Original Song – “Hills Of Tennessee”

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Mark D. Jones under I - Original Songs (All Lyrics, If - "Three Chords and a Prayer" - Collected Works Volume VI, Music and Commentary)

Hills Of Tennessee is a slow, heartfelt and sentimental song about chance meetings and love at first sight. It’s also about home, family and happy endings. It’s a lengthy song as my songs go, and the lyrics simply speak for themselves – so I’ll step aside and let you be the judge, “I’d never seen eyes so green, She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, I said yes anything would do, But may I have you, For the rest of my life, For the rest of my life, For the rest of my life…”

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I recorded my original song “Hills Of Tennessee” in three takes as demos on Set 9 in 1996, and they tell the story of a guy who falls in love with his waitress with big green eyes in Tennessee while driving to California, “Back in the hills of Tennessee, She was as cute as a girl could be, And I was drivin’ by on my way, In my ol’ Chevrolet…” Enjoy! ♡ 🙂 Mark

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(Emailed versions of these songs lose their chord alignment and formatting, so refer to the original post and/or the scanned lyric sheet as your guide!)

Hills Of Tennessee

Verse One:

D E

Back in the hills of Tennessee

D E

She was as cute as a girl could be

D E

And I was drivin’ by on my way

In my ol’ Chevrolet

A D

Goin’ to California

D G

California that day

G E

California way… (Hold for 4 counts)

D E

And I stopped at a restaurant

D E

Time to eat and didn’t give it a thought

D E

Until I looked up from my menu

May I please help you

Is all that she said

D G

All that she said

G E

All that she said… (Hold for 8 counts)

Verse Two:

D E

I’d never seen eyes so green

D E

She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen

D E

I said yes anything will do

But may I have you

A D

For the rest of my life

D G

The rest of my life

G E

For the rest of my life… (Hold for 4 counts)

D E

She said I don’t even know your name

D E

She said I don’t want to play your game

D E

And if you don’t live in Tennessee

You can forget me

A D

You can forget me

D G

Forget me

G E

You can forget me… (Hold for 8 counts)

Verse Three:

D E

‘Cause I don’t want to go to LA

D E

You’ll never catch me goin’ that way

D E

My life’s just as nice as could be

Here in Tennessee

A D

Here in Tennessee

D G

In Tennessee

G E

Here in Tennessee… (Hold for 4 counts)

D E

So I asked her for her hand

D E

I said that I understand

D E

And I’ll stay here in Tennessee

E A

If she’ll marry me

A D

If she’ll marry me

D G

If she’ll marry me

G E

She said she’ll marry me… (Hold for 8 counts)

Verse Four:

D E

So I made up my mind to stay

D E

I unpacked the old Chevrolet

D E

And I asked her to show me the way

E A

To her father’s house

A D

To her father’s house

D G

Her father’s house

G E

To her father’s house… (Hold for four counts)

D E

He had a shotgun in his hand

D E

I said Sir you don’t understand

D E

I’m gonna’ live here in Tennessee

E A

She wants to marry me

A D

Wants to marry me

D G

Wants to marry me

G E

She wants to marry me… (Hold for 8 counts)

Verse Five:

D E

He said only if you stay

D E

And don’t you ever take my daughter away

D E

‘Cause we’re just one big family

E A

Here in Tennessee

A D

Here in Tennessee

D G

In Tennessee

G E

Here in Tennessee… (Hold for 4 counts)

D E

It’s been twenty-five years to the day

D E

She’s still as cute as she was on that day

D E

When I drove up in my old Chevrolet

E A

And saw those big green eyes

A D

Just lookin’ my way

D G

Lookin’ my way

G E

Lookin’ my way… (Hold for 8 counts)

Well, you know I was… (Slow and heartfelt to finish…)

A D

Drivin’ to California

D G

California that day

G E

California way… (Hold for 8 counts)

E A

But in Tennessee

A D

I’ll stay

D G

In Tennessee

G E

In Tennessee

E A

In Tennessee I’ll stay

Original Song – “Lady, Oh Lady”

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Mark D. Jones under I - Original Songs (All Lyrics, Music and Commentary), If - "Three Chords and a Prayer" - Collected Works Volume VI

Lady, Oh Lady is a slow, simple, heartfelt and sentimental love song about commitment, distance and longing of the heart. I love the relationship between the chord sequences and the soft and dreamy atmosphere the chords create for the lyrics to swirl around in, as if dancing in the fog of a wonderful, never-ending dream! “Even though we’re, So far apart, You are always, In my heart, If I can’t be, There with you, I’ll send my love, To you, All my love, To you…”

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I recorded my original song “Lady, Oh Lady” on Set Eleven in 1997 on four takes, and surprisingly enough for me they all turned out pretty well! 🙂 Each take is a different flavor as takes one and two are strummed on the guitar using a pick, and takes three and four are simply strummed with my fingers. Take one is faster, while takes two, three and four keep slowing down and getting progressively better ~ I’ll share them all with you! Enjoy! ♡ 🙂 Mark

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(Note: Emailed versions of these songs lose their chord alignment and formatting, so refer to the original post and/or the scanned lyric sheet as your guide!)

Lady, Oh Lady

Verse One:

F#m E

Lady, oh lady

F#m

You’re the one I’m

C#m

Dreamin’ of

F#m E

Lady, oh lady

F#m

You’re the one

C#m

I’ll always love

Even though we’re

C#m

So far apart

You are always

C#m

In my heart

F#m

If I can’t be

There with you

F#m

I’ll send my love

C#m

To you

F#m

All my love

C#m

To you

I’ll send you

All my love

I’ll send all

C#m

My love to you

F#m

I’ll send you

All my love

F#m

I’ll send my love

C#m

To you

Fsus4 F#

To you

Verse Two:

F#m E

Baby, oh baby

F#m

Don’t you know I’m

C#m

Missin’ you

F#m E

Baby, oh baby

F#m

You know I’m

C#m

Always true

Though the miles

C#m

Keep us far apart

I hold you

C#m

Close to my heart

F#m

And you know that I’ll

Be there for you

F#m

To give my love

C#m

To you

F#m

All my love

C#m

To you

I’ll give you

All my love

I’ll give all

C#m

My love to you

F#m

I’ll give you

All my love

F#m

I’ll give my love

C#m

To you

Fsus4 F#

To you

Original Song – “Lost and Found”

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Mark D. Jones under I - Original Songs (All Lyrics, Music and Commentary), If - "Three Chords and a Prayer" - Collected Works Volume VI

Lost and Found is a fictional story about a husband who lost the love he shared with his wife and how he found it again. He was reading the classified ads at breakfast with his wife and saw an advertisement: “It read lost and found, And in the paper, My love was found…If you want your love, Call the followin’ number…It was my own phone number…And I gave my wife a kiss, Honey I missed that tenderness, That I knew when we were young so long ago, Her touch caught my attention, She didn’t even have to mention, The love that I had found again inside…” It’s a sweet song about focusing on what’s important in life, especially areas where we may have become complacent over time. The moral of the song is to make sure we don’t neglect the most important things that matter most to our hearts!

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I recorded my original song “Lost And Found” on Set 3 in 1996, and it tells the fictional story of a husband who finds the love he’s lost for his wife through a ‘Lost and Found’ ad his wife places in the paper for him to read. It’s a sweet song that turned out pretty well ~ enjoy! ♡ 🙂 Mark

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(Note: Emailed versions of these songs lose their chord alignment and formatting, so refer to the original post and/or the scanned lyric sheet as your guide!)

Lost and Found

Verse One:

D G

I was sittin’ down to breakfast

D G

Just readin’ the old newspaper

D G A

Looking at the classified

D G

The words caught my attention

D G

The ad went on to mention

D G A

The love that I had lost inside

D G

It read lost and found

And in the paper

My love was found

Sooner or later

The ad said please

If you want your love

Call the followin’ number

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

Five, six, eight, three

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

L O V E

It was my own phone number

Verse Two:

D G

I looked up from under my paper

D G

There was my wife just a lookin’ at me

D G A

And I knew she placed that ad just for me

D G

It caught me by surprise

D G

I didn’t even realize

D G A

She had that love I had lost inside

D G

I put down the paper

And in her eyes

My love was found

Sooner or later

My love was found

And it was sittin’

Right in front of my eyes

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

Five, six, eight, three

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

L O V E

It was my own phone number

Verse Three:

D G

And I gave my wife a kiss

D G

Honey I missed that tenderness

D G A

That I knew when we were young so long ago

D G

Her touch caught my attention

D G

She didn’t even have to mention

D G A

The love that I had found again inside

D G

It read lost and found

And in the paper

My love was found

Sooner or later

The ad said please

If you want your love

Call the followin’ number

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

Five, six, eight, three

D D G

It read four, two, nine

D D D A

L O V E

It was my own phone number

Original Song – “Cross Of My Lord”

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Mark D. Jones under I - Original Songs (All Lyrics, Music and Commentary), If - "Three Chords and a Prayer" - Collected Works Volume VI

Easter is fast approaching, so I thought I’d post the only Easter song that I’ve written – Cross Of My Lord – before the season of Lent is over and the Easter celebration is completed. The lyrics are really quite powerful, in a reflective, introspective and personal way, as we examine our own personal relationship with Jesus and the cross.

The song tells the entire Easter story through the eyes of an eye witness observer of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse one, the crucifixion of Jesus is over, the crowds have dispersed and all gone home, and it is the next morning as the sun rises and a “new day dawns.” From the lyrics we understand that the observer followed Jesus, observed his triumphant Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem, knew his teachings, watched the crucifixion with the crowds, and has now returned the next morning to contemplate the meaning of the empty cross. The crowds have all gone home, and he finds himself alone, face to face with the cross of his Lord – trying to understand the events of the day before and what the empty cross means to him personally.

In verse two, the observer and eye witness looks upon the tomb of Jesus, with the stone rolled away. Again, the observer has arrived after the crowds have departed as the sun “dawns on a new day.” He or she searches their heart for the meaning of the empty tomb and steps inside to see where Jesus defeated death and walked away. The observer notes that “death lost its power that day” as Jesus rose from and defeated death once and for all.

Verse three describes the events observed by many eye witnesses after the resurrection of Jesus – walking along the road with Jesus, blessing and breaking bread with Jesus, conversing with and being enlightened by Jesus, displaying the wounds on His hands and feet, eating fish and ascending to Heaven – all as a “new day dawned.”

The chorus echoes the reflective, introspective and personal relationship the observer has with Jesus. The cross remains and the fear is gone, because Christ died for him and “death has no power over me” – Jesus died to save his soul and wash his sins away. As the song ends it slowly fades into a refrain that asks for Jesus and God the Father to return and for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us – Hallelujah.

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It’s only appropriate that I’m posting the only Easter song I’ve written here on Easter, 2014. This song is from Set 2 and I play my Fender Strat run through an effect that I liked at the time. The song is about the impressions of an eye witness to the events leading up to and after Easter Sunday. The singer returns to the site of the empty cross and tomb long after the crowds have left and reflects on what has happened ~ and what it all means… Easter Blessings to you all! ♡ 🙂 Mark

Cross Of My Lord

Verse One:

F G

The cross of my Lord stands on Calvary’s hill

F G

The wind is calm and the silence still

F G

As the sun comes up from behind the hill

C D

And a new day dawns

C D

As a new day dawns

F G

I look to the cross and I stand alone

F G

The crowds have left and all gone home

F G

I search myself as I’m standin’ there

C D

For they’ve taken my Lord away

C D

They’ve taken my Lord away

Chorus:

G Em C D

I look to the cross and I have nothing to fear

G Em C D

For my Lord died for me on the cross of Calvary

G Em C D

But it stands empty now and death has no power over me

F C G

For my Lord rose again from the grave

F C G

He died so my soul would be saved

F C G

He died so my sins would be washed away

Ending (after last chorus):

F C G

He died so my soul would be saved

F G

The cross of my Lord stands on Calvary’s hill

F G

The wind is calm and the silence still

F G

As the sun comes up from behind the hill

C D

And a new day dawns

C D

As a new day dawns

C D C D

Come, Lord Jesus…Hal-le-lu-jah

C D C D

Come, Jesus Christ…Hal-le-lu-jah

C D C D

Come, Holy Spirit…Hal-le-lu-jah

C D C D

Come, God the Father…Hal-le-lu-jah

C D

Come, Lord Christ

Verse Two:

F G

The stone from the tomb was rolled away

F G

My Lord got up and walked away

F G

And death lost its power today

C D

And a new day dawned

C D

As a new day dawned

F G

I look in the tomb and I stand alone

F G

The crowds have left and all gone home

F G

I search myself as I’m standing there

C D

For my Lord has risen today

C D

For my Lord has risen today

Verse Three:

F G

My Lord walked along the road today

F G

He blessed the bread and broke it today

F G

He talked to many and showed us the way

C D

As a new day dawned

C D

As a new day dawned

F G

He showed the wounds on His hands and feet

F G

When He was hungry He had a piece of fish to eat

F G

He rose to Heaven to take His seat

C D

Beside God today

C D

To the right of the Father today

Life, Love and the Human Condition

A Philosophical and Autobiographical Blog about Life ~ a collection of my Original Songs, Photos and Thoughts here on my original blog… (Scroll to the Footer for Categories & More)

Category Archives: If – “Three Chords and a Prayer” – Collected Works Volume VI

Original Song – “Hills Of Tennessee”

Original Song – “Lady, Oh Lady”

Original Song – “Lost and Found”

Original Song – “Cross Of My Lord”