Last night Deb and I shot and edited a performance video of my song, Liturgy.

If you want to read more about it, visit my Substack here.

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Liturgy

© 2023 - Matthew Moran

That one night, was it late December
Cold moonlight and baby, I remember
Shivers running down my spine
The fates foretold, the stars align

That hallowed ground, our sacred place
Heard angels sing amazing grace
Two hearts, one love, the trinity
The future, past, eternity

 

Your fingertips, they brush my face
Sweet kisses chase my fear away
Dawn arrives to my soul’s peace
I find you laying here with me

I catch my breath, I bite my tongue
Don’t break this spell that we’ve begun
Holding you, a liturgy
Softly sigh soliloquies

 

This sacrifice, this holy sin
Our altar and our offering
The ancients and divine reply
Found blameless, whole, and sanctified

So here we are, the truth we’ve found
Where faith and trust and grace abound
Each touch and sigh a secret prayer
And all the answers found right here
###

The Flagstaff Folk Festival. Plus a Lyrics & Photos Project

On June 14th, I’m both presenting and performing at the Flagstaff Folk Festival!

I believe the last time I performed there was 2008.

• 12:30-1:20PM - Workshop: Roll Your Own House Concert Tour
• 3:30-4:00PM - Performance: Stage - The Gregg Cabin

If you are in Arizona (I have several on my list who are), try and make it out. Music in the pines of Flagstaff is a sweet deal!

I write more about this on my Substack.

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Also mentioned on my Substack, Deb and I are starting a Lyric/Photo project. Basically, taking some of my lyrics and placing them opposite Deb's photography - photos of me or whatever we deem emotionally/visually representative of the lyric.

Some of the lyrics will be from my song, Promised Land.

Promised Land was written while driving between Phoenix and Los Angeles during the emotional turmoil of my first divorce. It shows!

Mama mama can you still hold this child
It seems the path I've taken has grown so wild
From those dime store girls with their dime store smiles
To their dime store love and their dime store wiles
I’d pay them every dime I own if dimes could buy redemption
But I find that I just sold my soul too many times to mention

Thought I'd lead my tribe to the promised land
But I smote the stone and I was turned back again
Now can I find my dreams through my many sins
'Cuz I see everything I'm not, everything I'm not
Oh, I see everything I'm not, in who I am
...
Promised Land
© 2008 - Matthew Moran

I have a recording of the song from that time. Recorded at Cave Creek Coffee Company, the song features Mike Assad, an Arizona guitarist, on accompaniment.

Last Weekend's Photoshoot

Deb and I took a short excursion into downtown. Here are a couple of the photos Deb took.

 

That's what we have going on. Check in with y'all soon.

The Coward and the Fool was officially released earlier this week and, from what I can tell, is on all the streaming services. That doesn't do a lot for small artist. It is there for convenience.

However, if you want to support what I do, consider listening to it on, and subscribing to, my YouTube channel. Also, I announced the release first on my newsletter/Substack. You can subscribe there as well.

But most important, I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, I am performing tonight in Canyon Country at The River's End Pub and tomorrow as part of a community concert in Northridge.

Thanks for dropping by.

WHISKEY KILL THIS DREAM

Official Release and Lyric Video

I'm excited and proud to announce the release of my latest song, Whiskey Kill This Dream.

You can find it on all major streaming services. Also, the lyric video, from YouTube, is embedded below.

Credits

Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals - Matthew Moran (Los Angeles)
Lead Guitar - HC Nilsson (Sweden)
Drums - Glenn Welman (South Africa)
Pedal Steel - Reggie Duncan (Nashville)

Lyric Video

Lyrics

WHISKEY KILL THIS DREAM
© 2024 Matthew Moran

It feels just like a reckoning baby
It looks just like a crime
I could prepare my heart for anything
But all this empty that your leaving leaves behind

I guess I’ll just get over you
I guess there ain’t no other way
Just mask the pain and muddle through
I got time and time is what I need, they say

I remember what you said to me
Last November on that hill
Said, “Love will always find a way”
Seems you found it, you just didn’t find it here

Seems I lose the fight
Damn near every night
The visions they come as I fall asleep
You and me dancing
On the front porch
Then you slip away from me
Whiskey, kill this dream

Thought I saw you by the laundromat
Tho, I know you moved away
Probably just another memory
I still run into one or two of those a day

Seems I lose the fight
Damn near every night
The visions they come as I fall asleep
You and me dancing
On the front porch
Then you slip away from me

Seems I lose the fight
Damn near every night
The visions they come as I fall asleep
You and me dancing
On the front porch
Then you slip away from me
Whiskey, kill this dream

Kill this dream
Whiskey, kill this dream

Marie: Official Release and Lyric Video

On June 29th, Marie was released to all the major streaming services.

We also created a simple lyric video, shared below. I have a short background on the song and the lyrics below as well.

I'd love it if you took a listen and, if you like what you hear, consider sharing it with 1,000,000 of your closest friends.

And, if you've yet to do so, subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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About Marie

I wrote Marie as an experiment with Open D tuning. I have a video about that as well. I cover open D chord shapes, the sounds you get from Open D tuning, and how that can be a catalyst for songwriting ideas.

The song is a simple, descending bass pattern. I contrast it with the bass moving up in an alternating direction. The addition of percussion, piano, organ, and some nice lead guitar gives the song a melancholy and smooth feel. I hope you enjoy.

On the recording:

Matthew Moran (US) - acoustic guitars, bass, vocals
Chris Nilsson (Sweden) - lead guitar
Glen Welman (South Africa) - percussion
Phil Gardiner (UK) - piano, organ, synth

The Lyrics

Marie
© 2017 - Matthew Moran

VERSE

You left me alone but I don't really blame you, I don't
You thought I would hate you, don't worry, I can't and I won't
There are questions unanswered though they're answers I don't want to hear
I'm no good at this distance but damn sure no good when you're near

My friends, they keep telling me, "Man, you sure handle it well."
Conveniently they overlook when I slip into my hell
Close the world out and ​I don't return their calls for days
Emerge baptized in memories and exorcized of my rage
(chorus)

CHORUS
Oh Marie, this is one thing you can't take away
My pain is a labor love and it's what's left of me

VERSE
If forgiveness is freedom then you'll find me shackled and chained
And I know love is the answer but it's to questions I don't understand
The who and the when, the what and the where and the why
And how did I miss all the signs of your unspoken goodbye
(chorus)

Last Friday, on my Substack, I wrote about confidence and/or the lack-thereof of completing a project. I indicated that I needed to create self-imposed constraints on creative production - to use, The Stallion Harness.

To that end, yesterday afternoon, I rendered my acoustic mix of, The Coward and The Fool.

Rendering just means, outputting the song from my recording software, Reaper.

Here is what rendering was like:

Render, listen back, tweak vocal volume, increase & decrease the reverb, tweak another effect, remove it, re-render, listen back… (rinse, repeat).

I probably did the above six or seven times. I’m positive if I listened to mix #1 versus mix #7, I wouldn’t be able to hear any tangible difference.

And then I thought:

“I can release it later this week!”

Because, I just need a couple more days to get it right… right?

And come August 25th, I’ll be listening to mix #381, thinking, “It’s almost ready.”

Kind of funny, right?

---

You can listen to the audio below or on the Lyric Video I posted on YouTube - also below.

If you have not subscribed on YouTube, I’d be super happy if you did.

Thanks for listening!

Deb has selected the next two songs to record. One is super-challenging for me. I’ll write about those a bit later.

I’ve put new strings on the guitar, I have two blank projects set up and ready to record in my software, and I’m willing to put a harness on the stallion!

Thanks again for joining me on this journey.

Sincerely,
Matthew Moran
August 7, 2023

It was 2014. Two years prior my youngest had come to live with me full time. We had moved a few miles East of downtown Los Angeles so she could attend a performing arts high school.

We rented an old house - a little beat up - that sat on more than two acres. We had coyotes, owls, snakes, hawks, bobcats, and other wildlife on the property and we LOVED IT! The properly included a large hill that overlooked downtown Los Angeles. The hill led to a 100 acre hiking park, so we were on that hill with the dogs daily.

Most nights, rain or shine, I would head up the hill as well (see picture below).

..

...

One night I was up on the hill with my guitar looking down at the lights of the city. My life was in a good place. My head was in a good place. I had been through two divorces a few years prior and had reached a place where being single, being a father, and writing music worked well for me.

I was playing music out and my daughter and I were discovering the city and each other. We both agree it was a magical time for us.

I started playing a simple E Asus2 E riff that makes up the verse of this song. I wrote the first verse and the chorus while up on the hill and loved its simple message and driving cadence. I went down the hill to my office and finished the song that evening.

...
Bright lights and buildings at my back
Thumb out no plans on coming back
Concrete jungle and a woman got me down
Highway come and turn this life around
...

It remans a favorite of mine and was always a fun one to play with my band. I hope you enjoy.

Matthew Moran
November 28, 2022
PS: Leave a comment if you enjoyed this. I’d love to hear from you.

HIGHWAY LYRICS

© Matthew Moran

VERSE
Bright lights and buildings at my back
Thumb out no plans on coming back
Concrete jungle and a woman got me down
Highway come and turn this life around

CHORUS
Around the bend, I ramble, turn & tumble
Escaping dreams that never were my own
Last time: Chasing dreams and making them own

VERSE
Jump back to times inside my head
Been chewed up, spit out, and left for dead
I’m not complaining just reflecting in my mind
The heartache & stories left behind

VERSE
I’ve heard said, “you gotta try your hand again”
I’ve folded my cards, thrown my chips in
I’m not playin’ lady luck, not playin’ hard to get
I’m playing life for keeps & my dream is one sure bet

Song: She’s a Lady

Rick Boggs, an audio engineer and founder of Audio Eyes, wrote this upon hearing the song:

She's A Lady may be Matt Moran's best contribution to the world's collection of songs about the timeless, always relevant, most beloved topic of all: the power of the impact of the female kind… …As a sunny day, feel good tune, tied to real feelings of love and desire, this is a keeper.

I didn’t even have to pay him for that!!!

I’ve included lyrics and some nerdy technical specs below the video. I processed the vocal audio with more reverb than normal… I like how it feels with this tune.

VERSE
Can't define just how I feel
I've been living with emotion that is so unreal
I walk these busy streets alone
My only friends the hopes and dreams I can't let go

Her presence crosses my lonely path
Perfume scent and I can't hold back
(chorus)

CHORUS
The lady she moves me
Sends a shock right through me
Then fades into the moonbeams at night

First she crept into my daydreams
Now I must admit she's all I see
And I know you know what I mean, tonight
She's a Lady alright

VERSE
The morning sun it hurts my eyes
I've been thinking all night so it's no surprise
The desire she fuels inside of me
Are the chains to this prison and I can't break free

Her smile it haunts my emptiness
Her vision it puts me to the test
(chorus)

TECH DETAILS: (for the music nerd)

Audio: Recorded with two mics, 1 for vocals (Rode NT-1) and 1 for guitar (MXL 990) through a Mackie Big Knob Studio interface into Reaper (DAW/software).
Audio Processing: EQ, Compression, & Reverb
Video: Recorded on my Canon EOS RP with our 15-35 Canon lens
Video Processing: Lyrics and fx in Davinci Resolve 18 and then rendered and uploaded to YouTube.

Thanks again for dropping by.

Matthew Moran
November 15, 2022

I love the simplicity and vibe of this song. I have the lyrics below the video.

Enjoy!

 

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She Knows Love
© 2009 - Matthew Moran
Arrogant Sage Music

Verse 1:
Everything About Her Takes My Breath Away
Her gentle and her passion they go hand in hand
She always seems to know exactly what I need
Cuz what I need is just what she is giving me.
(chorus)

Chorus:
I've been taken for a turn
There are lessons that I've learned
And of this there is no doubt

She knows love, she knows love, she knows love
And what it's about

Verse 2:
Morning comes and she is smiling with the sun
Her coffee and her kisses make my motor run
& I can't understand all that she sees in me
But in her eyes I see everything that I can be
(chorus)

I've started publishing acoustic performance videos (typically filmed in our loft) each week on YouTube.

My goal is to include at least 2 songs each month from my back-catalog. Anything pre 2012-ish... I don't have a strict demarcation but I think songs that are more than 10 years old can be considered back-catalog.

LADY LOVE
© 1988 - Matthew Moran

I wrote Lady Love in 1988 (maybe '87 or '89) or so.

Here’s advice if your Vegas bound
Drive right on through, don’t stop in that town
Cuz' dice have never rolled eyes of blue
But lady love can, I’ll bet my three to your two

I have all the lyrics below the video, although they are also in the video itself. If you enjoy this, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. While you are at it, subscribe to my Substack (newsletter) as well.

I've heard  miraculous stories that people who do so gain 8 to 20 points of IQ and look 10 to 15 years younger.*

* The FDA has not confirmed the veracity of these claims... but they haven't disproven them either.

Enjoy!!!

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LYRICS

VERSE
I’ve never been a gambling man
I’ve never had luck with my poker hand
Cards and chips always left me cold
A pocket of change and an empty billfold

But I don’t mind cause when the moon’s above
I’ll trade lady luck for lady love
(chorus)

CHORUS
Until you’ve played your hand with the queen of hearts
You can’s perceive of what a jackpot means
So throw in your chips, you’ll find more wealth in her lips
It’s lady love, lady love for me

VERSE
I’ve spend a lifetime searching for gold
Learned early on, put an ace in the hole
But late at night when the game was through
The ace had been played and I was lonely and blue

But I’ve found a deuce and it can’t be bought
It’s when your laying in my arms at night.
(chorus)

VERSE
So here’s advice if your Vegas bound
Drive right on through, don’t stop in that town
‘Cause dice have never rolled eyes of blue
But lady love can I’ll bet my three to your two

And you’ll find your through with casino night
You’ll trade neon blue for candlelight
(chorus)