Just Listen To Your Heart

15th Apr 202615th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

I had some notes in the notebook where I keep scraps of lyrics.

I’m not sure if they really fit together, but I have the music all sorted and it might be a song. You never know.

I had the chorus somewhere in my notes – I couldn’t remember where it came from …

The verses are all about a guy called Sam. I saw him one day, and was struck by his serene face. He is someone who has known great suffering and difficulty, yet has a still centre. I was prompted to speak with him and tell him what I saw in his face. He seemed ok for me to have said that to him. He seemed happy to hear it. I don’t know if he would now remember that I had said it to him ?

The chorus is about darkness and light, and that sometimes we have to embrace the darkness. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God is sometimes hidden, or wrapped in darkness.

‘Rather than provide us with a neon sign in the sky, he envelopes himself in hosek and waits for us to search. Perhaps those who find are only those who notice his absence’ https://skipmoen.com/2015/12/the-hidden-god-2/https://skipmoen.com/2015/12/the-hidden-god-2/

I’m still not sure if it works as a song. I might save the two parts and use them another way ?

Chorus

When the night falls
Don’t be afraid of the dark
Some nights
the way is clear to me

When the day calls
Just listen to your heart
Some days
The light’s too bright to see

Verse 1

I see you in the crowd
When everything is loud
There’s a ring around you now
A place without a sound

Chorus

You have a special gift
I don’t know what it is
I seek you out to tell you what I see
You grip my arm and smile at me
You understand

Chorus

Bridge

Your face is shining
In this space in time
Your face is shining
In this space in time

Chorus

The Difference A Word Makes

15th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

I am still mystified, angered, frustrated, horrified.

That intelligent people will not, and for some reason think that they cannot, name it for what it is.

So what is that word?

What is that word that once used can change things ?

That word is genocide.

And I am, as I say, mystified as to why, after all this time, and with it still going on, our political leaders cannot bring themselves to speak the truth.

faith · Following Jesus · Poetry

Today Is A Quiet Day

15th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

This is a companion poem to the Holy Saturday Poem that I posted a while ago.

The new, companion poem is partly inspired by a TV programme called The Pitt. (Spoiler Alert).

It’s set in the emergency ward of a hospital in Pittsburgh. This particular scene concerns an elderly man who is dying. His daughter is distraught and cannot let go, and keeps insisting that the doctors do more to save him, including intrusive procedures that simply keep him alive.

In the end, the siblings accept that they need to let their father go. Doctor Robbie, (played brilliantly by Noah Wylie) tells about four things that another wise doctor taught him. Four things that they could say to their father. I love you; thankyou; I forgive you; please forgive me.

These words unlock memories and emotions that allow them to be able to say goodbye.

In my prayer time today, I was reflecting on our lives now. In retirement, the pressure of work is no longer there. It’s not exactly ‘an empty day’ as in the Holy Saturday poem, but this is a different season of life. There’s a looking back element, as well as reflecting on the future. But in the end, it’s about living in the here and now.

A quieter time, with more space to simply ‘be.’
More space to listen.
More space to see the presence of Christ.
And God willing, to be the presence of Christ in some small way.

Here are the two poems.

Holy Saturday

Today is an empty day.
Yesterday was full
of waiting; for a trial to end;
a judgement to be given.

Following in his footsteps,
but only so far
and no further.

Behind the corner of a building,
I peer round
and draw back.
Fearful of being seen

Later I am told.

Today is an empty day.
Tomorrow will be full
of something
I cannot quite name.

The questions almost
shroud the wonder.
But in the end,

there is a room where we meet.
No more hiding
from myself

And he is there.

Holy Wednesday

Today is a quiet day.
Yesterday was full
of working; for an ending;
a judgement to be given.

Following in his footsteps
as far as I could,
and further if you showed me

It was enough to be like the teacher.
Listening
to the voice.
Seeing and being seen.

Shepherding the fold

Today is a quiet day.
Tomorrow will be full
of something
I cannot quite name.

Will the questions
still shroud the wonder
in the end ?

There is a place where we will meet.
No more hiding;
face to face

And he is there

faith · Political

Donal Trump Said He Was …

7th Apr 20267th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

Donald Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran did not meet his deadline of Tuesday 8pm ET (midnight Tuesday GMT) to reopen the strait of Hormuz. “You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Mhhh…

You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon,

Activism · Climate Change · community · Ecology · Economics

A Turn Around The Sun

4th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

This might be the last one today. This is a song I wrote after reading an amazing book ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers

Briefly, the book introduces you to several characters in successive chapters. For each character, trees are significant in their lives.

The characters come together in the second half of the book, but I won’t say anything about that, as it is a bit of a spoiler. Anyway, the book set me off writing this song called the speed of trees.

We want everything to suit our economic models of extraction of the earth’s resources at a speed that suits us.

The tree in question is a giant redwood. Unfortunately for trees, and ultimately for us, the speed of trees is so much slower than our speed, and that leads us into trouble.

In the end, we need trees more than they need us, or more precisely, it’s not the trees that need help, it’s us.

The Speed Of Trees

Verse 1

One hundred turns around the Sun
And life is just begun
Here is the youth
Who’ll tell the truth
Of all the sorrows

Verse 2

Five hundred turns around the Sun
And still they call him young
His body strong,
His limbs are long
Straight as an arrow

Verse 3

Two thousand turns around the Sun
And life is almost done
So many years
And ancient fears
Of no tomorrow

Bridge

We heard of your fame
And so we came
In answer to the call.
We gathered there
A silent prayer
In that sacred hall.

We stood and watched
Hearts in our mouths
And saw the giant tall
We stood with friends
There at the end
And saw the giant fall

Verse 4

How many turns around the Sun?
Before our course is run.
We lost the race
We ran too fast
No time to borrow

Bridge repeat

We stood and watched
Hearts in our mouths
And saw the giant tall
We stood with friends
There at the end
And saw the giant fall

Verse 4 repeat

How many turns around the Sun?
Before our course is run.
We lost the race
We ran too fast
No time to borrow

July 2025

community · Song for Today · Songwriting

Breaking Bread Around The Table

4th Apr 20264th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

This is another song from the last year or so.

I had a riff on the guitar, and pretty much the tune for a whole song, but no words. It’s interesting because the song changes speed from slowish to fast within each verse, and then goes back to the slower speed for the beginning of each new verse.

Words wise, it came from something I read or heard somewhere that was to do with how our environment in part shapes who we are. I think the song is a plea for knowing who we are and being willing to engage with others, especially those with whom we have disagreements.

I realise that is a tall order. It’s hard enough resolving differences within a family setting, let alone a community or nation.

But in the end, we have to learn to break bread with people with whom we disagree if we are to get anywhere.

The title comes from the Linden (Lime) Tree being a symbol of peace.

The Linden Tree

We are who we are,
We are who we are,
We are who we are,
Because of where we come from.
Because of where we come from.
Will you come and eat with me around the table?

Where we are going,
Where we are going,
Where we are going,
Is something we can shape together.
Will you come and sit with me under the Linden tree ?

Who will come with me ?
Who will come ?
Who will come with me ?
Though we do not know the way.
Will you come and walk with me along the road?

Song for Today · Songwriting

I Am On A Roll

4th Apr 202615th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

I haven’t posted for so long, but I just have a backlog of songs that need to be out there somewhere.

The band I am in did a gig back in February, and the same weekend I did a gig with my wife and tried out some of my newer songs.

This is one of the newer ones that seems to have gone down well.
It strikes me that these are just the lyrics. I will have to do some recordings, but I’m never happy enough with them to put them out there. (Yet)

At the songwriters circle that I go to. We were given a challenge.

This was to write a song with four lines in each verse, lines one, two and four were to be the same but with a different third line. (A bit like a country blues)

A
A
B
A

Pity the refugee without a home
Pity the refugee without a home
Her past is behind her for future unknown
Won’t you pity the refugee without a home

Pity a world without any respect
Pity a world without any respect
I’m sitting here, wondering, whatever next
Please pity a world without any respect

A life with no reason is no life at all.
Won’t you carry me down to rest in the soil?

(The word pity can be changed as required as lib to: Think of, Remember, etc).

September 2025.

Climate Change · Poetry · Songwriting

This House Is On Fire

4th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

I’m not sure what this is. I tried to make a song out of it, but it’s still work in progress.

I just had a phrase in my notebook. ‘This house is on fire.’

House

This house is on fire.
This house is on fire.
Can you feel the smoke?

They say keep small,
They say keep small
Be invisible

Don’t ask for any trouble
Don’t ask for any trouble

What if I want to ?
What if I have to?

Because this house is on fire,
Because this house is on fire.

September/October 2025.

Activism · Persecution · Political · Song for Today

All Under The Same Sky

4th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.E2 Comments

We support a small human rights charity called Amos Trust. One focus of their work for many years has been support for Palestinians in Gaza and The West Bank.

Every Tuesday they have a Zoom call with interviews and other news about the projects they are involved with.

One of the Zoom calls was with two Palestinian women.

One of them talked about all the things that she used to love about living in Gaza. The sky and the stars; the sea, and meeting with friends at seaside cafes; the flowers and the fruits that grow abundantly; her home.

All of that is now gone. So much so, that the things she used to love, she almost now hates.

There is a paradox – that the dispossessed and persecuted live under the same sky as those who are the cause of their pain and suffering.

After listening to her talk, I wrote this song.
It’s always a tricky thing writing a song from someone else’s perspective. Do I really have the right to do that?

But I used her words as much as I could to stay faithful to what she was expressing.

The Same Sky

I hate this sky
For what it means to me.
The lightning flashes by
The stars have ceased to be.

All that I knew before
And loved and daily saw
Is now a horror show
A constant and fearful glow.

Please take this beach away
The peril of the sea
Once beautiful has changed
Is now a threat to me

I hate this house I love
Destroyed from up above
By thunder and by rain
Can we ever build again

Everywhere I search
To look for flowers in the dirt
With rubbish lying all around
I run for cover from the sound.

Birds that scream across the sky
Send down death on every side.
We wait for what we had and lost
Never can we know the cost

And when we talk together now
Of treasures hidden in our past,
Or speak with dread at how things are,
We share the pain of broken hearts

We are all under the same sky.
We are all under the same sky.
We are all under the same sky.
We are all under the same sky.

February 2026

Song for Today · Songwriting

This Moment We Are In

4th Apr 2026 Jonnyfun.ELeave a comment

Another song.

I realised how long it is since I’d posted very much, in spite of having things I would have to say …

Maybe now the best thing I can do is post lyrics of new songs as I write them. That is a pretty constant feature of life for me at the moment.

I’m grateful to be a part of two songwriting circles where we have an opportunity to try out songs that we are working on and get some feedback from other songwriters

This one is called ‘I’m Just Saying’ and was written in February 2026.

I had a couple of phrases in my notebook that I had gone back to several times but not used. As it turned out, they seemed to work with this song.

Verse 1

Met with some old friends yesterday.
Talked about the people we all knew.
The times we shared, both the good and the bad.
The crimson and the blue.

Chorus.

This is a waiting game.
Everyone is playing.
We are all the same.
I’m just saying.
I’m just saying

Verse 2

One decision I’ve yet to make
Is whether to be buried or burned?
And the past to heaven
Is always round the bend.

Chorus.

The only thing I’m really afraid of, it’s not dying.
The only thing I’m afraid of, is not dying.
The only thing I’m afraid of it’s not dying.
The only thing I’m really afraid of is not living

Chorus II

The only certain thing
Is this moment we are in
We are all the same.
I’m just saying.
I’m just saying.

February 2026.