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Spirit and the Flesh
©2012 Steven M. Biederman/Paul Gaines
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11365663


One foot on the front step
the Spirit drew me there
Sounds of Praise & worship
Music fills the air

I get a glimpse of Heaven
Want to get inside
Temptation yanks my shoulder
Growlin, "Kid, let's take a ride"

(CHORUS)
Spirit and the flesh
They battle night and day
Turned away from God’s love
If my flesh has its way

I pass an evening service
of the church just down the block
Endless noise assaults the night
I shudder as I walk

The dealer on the corner
Just wants to take me down
Hookers sell sedudtion
Temptation's all around

(CHORUS)
Spirit and the flesh
They battle night and day
Turned away from God’s love
If my flesh has its way


Saggy pants and gang tattoos
They mock me to my face
Their laugh sounds like a battle cry
With lives so void of grace

The barker for the strip club
He beckens me inside
"Girls Naked Girls" he howls
Paints pictures in my mind


(BRIDGE)
I listen to the promises
of what's beyond that door
But I don't buy into the lie
Instead I seek the lord

The people in the sanctuary
Shake my hand and grin
If you’ve come for forgiveness, kid
Welcome, come on in

(CHANGED CHORUS)
Spirit and the flesh
They battle night and day
But my soul's found redemption
In Jesus' love and grace



REPEAT CHORUS

Hey Steven, enjoyed the message, music and "The Byrds" guitar!

This is very good, enjoyed it a lot...loved the music...and hey, I miss pauly....you guys did great on this..

glyn

Nice sound -- that chorus is pretty dang good. I remember Paul, is he hanging out at Toonsmith these days? Good collab.

Hi Stevie,

You know I love your writing you always have such great images that paint a very vivid picture in my mind. I think your music here is excellent too (something to envy for sure). The problem I have with this song is that the music is so upbeat it sounds like a happy song so I don't feel like the lyric and music are a good match. Of course it may just be me no one else has said this so...I think if you slowed it down a little that may make it not sound like a happy Beach Boy kind of song.

I feel funny even saying this to you because you're a real musician and a great writer. I'm just telling you what my first impression was.

Dottie

Thanks for stopping by for a listen and for your comments, Shayne.

Stevie

Stevie,

I think the overall message matches the music, but there are a few dark spots in there and understand Dottie's point also, but the melody is great and the write has a good, clear message.

Tammy

hey Steve, Love the struggle between good and evil...something we all deal with daily, and overcome most of the time. But when we fail that old church can set us right again, if we can just get past the joys of being wrong. Great write~~MFB III

Hi Glyn. Thanks for the listen and nice comments. Pauly is doing just fine. We had fun working together on the lyric for this song. I'll tell him you asked about him.

Stevie

VERY catchy chorus & I really like the vocal.
plus your guitar is sounding GREAT.
Plenty of reasons to hate ya but I don't :-)

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

great delivery,awesome song!Is that Roger McGuinn on guitar,LOL,cool sound!

Nice to hear the Jangly guitar again!

I love it Stevie - yeah, that chorus is catchy and has a very cool guitar riff. And it's a very well-written lyric too. Great imagery!

Really nice! Miss seeing Paul around here - hope he's doing okay.

Scott

Thanks Kevin. Yeah, Pauly hangs out at toonsmith some. We talk often on the phone. I appreciate the listen and comments.

Stevie

Stevie,

Nice message mixed into a great tune! Love that sixties sound!

Tom W.

Thanks for the listen and your honest assessment Dottie.

Stevie

Thanks for the listen and the feedback Tammy.

Stevie

Thanks Matt. Glad the story was successful.

Stevie

Thanks for not hating me Calvin, lol.

Stevie

Thanks Michael. Actually, back in 2002 when I was looking to buy a Rickenbacker 360/12, I emailed Roger from his web site to see if it was better to get the standard version or his designer version which has three pickups.. He wrote me back within an hour and told me that he only used the bridge pickup and that he played through a POD 2.0. Told me the settings he used on the POD as well to get his signature sound. Nice guy.

Stevie

Thanks Scott. It was fun to break out the Rickenbacker for this one. Haven't recorded with it for quite awhile.

Stevie

Thanks Tom. That sixties sound is just me doing my thing as a musical fossil, haha.

Stevie

Nice job Stevie
Cheers
phd

Thanks Dr. phd. I appreciate the listen and comment.

Stevie

Time to bump this one to the top of the charts, songwriter's heaven. I liked it a lot so I want it to be enjoyed more by others.~~~~MFB III

STEVIE, PAUL--

NICE MESSAGE AND PRODUCTION WITH STYLE--

WRITE AND PLAY ON--

Mackie

Thanks to all that have given this tune a spin and took the time to comment.


I seen this up top again and gave it another listen, I cant remember who wrote what line Steve, as I recall it was really a line by line colabrolation, Im really likin' the bridge, the way your harmony comes in gives it a way cool feel. Was a blast writing it, hope we can do it again.

Cheers
Paul

Stevie,

I was in a class the other night at Songu with Lisa Palas and she was talking about having upbeat music with a not so happy lyric and she said it's a good idea and that it makes a sad song not so sad. So I take back my previous comment. I can take it back right, lol?

Dottie

Man...Thanks Matt. I'm flattered you like this one so much.

Stevie

Thanks Mackie. I appreciate it.

Stevie

I heard The Beatles in the guitar work. You are right, the spirit and the flesh battle constantly.
Jim Colyer

Pauly,

You are correct, Sir. I had two different versions of the song and then you and I re-wrote almost the whole thing line by line Together, head to head so to speak. I enjoyed it as well.

Stevie

That's Ok Dottie. The lyric turns optimistic in the end anyways. Thanks for coming back.

Stevie

Hey Stevie! I quite enjoyed this. Very 60s sound to it to me, which takes me back. Well written lyrics too. The message comes through loud and clear. Looking forward to more!

Linda

Thanks Jim,

I'm a huge Beatles fan so I'm humbled by your comment.

Stevie

Sounding as good as ever my friend
Love the hook ... great great write

Dan

Thanks Tunesforyou. You will probably get your wish soon,,,for better or for worse, lol.

Stevie

Hey Stevie,

Yeah, it's got a lot of energy. It could have come from 1967, or 2007, just depends how it's produced.

Usually, I find Christian music a bad excuse for musicianship, in that "God forgives bad musicians because they are spreading the word"... but not here, the songwriting is really solid along with the message conveyed.

You could leave it as it is, or it would update equally as well.

cheers, niteshift

Thanks Dan, Wow!!! Where have you been You've been missed.

Stevie

Thanks Nite. Retro Is Us in my case. I understand what you mean about Contemporary Christian music and Southern Gospel in particular. I plan on performing this and several others live when I redo some of the backing tracks. I don't want to just play them with a guitar/vocal cause there's much more to my sound so I'll make my own tracks and mix with my acoustic and vocal in live performances. Heck, most Southern Gospel groups just sing to canned tracks anyway. Thanks for checking it out.

Stevie