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One By One

Verse 1)
I used to think that I would live forever,
With my sisters and my brother and my mom.
But through the years, I've watched them leave this lifetime
They've gone home to be with Jesus, One By One.

Chorus)
One By One,
Our time on Earth is ended,
One By One,
We meet the Father's Son.
One By One,
Our trials will all be over.
We all reach our destinations,
One By One.

Verse 2)
One night while lying in my bed a-thinkin'
My family had all scattered to the wind.
I'd lost them each out on a different highway.
Lord, forgive me, I know I have sinned.

Chorus)
One By One,
Our time on Earth is ended,
One By One,
We meet the Father's Son.
One By One,
Our trials will all be over.
We all reach our destinations,
One By One.

Verse 3)
I know someday, I'll hear my call to glory.
I'll live with God the Father and the Son.
No more upon this weary world I'll travel,
As I rejoin my family, One By One.

Chorus)
One By One,
Our time on Earth is ended,
One By One,
We meet the Father's Son.
One By One,
Our trials will all be over.
We all reach our destinations,
One By One.

Chorus 2)
One By One,
Our time on Earth is ended,
One By One,
We meet the Father's Son.
One By One,
Our trials will all be over.
We all reach that sweet salvation,
One By One.

© 2002 CowboySlim, BMI
September 10, 2002

Man, Cowboy, that's tragic. How could there be such a coincidence? To lose your family all on different highways. Remind me not to drive near your hometown.
the song: I got a chorus melody right away. I can do the verses too but You gotta make the story at least believable. It's almost like winning the lottery five times in a row. Absolutely astronomically difficult.
"Lord forgive me I know I have sinned" What are you doing here, confessing? Did you kill your entire family and drop them off on different highways? I love the chorus though

very nice. Just a couple of small details. The meter on the second to last line of the chorus seems a little off. You might want to try taking the "all" out: "we reach our destinations, one by one".

In the second verse, I was a bit confused by the highway line. Do you mean that they all died in car accidents, or is it "the highway of life"?

Other than that, a very poignant, lovely song.

How about a little tag on chorus 2: (you know, go to the 4, Bring it on home)
"we all reach that sweet salvation
throught trial and tribulation
we'll all reach our destnations one by one"

secret agent,
The meter is fine for the music I wrote...it sings wonderfully...so I don't anticipate any change in the lyric. Yes...that is the Highway of Life...

Paul,
I can see the headlines now...killer confesses to murdering his family, one by one, in a song...no, I ain't a murderer, and ain't confessing anything, except the admission that we are ALL sinners, and fall short of the grace of God, hence the line, "Lord forgive me, I know I have sinned."
That's an interesting tag idea you have there...might use it, might not...the reason for not is, the second chorus comes directly after the first chorus...kinda like a repeat, with only the minor change to "sweet salvation", so you want me to repeat it twice and THEN tag it...that seems to me like beatin' a dead horse. And in a nutshell, that's MY opinion on it.

Thanks for the read and the comments.

Slim

[This message has been edited by CowboySlim (edited 02-29-2004).]

Hey Slim,

Just thought I'd stop by and say hi. I think it's a real good lyric, but , IMO, the last line of V3 doesn't work. You're gonna join your family all at once since there's only one you and they're all together up there when you arrive. Good luck with it, as always.

Bill


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We too often throw around the word "great" like it was a frisbee, instead of the manhole cover it should be.

Bill,
This is a song...people ain't gonna wonder why I rejoin my family one by one instead of all at once...if we even get to go to the same place...they EXPECT me to use my hook and say one by one again...don't try so hard to find nits...it'll make you crazy.

Slim

[This message has been edited by CowboySlim (edited 02-29-2004).]

That's about what I expected, but I thought I'd give it one last try. See ya 'round



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We too often throw around the word "great" like it was a frisbee, instead of the manhole cover it should be.

Hi Slim
Good song. The only comment I have is the last line of the second verse does not seem to fit. what does it have to do with the three lines before.
Other than that it's a good song

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Bill R

Live with a song in your heart

Same name as Mr. Bojangles...Bill Robinson...
Well, you're right, it doesn't fit...because it changes the direction of the song. What would you do? Give me a suggestion...please?

Slim

well sir
now that I hear it that way I guess it's fine. I don't know a lot about the tech side of songwriting(like meter? hmmm) as you can see I'm a novice.
I do not, however, see any mention of murder or mahem in this song. I don't think the reference to the highway means anyone was killed there either. This song seems to play on the words and depicts a person who has seen a rough time of it and lost his family one way or another. It doesn't really matter how. At least that's how I see it. I like the way you used the phrases to convey your message. good work.


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Bill R

Live with a song in your heart

you're funny pton
annie

"don't try so hard to find nits"

hey slim
Isn't that why we're here?

annie

Slim,
This song seems to be about the last surviving member of a family reflecting and thinking about some day rejoining them. I am the youngest of seven so this is something I often think about. About that second verse, this is my suggestion.

One night while lying in my bed a thinkin’
My family all scattered to the wind
I have lost them each to a distant highway
It’s the road that takes us home again

Good luck.

Slim, I love this one.. I like the suggestion for the second verse above. it may or may not meter with what you have wrote to go with it, but if it does it would be a little better. best of luck to ya.

see ya when i make it...

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Nick

Really like this...really do...can't see anything to nit about!!

Keep it coming!!

Yeah,
I like that one that unklpeet posted too...good line. annie, I'm here to get critiqued on my work, and see if there are any major gaffes...I think that's why we are all here...and thanks to all who have offered their help on my lyrics.

Slim

Slim:

Once again, nice work. I liked unklpeet's suggestion--*not* that I think the way you wrote it suggests you went out and killed your family. As far as asking forgiveness, hey, we's all sinners in this here vale of tears--some of us just admit it more readily than others. Whichever way you go is good.

And I do like the "all." It's the musical equivalent of a little catch in the voice, that I've noticed is a fairly common element in old gospel songs. Works well here.

And I *wouldn't* want to join *my* family all at once. I would rather meet them "one by one," like you said. They're nice people, but they're best taken in small doses...

Joe

Slim

I understood the metaphors, I had no problem
with the meter and when we sing about life beyond death we don,t have to follow the
rules of logic but rather appeal to our faith in what happens. As an old guy I
understand what it's like to lose loved ones
"one by one". Perfect sense prevails.
Good job , good song, and good night....

Mike Claxton


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