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SW​:​S Retreat March 2018

by SongwritingWith:Soldiers

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.

    All purchases are tax-deductible donations to SongwritingWith:Soldiers.

    Our retreats pair professional songwriters with veterans, military families and couples, and active-duty service members to write songs about their military experiences and returning home.

    The following veterans and spouses participated:
    Mardi and Chanda Allen, Zaak Thibodeaux and Marlena Ancelet Thibodeaux, Bryan and Tina Dykes, Brad and Tricia Hubbard, Debbie and Jason Parsons, Scott and Gail Rineer participated in the January 2018 retreat.

    These are songs recorded on site at retreats. They capture a song just hours after being written, like the song taking its first breath.     ... more
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1.
STRESS AND STRENGTH 03:40
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Mardi and Chanda Allen / Zaak Thibodeaux and Marlena Ancelet / Bryan and Tina Dykes / Brad and Tricia Hubbard / Debbie and Jason Parsons / Scott and Gail Rineer / Darden Smith Stress and strength makes me drink Makes me mad makes me think Makes me want to go back to the good old days I wish I could make all of this struggle go away I just want to… Find some peace of mind Happy place where I am free Finally come home where I can be me Caught between stress and strength Bad memories everywhere I just want peace, can’t get there I’m so tired of this roller coaster ride Can’t find myself no matter how hard I try, I just want to find peace of mind Happy place where I am free Finally come home where I can be me Caught between stress and strength Stress and strength Don’t want to be alone So let me come home For myself for my brothers be everything that I was meant to be Just rewind to a sweeter time From the pills and nightmares and the anger let me be a normal me From the pills and nightmares and the anger let me be a normal me I just want to find peace of mind Happy place where I am free Finally come home where I can be me Caught between stress and strength I’m caught between stress and strength Caught between stress and strength SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Darden Smith Music (ASCAP)
2.
THIS ROCK 04:47
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Terry Radigan / Brad and Trish Hubbard I’m not fine And I haven’t been For a long long time And it’s getting harder to pretend Oh but pretend You know it’s all I’ve done Ask anyone who knows me They’ll say she’s a rock Shinny like the sun But this rock is sinking This rock is going down Day after day in slow motion I scream but there’s no sound And you’re the only one I can tell my troubles to But babe I’m so afraid To put the weight on you Cause you’ve been broken In a million pieces A breath away from checking out So I got on my knees and I asked Jesus To give me strength For the both of us But these days I’m afraid I don’t feel nearly strong enough Your rock is sinking Your rock is going down Day after day in slow motion I scream but there’s no sound And you’re the only one I can tell my troubles to But babe I’m so afraid To put the weight on you So take me back To the hills of Tennessee Take me back to the place Where you Got down on one knee And you took my hand And held it in yours Take me back to where I was strong Take me back before the war Cause your rock is sinking Your rock is going down Day after day in slow motion I scream but there’s no sound And you’re the only one I wanna tell my troubles to Babe tell me it’s ok To put the weight on you SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Catherine the Great (ASCAP)
3.
SKY SOLDIERS 03:38
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Jay Clementi / Zaak & Marlena Thibodeaux Jay Clementi / Zaak & Marlena Thibodeaux 173rd airborne combat brigade Bad assed hard headed American made We’d sing “take it outside” gearing up for a fight Lived for raining hell, brothers side by side We were good buddies Glende and me Said don’t be a hero unless you need to be He inspired us all with his wit and his strength His patriotism and that smile on his face we were Sky Soldiers yeah living for this ride with our brothers Held each other’s lives on our shoulders We were Sky Soldiers July 27th 2012 A firefight turned into real living hell Glende was trying to rescue Moss Gonna save his brother no matter the cost But mortars are evil have a will of their own And one sent Glende on a hero flight home I carried him to that bird and held his hand And cried as that hawk left Afghanistan Sky Soldiers living for this ride with our brothers Held each other’s lives on our shoulders Sky Soldiers Well I struggle with faith and I rage and scream How could he take such a dear friend to me And I wish I could say that I believe I don’t pray to god I pray to Glende We were Sky soldiers We never questioned how far Had the depth fate to go as far as needed And the will and the strength to never be defeated Sky Soldiers living yeah for this ride with our brothers We held each other’s lives on our shoulders Sky Soldiers Yeah oh we were Sky Soldiers SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Sony ATV Cross Keys (ASCAP)
4.
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL 04:12
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Ashley Cleveland / Jason & Debbie Parsons One leaves for the desert One stays on the farm Remember everyone deploys But the worst storm I’ve seen in Missouri Was the loss of our two boys Lightning struck us twice How do we survive? Who else knows my thoughts, my soul Who else could understand? Who else can feel the hurt that has no words And choose to live again Who else knows the burdens that we bear Who else shares my memories And that darlin, something beautiful Exists for you and me I watched you down on your hands and knees There by the side of the road The second time they put our son in a coroners van You offered up everything we own But now what’s done is done And you told me: I can’t do this alone Who else knows my thoughts, my soul Who else could understand? Who else can feel the hurt that has no words And choose to live again Who else knows the burdens that we bear Who else shares my memories And that darlin, something beautiful Exists for you and me Through the high high high Through the low low low I want to hold your hand everywhere I go. Because darlin, something beautiful Yes darlin, something beautiful Exists for you and me SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Sole Sister (BMI)
5.
SELFLESS 03:51
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Darden Smith / Zaak & Marlena Thibodeaux I’ve had so many sleepless nights I’d stare at the screen and cry I’d still see Afghanistan See the faces of my friends Images don’t go away Like it happened yesterday Selfless, selfless The shield against the storm Keeping all from harm Why do we lose the best Selfless Broken glass and loaded guns I thought my race could not be won Then you came into my life My friend my savior and my wife I pray that you won’t go away You’re the light in all my days Selfless, selfless My shield against the storm In your loving arms I can finally rest Selfless If everyone understood That giving is the greatest good A lot less pain a lot less grief A lot more love and a lot more peace Selfless, selfless In the raging storm Keeping us from harm Those that give their best Selfless, selfless SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Darden Smith Music (ASCAP)
6.
WE'RE NOT THE ENEMY 04:48
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Darden Smith / Ashley Cleveland / Scott & Gail Rineer I’m not the enemy You’re not the enemy We go round and round, trying to get down To the root of all our misery You want to fight everyday I just want to walk away How much longer till we see We are not the enemy You give information No communication You listen but you don’t hear You’ve always been the fixer But now we’re in a picture How did we get here We take our armor off We put our armor on But the thing we’ve missed All along I don’t like to fail I know I love you Gail I know I’ve caused you pain This was not the plan For this middle aged man This is not how I was trained We take our armor off We put our armor on But the thing we’ve missed All along To make our house a home Together not alone SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Darden Smith Music (ASCAP) / Sole Sister (BMI)
7.
JUST PRAY 03:08
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Jay Clementi / Bryan & Tina Dykes He’d call around the time I put the kids to bed Each time was longer in between We wouldn’t talk for months sometime But I would go to him in my dreams Oh I still remember that call He was just so cold and gone Even further than the miles between us I felt so lost and alone All i could do was pray pray pray listen to sad old love songs Every single day I would just cry and sing along And I would Pray Pray Pray It was a constant heartache everyday Not knowing if he’ll come home Without him I’m not who I am He’s half of my heart and soul I would just pray pray pray listen to sad love songs Every single day I would just cry and sing along And I would Pray Pray Pray I know it sounds strange to say But one night I heard god clear as day Say he’s gonna be ok He’s gonna be ok But he’s gonna come back broken He’s gonna come back hurting And he’s gonna need you He’s gonna need your Grace So I’m just gonna pray pray pray and listen to some brand new love songs Keep the faith and until he comes home I’ll just pray pray pray SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Sony ATV Cross Keys (ASCAP)
8.
I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW 03:33
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Ashley Cleveland / Chanda Allen Ashley Cleveland / Chanda Allen I don’t want to hurt your feelings I know you’ve heard it all before Sometimes I feel like you don’t get it I can’t hold it in anymore I just want you to hear me I just want you to know It’s the little things that mean something to me Like: “Baby how did your day go?” I’m a simple woman I don’t need to be wined and dined I just want you to get me I want you to take the time I want you to play with the children Instead of the video games I want you to make a connection Do I really have to explain? Well I know I’ve got a lot of symptoms And I need to be in control But I want you to see me trying Even when it doesn’t show You want more affection But I’m stuck in fight or flight And I need you to have compassion And see me working to get it right I just want you to know And take it straight to heart You’re the one I love And maybe that’s the place to start You’re the one I love And maybe that’s the place to start You’re the one I love And maybe that’s the place to start SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Sole Sister (BMI)
9.
YOU OPENED MY EYES 03:08
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Darden Smith / Zaak & Marlena Thibodeaux You tell me I don’t understand Your right I don’t think I can But I can love you all the same Even in the middle of your pain You opened my eyes You opened my heart To sacrifice That’s where it starts It never ends Cause everyday We start again In so many ways You opened my eyes You opened my eyes I was just a hometown girl Didn’t know a thing about your world The uniform, the strength, the nerve And what it takes to really serve Til you opened my eyes You opened my heart To sacrifice That’s where it starts It never ends Cause everyday We start again In so many ways You opened my eyes You opened my eyes Now I know how to live How to rise above What it means to really love You opened my eyes You opened my heart To sacrifice That’s where it starts It never ends Everyday We start again In so many ways You opened my eyes You opened my eyes You opened my eyes You opened my eyes SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Darden Smith Music (ASCAP)
10.
EASY AGAIN 03:21
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Jay Clementi / Terry Radigan / Mardi & Chanda Allen I don’t do funerals, I don’t do tears I don’t do feelings, I don’t do here I break you down when I should build you up I know that’s not who I was when we fell in love I just want it to be easy again Like it was on our first weekend Sitting in a matinee of Spiderman and you held my hand Just sitting there together didn’t ever want it to end I just want it to be easy again I don’t do dishes or pop XM stations I don’t do all stressed out or confrontation I don’t want my kids sleeping in our bed I want to feel you next to me when I lay down my head I just want it to be easy again Like it was on our first weekend Sitting in a matinee of Spiderman and you held my hand Just sitting there together didn’t ever want it to end I just want it to be easy again Oo why we gotta make it so hard Can’t we just go back to the start I just want it to be easy again Like it was one our first weekend Sitting in a matinee of Spiderman and you held my hand Just sitting there together didn’t never want it to end I just want it to be easy again I miss my best friend Easy Again You’re my woman, Oo baby your’ my man I just want it to be Easy again SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Sony ATV Cross Keys (ASCAP) / Catherine the Great (ASCAP)
11.
GRATEFUL 04:04
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Darden Smith / Terry Radigan / Tina & Brian Dykes / Debbie & Jason Parsons / Brad & Trish Hubbard Grateful for the bright sunshine Grateful that this day is mine I can feel your love here next to me I can be whoever I want to be I’m just grateful Grateful I lost myself somewhere along the way When I was down so low I heard the angel say I’m not going anywhere send those demons away Get your shit together you’re gonna be ok Just be grateful for the bright sunshine I’m just grateful that this day is mine I can feel your love here next to me I can be whoever I want to be I’m just grateful Grateful If you’re sinking down thru every shade of black You gotta turn the corner and get yourself back And get yourself ready for the angel call Be the seed in the dark ground waiting for the rain to fall And be grateful for the bright sunshine Grateful that this day is mine I can feel your love here next to me I can be whoever I want to be I’m just grateful Grateful If you get up, if you get knocked down Get out of your mind, and look around Trust in faith and rise above Let the hope come in and feel the love And be grateful for the bright sunshine Grateful that this day is mine I can feel your love here next to me I can be whoever I want to be I’m just grateful Grateful I got a great big plateful Grateful Yeah I’m just grateful Grateful Grateful SongwritingWith:Soldiers Music (ASCAP) / Darden Smith Music (ASCAP) / Catherine the Great (ASCAP)

about

All purchases are tax-deductible donations to SongwritingWith:Soldiers.

Our retreats pair professional songwriters with veterans, military families and couples, and active-duty service members to write songs about their military experiences and returning home.

These songs are their stories from this retreat:
Mardi and Chanda Allen, Zaak Thibodeaux and Marlena Ancelet Thibodeaux, Bryan and Tina Dykes, Brad and Tricia Hubbard, Debbie and Jason Parsons, Scott and Gail Rineer participated in the January 2018 retreat. These songs are their stories.

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released April 13, 2018

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SongwritingWith:Soldiers Nashville, Tennessee

SongwritingWith:Soldiers is a non-profit 501c (3) organization.

Our Mission: We transform lives by using collaborative songwriting to expand creativity, connections, and strengths.

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