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| At the Bandshell, 1985 |
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LEE CHARLES KELLEY'S SONGS
Some might ask, If you're a professional dog trainer, why advertise yourself as a songwriter?
I started training dogs in 1987 but I wrote my first song when I was five. (Okay, it wasn't any good, but still...) I've also had some modest success: I played the Troubador in 1975, wrote the title song for an independent film in 1976, and I've gotten positive feedback from Carly Simon, rocker Ric Derringer, jazz diva Tierney Sutton, and Broadway composer Charles Strouse.
I also co-wrote the musical It's Only Money (with composer David Forrest), produced at the Mad River Playhouse in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1997.
I've kept my songwriting on the back burner for a long time, but I just started my own music publishing company -- West Sixty Ninth Street Music -- and I'm now starting to market my songs.
I am a proud member of ASCAP. You can hear songs, reviews, news, and more at WestSixtyNinthStreetMusic.
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| New York on a Rainy Day, 1950s |
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Some folks fear the weather man.
They don't like to get wet.
I once feared the weatherman
until the day we met
under an awning
in the warm summer rain.
I'd just missed my bus, you just
got off the train.
We talked and laughed till skies grew clear above.
In a week or two we two were deep in love.
And although we parted
while the springtime was new,
when I hear raindrops fall I
still think of you.
And I wear a secret smile I can't explain,
except to say that I love New York in the rain.
Words & Music © 2010 by Lee Charles Kelley
West Sixty Ninth Street Music (ASCAP)
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The time it seems so short since we were groomed and brided.
Now the fam'ly court says we're to be divided.
And as the dust all clears
I try to take defeat
right on the chin.
I’m not in tears,
but oh I’m incomplete, for
part of me will always love you.
Part of me will always care.
And when he becomes a memory
reach out to me, I'll be right there.
Near or far, it doesn’t matter
no matter where you are
that’s where my heart shall be.
For there’s a part of you,
deep in the heart of you,
that keeps shining through
the heart of me.
You will always be a part of me.
Words and Music © 1984 by LEE CHARLES KELLEY
West Sixty Ninth Street Music (ASCAP)
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| Fred Astaire |
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The song begins to play. Your thoughts are miles away.
Then all at once the beat becomes entrancing.
You throw your arms 'round mine.
A thrill runs up my spine
though I know you'll only hold me while we're dancing.
The motion of your hips, the tender way your lips
brush up against my cheek so softly glancing,
they leave me dazed and hot, and yet I know I’m not
the only man with whom you spend time dancing.
I don’t exactly lack the knack for conversation,
But subtract this syncopation
and I can hardly speak,
’Cause the groove is like a tonic:
when we move I’m supersonic;
when we stop my knees, ironically, get weak.
But we spin and twirl so well, caught up in an ancient spell,
that together we personify romancing.
This love is strong. It’s mine to give. And yet as long as I shall live
I know you’ll only hold me while we’re dancing.
(musical interlude – repeat bridge & 3rd verse, go to coda)
Coda
So alone tonight, I'll ask the moon to help me write an endless tune
that will keep you in my arms forever, dancing.
Spoken: “Thursday? Yeah, I can do Thursday. Same time? Okay, see ya then…”
Words & Music Copyright © 2008 by LEE CHARLES KELLEY
West Sixty Ninth Street Music (ASCAP)
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