• Music

    Cry Myself to Sleep

    10/2/2007 - By 

    I wrote this song shortly after watching the film, Notting Hill, with Julia Roberts. At the same time, I was seeing a woman in a relationship that I knew damn well would never work out. She was living with a different guy and I knew that she would never leave him. Then I watched Notting Hill. That’s the message behind this song. You want so much your life to be like the movies, but it never is.

    Musically speaking, it is one of my more mature songs. The chord progression is unique, and not a knock off from a popular strong. Plus the words still hit home today. Then my friend, Tom Garber, put together the score in a very pleasant way.

    CRY MYSELF TO SLEEP

D       Asus D     Asus
Watched this crazy movie
G6
How the guy gets the girl 
D       Asus D     Asus
As much as I wanna believe
G6
It's not the real world


           Em7
I gotta to stop all these feelings
        Esus
and the things I wanna believe
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep


D    Asus D       Asus
When I'm watching movies
G6
to see how things could be
D    Asus   D         Asus
But still I'll always know
G6
You're not her, and he's not me 

         Em7
I got to stop all these feelings 
        Esus
and the things I wanna believe 
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep

     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep

Bridge
      Em7
I got tears on my pillow 
    Esus
and sweat on my sheets
     Em7            Esus          G6
it's time for me to cry myself to sleep
     Em7            Esus          G6
it's time for me to cry myself to sleep


D    Asus D   Asus
Just like the movie
G6
Every story has an end
D       Asus      D      Asus
As much as I want you as my girl
G6
i just wanna be your friend


         Em7
I got to stop all these feelings 
        Esus
and the things I wanna believe
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep


      Em7
I got tears on my pillow 
    Esus
and sweat on my sheets
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep
     Em7            Esus          G6
It's time for me to cry myself to sleep

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  • Music - Religion

    Heaven’s Bank

    8/30/2007 - By 

    Somewhere in Genesis, it says that God made Man in his own image. I have always wondered what that means. How are we the same as God? It can’t be that He has two eyes or two legs, because lots of other animals have all of that. The one defining thing that sets Man and humans apart is our ability to improve our existence. The life of an elephant is essentially the same as it was 100 years ago, but a human’s life is considerably more advanced.

    This is a long introduction for a song that I wrote in the 80’s about Heaven’s Bank. We spend so much time making money that we don’t spend enough time thinking about how we can give back to future generations. That’s why we should be investing in Heaven’s Bank.

    HEAVEN'S BANK
  D                 C              G
I dreamed I met the richest man in heaven
   Em                   Am                 D
Compared to him, Howard Hughes was in poverty
    G                Em              Am
And when I asked him how he had such treasures
   C                G          D
He said it's from a simple policy


   C             G
He put it all in heaven's bank
Em              Am
Nothing but the Lord to thank
C           G               D
Growing the interest day by day


   C             G
Invest it in the Lord my friend
Em                Am
He'll be with you in the end
    C              G            D
The richest man in heaven would say


D                     C             G
To this earth, he was born a simple man
  Em           Am          D
A love for his God and his Son
G                     Em               Am
And when he left this world, he didn't leave us much
       C           G               D
But in heaven, his riches had been won


   C             G
He put it all in heaven's bank
Em              Am
Nothing but the Lord to thank
C           G               D
Growing the interest day by day


   C             G
Invest it in the Lord my friend
Em                Am
He'll be with you in the end
    C              G            D
The richest man in heaven would say

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  • Music - Religion

    Can You Hear Him Knocking?

    8/22/2007 - By 

    I wrote this song back in the mid 80’s. I can remember it like yesterday. My ex girlfriend Karol broke up with me for the second time. She broke up the first time, and it really did not bother me much. So we got together and this time, she made sure that it would hurt. It was bad. I could not sleep, and the pain was as bad as any physical pain that I had experienced.

    I started going to Hilltop Baptist Church. Not sure why, just searching. Because of this, I started reading the Bible. I had an old Bible that I had received from some weird zealot while at Cornell close to 10 years earlier. There were many sleepless nights, and I just read the Bible. One night while reading the Bible, the pain disappeared! And then, I slept the night through. It was amazing. I felt like I had been washed.

    Then this song popped in my head. I can’t explain how it happened, it just did. I’ve also asked my friend Tom to rerecord it for a more professional sound.

    Hope you like it.

    D
Sometimes when I'm feeling badly
C          G     D
Sure could use a friend
D
When I'm singing sadly
C      G        D
Know I can't pretend


       C           G
In the blink of an eye
G           D
He seems me there
C          G
Deep in my heart
G         D
He knew I cared
G                         D
Broken hearted I couldn't defend
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?


D
I woke up it as still last night
C             G       D
Time to cry myself to sleep
D
I read the Word it just was right
C             G      D
Treasure I'll always keep



       C           G
In the blink of an eye
G           D
He seems me there
C          G
Deep in my heart
G         D
He knew I cared
G                         D
Broken hearted I couldn't defend
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?


D
Now when I'm feeling lonely
C              G         D
Get down on my knees and pray
D
To the one and only
C        G     D
Savior I got today



       C           G
In the blink of an eye
G           D
He seems me there
C          G
Deep in my heart
G         D
He knew I cared
G                         D
Broken hearted I couldn't defend
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?
C                G         D
Can you hear Him knocking again?

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  • Music - Technology

    Lay It Down

    7/8/2007 - By 

    I wrote this song while thinking of many of my friends that still work at my ex company Gateway Computer. To be honest, they are struggling right now. My friends in South Dakota are frustrated for change but at the same time, it is hard to change the negative inertia. So rather than be frustrated, they should Lay It Down.

    It’s been a while since I had written a full song and this one just popped out in March of this year.

    Lay it down

Intro 
A C G A

Verse
Em
I didn't ask to be in the place
Am
And nothing is the same
Em
So many people I don't like
C                    Am                     
But I got no time to complain

So much same old same old
No one's trying anything new
We're not judged on what we say
just on what we do

D
Time's run out for talking
C
This ship's got to turn around
C
It's hard when everyone's watching, 
A            C   G  A
But I got to Lay it down.


Refrain
A        C   G  A
I got to lay it down
C                A
Judgment time is near
A        C   G  A
I got to lay it down
D                E
And put aside my fears

D
I'm not going to leave this place
C
without ever making a sound
C
Now more than ever
A            C   G  A
It's time to lay it down.

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  • Music - Religion

    I Just Want To Be There

    6/18/2007 - By 

    I wrote this song back in the mid 1980’s. The songs lyrics are about my grandfather, Theodore Chen, who was of failing health but he had not yet passed away. On this web site somewhere is a version of me playing the song on my guitar. Since I know my limitations, I asked a friend of mine to rearrange the song, and also give it professional production values. I think it turned out great. More to come. I am hoping that we can work together to redo all of my songs. Here’s the first one.

    D              A    E
People running all around this world
D         A      E 
Trying to make a dime
D      A           E
I just wish they'd open their eyes
D         A      E
Like I've opened mine
A                        D
Sitting here knocking on heaven's door
A                       E
Waiting for the Lord to come
A              D
I just want to be there Lord
D      A   E
To see the Son


   D           A    E
My grandfather is a great great man
         D         A      E
But he's getting a little old
D      A       E
I just need to love him more
       D   A     E
As the age takes hold

      A                  D
Cause one day soon he'll leave this world
  A                E
I pray it won't be long
A              D
I just want to be there Lord
         D    A   E
When you make him strong


D              A    E
People running all around this world
D         A      E 
Trying to make a dime
D      A           E
I just wish they'd open their eyes
D         A      E
Like I've opened mine

A                        D
Sitting here knocking on heaven's door
A                       E
Waiting for the Lord to come
A              D
I just want to be there Lord
D      A   E
To see the Son


D                A         E
Let me tell you about this boss of mine
D          A       E
Making our lives a hell
D           A    E
Sometimes I just have to laugh
   D    A  E
He does it well
    A                   D
But one day there'll be judgement day
A                       E
Looking the Lord in the face
A              D
I just want to be there Lord
        D      A   E
When he pleads his case


D              A    E
People running all around this world
D         A      E 
Trying to make a dime
D      A           E
I just wish they'd open their eyes
D         A      E
Like I've opened mine


A                        D
Sitting here knocking on heaven's door
A                       E
Waiting for the Lord to come
A              D
I just want to be there Lord
D      A   E
To see the Son

    One comment on “I Just Want To Be There”

    1. I read your piece on the gay pride parade there in Brazil, and then read things like this in your “religion” section. I’m sorry, but I can’t figure out what bible your reading from. On one hand you want to see the Son, but on the other hand you think it’s ok for a man to insert his penis into another man’s mouth or rectum for enjoyment, and promote it if that’s what they want to do. I’m not sure how the pieces of your puzzle fit together. I’m not judging, just really confused. You obviously have a real grip on the gospel, so, who in this whole scenerio is going to see the Son?

      Reply

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