearing at the rate of a football field a day--for beef and sun-grown coffee. It's profits before people and the planet, wherever you look. So the image of everything falling apart around us while those in power pursue the almighty dollar--it's not just trees, it's everything, and Louisiana/Katrina is just the most recent example of many. So it's literal and it's a metaphor. "Every day I try to sing / every day is reckoning / and wrecking everything / that moves or breathes or cries // They never take my calls / they haven't got the balls / they just have lies is all / while trees fall and fall and fall"--that pretty much says it all to me. I mean it's my own song and that still gives ME chills, so I guess that says something. I guess it feels that way because it's true. It's really happening. And anyone who recognizes it has the sense to be scared and sorrowful. Do you collaborate with other writers, producers, or artists in the songwriting process? If so, can you describe this experience? So far, I have only collaborated with my partner and bandmate Steve in songwriting. And we haven't even done a whole lot of that, though we plan to do more. There are two co-writes on our CD, which came out less than a year ago. One is sort of a silly-happy-fun duet that unfolded really quickly. The other, Say Goodbye, took a long time but really represents a shining example of what can happen when we co-write. That song is very popular among listeners and is one of our own favorites too. And it has already won international recognition in a couple of competitions. The song started as an instrumental Steve wrote, which I thought was gorgeous. But then I said "That's not an instrumental" -- i had these words I really heard going along with it. He didn't hear it having words at first, and even when we started trying the words, he also didn't hear words WHERE I heard them, meter-wise. He heard space where I heard words and vice versa. So there was a lot of compromise there. Co-writing really forces you to acknowledge that there isn't a "right way." I mean, there are things that of course are truly painfully musically wrong, but fortunately with us, we're not contending with that. If we have a difference, its an opinion, not that one of us wants to insert a clunker. We just hear things differently sometimes. The nice thing is that ultimately we agree on a LOT--our instincts really do tend to veer in the same directions, I'd say 85% of the time at least. We have some different tastes and influences, but we also just love a lot of the same stuff, and have a lot of the same pet peeves musically. We're both REALLY picky. :) And "Say Goodbye" really did end up being very collaborative--although he wrote most of the music and I most of the words, he actually wrote most of the bridge lyrics and I came up with most of the bridge music. So it ended up being truly a blending. That's hard work. To be honest, "Say Goodbye" took about two years to "birth," because at first it seemed like so much compromise, we put it aside. But we came back to it and we saw it through, and we're really glad we did. We both bring important strengths to the process and the result is clearly worth it. The thing is, too, we help each other with all our songs. Even with the songs that seem to be clearly his or mine, in most cases the other person's fingerprints are all over it in ways the listener might never know. There are songs of Steve's that I wordsmithed along with him just shy of the point of co-write. To my ear, his guitar on many of my songs gives them their core sound, their signature hook--they simply wouldn't be what they are without him. We're both editors as well as writers, and that's a nice, handy thing. Can you tell us about either your most recent or an upcoming project that your are excited about? Well, since our first CD just came out less than a year ago, we're still pretty focused on getting that out there, playing those songs. It hasn't been that long and we're getting some nice recognition, so we're excited about that. Although we learned a lot from the process and there are things we'd do differently now, what's neat is that I still really like the CD. I do listen to it for enjoyment! For the future, I think many things are possible. Steve has a couple of different album ideas of his own that he's wanted to pursue. We also recently met a Vietnam veteran who shared so movingly and intimately his experiences, thoughts and feelings regarding the wars then and now--he's a musician too, and wanted us to write a song for him--and by the time we got done talking to him, we said "There's a whole album there." I could see us doing that together. We both feel pretty strongly about that stuff, and art and music are powerful forums for expressing that. In the last few months, I've been having song ideas like crazy, scribbling things down furiously, and I'm ready to do some serious writing again. I would definitely like to record my own CD too, of just my stuff--I think that would be a great experience and would have its own flavor and style. Steve and I have things we love to do together and that we do great together, and I also think we have our own styles which it's good and important to develop and express. I think that a duo like Buddy and Julie Miller set a great example of doing some stuff together and also each doing their own albums. That seems like the best of both worlds and I hope that Steve and I can do something like that--keeping in mind what best serves the music we've written, as well as our own growth as musicians and writers.