Ben Travis

This is a song I wrote over 10 years ago, but it hits me even more nowadays.  The "rain" symbolizes the suffering in the world that is often overwhelming to ponder.  The line about the little girl in particular speaks to me now that I have a little daughter who is almost two years old.

This will be part of the new "Here I Am" album when it is finished.

The Rain Falls

© 2000 Ben Travis

I think the world
is a lonely place
We all look for ways
to make it more like home
 
We put pictures on the wall
But it doesn't help at all
Still the rain falls
 
So much hunger, so much war
Yet so little I can do
So I sit on my couch at home
Grab the remote control
See what's on
While the rain falls...
 
A little girl hears her father say,
"I wish you'd never been born at all"
And as she walks back to her room
Well, she wishes it too
Still the rain falls...
 
A woman comes to work
with bruises on her face
She says, "I fell down again."
And as the pieces fall apart
I know the bruises on her face
match the ones on her heart
while the rain falls...
 
The rain falls...
The rain falls...
 
 

I wrote this song in a time of transition in my life, which I guess is obvious.  It's a song about questioning, about rethinking a lot of the things I had taken for granted as true.

This song is not finished, but I wanted to let you hear what I have so far, especially Sam Kallous's awesome drums.  I am still going to get a lead guitar part in there, some piano, different mixing and mastering, etc.  But anyway, I'd be glad to hear your comments on it.

Here I Am

Ben Travis © 2000

I had life in a box

I kept it in the palm of my hand

Nobody could tell me anything

I didn’t already understand

But now my little box has grown

Can’t even fit it in my room

To tell the truth, it’s not a box anymore

It’s more like a big, expanding balloon

(chorus)

Here I am… don’t even know what I used to know

Staring at the stars and scratching my head

Can’t even sleep when I’m in my bed

Here I am… throwing off the mask of certainty

Smiling at the kid I used to be

And wondering what the future holds for a man like me

Milk and cookies by the stairs

Waiting for the man in red to appear

Down the chimney any minute now

Sure hope I’ve been a good boy this year

But now my Santa Claus has gone

So tell me what am I to do?

If all those presents weren’t from him

Maybe what they told me just isn’t true

(to chorus)

“Just close your eyes and believe

That feeling of wonder goes away”

But if it’s okay with you

I think I’m gonna just let it stay

(to chorus)

This song is written from the perspective of a homeless man.  I tried to really feel what that might feel like, and it was actually pretty revealing.  It's so easy to drive by and judge people, but to really live that life must be incredibly difficult. 

Special thanks to Chris Gregg (click his name to visit his site and listen to his solo album) for coming in and playing some awesome sax on this.  I feel like it was what the song really needed... Chris and I had a great time in the studio, and played off each other at the end with my keyboard and his sax.  He did an amazing job, I thought, of identifying with the homeless sax player on the corner, playing his heart out for a little spare change.

Visit my causes page to find out more about how your donations can help end homelessness.

Hope you enjoy it.

Funny Feelin’

© 2000 Travis/Davis

Can't hardly sleep at night

I think my bed is made of stone

And in the daytime, I hold a cardboard sign

And stand beneath the bridge I call my home

I watch the passing cars

I've learned to count the hours

'till darkness brings the bitter cold

(bridge)

I can see them waiting for the light to turn green

Trying not to let me catch their eye

I know that as they drive away

They will do their level best

To forget that I'm alive

(chorus)

It's a funny feelin'    Knowing no one in the world

Would trade places with you if they could

It's a funny feelin'   Being awake is just like dreamin'

'Cause the nightmare never ends,

It just goes on...

And you're always alone

When I left for the war

I thought I'd be a hero

But when I got back, they gave me no awards

In fact, they gave me no respect at all

Truth be known

This city is much worse

Than any jungle I ever saw

(bridge 2)

I can hear them saying I should just get a job

Telling me what they think I should do

I wonder as they drive away  What they think that I should say

When I'm in my interview                 

With tattered clothes and homemade shoes

[to chorus]

People come along and hand me Bibles

They tell me Jesus loves me

And forgives me of my sin

But for me there's something more important than my soul's revival

I'm wondering when this cold front's gonna end

[to chorus] 

I wrote this song based on the lyrics that a fifth grader wrote and gave me once a few years ago. I have messed around with it for years, and now I finally have a finished product. I like it.

Excuse the chords over the lyrics... I copied this straight from a file on my computer. If you want to play along, though, they might help.

I Stand Alone

Em7
I know the sound of each rock and stone
Cmaj7
Only the lights of me are welcome here
Em7                                              Cmaj7
Everything breathes, and I know each breath

Em7
I keep myself protected from pain
Cmaj7
I don't entertain a moment's fear
Em7                                  Cmaj7
I feel the rain, and ignore the rest

D
Don't come any closer, don't even rise
Cmaj7
I've felt all the pain, and heard all the lies
D Cmaj7
In my world, there's no compromise

D
Like every tree stands on its own
Cmaj7
reaching for the sky, I stand alone
D
I share my world with no one else
Cmaj7 Em7
All by myself, I stand alone


I watch the Sun dance in the sky
I hear the wind whisper my name
Emptiness calls, but I turn away

Moving along without a sound
playing a cruel, but honest game
Searching the sky, I see only gray

I wrote this song with my roommate Nathan Griffith at Belmont University in 1992.  I still have great memories of him reading this Dave Barry book about the history of the world and dying laughing.  We wrote this one November evening (imagine that) while it was raining.  The first time I recorded it, I actually stuck a microphone out the window and recorded the rain.  It was kind of cool, but sounded a lot like noise, so I didn't do that this time.  I still enjoy the dark, wandering quality of this song, and I think the cello is a nice addition.

November Rain

Ben Travis/Nathan Griffith – Fall 1992

It beats against the pane

The window to my soul

This cold November rain

Where a child sits in lonely isolation

Wishing he could go out to play

The tears of Heaven run down the steamy glass

Crossing, but never touching, the nose pressed against the other side

And he thinks about the times

When the Sun shone bright above

And he didn’t take the time

The time to go and play

Those thousand tiny drumtaps

Beat out a march that calls me back

Back to the reality of rain

And the time it washes away

Wishes are like the leaves

Dancing down the rain-soaked streets

Maybes and might-have-been’s

Are the ghosts of times gone by

Dwelling in the past leaves you homeless

For tomorrow