Rise Up Music Project

Christopher John Mead lives in Portland, Ore., where he is a songwriter, musician, social studies teacher and dad. Here he shares a brand new song called "Don't You Cry." His debut album, “Phoenix,” is available wherever you stream or download music.

Took this picture at all pilgrims church on broadway. It was a beautiful performance. Yellow shirt in the middle is one of my best friends!

ALMOST FORGOT! Yeah I threw some Chopin in the middle of the track. Because.. Why not?

LYRICS:

I need to take step back 
Lay it out on the table
Find all the cracks
That make it all unstable
From birth and the cradle 
All the way to my current state
Find the fault that made the quake 
Shake and break my foundation
Until but rubble Do I lay in
Wondering how to begin again
When I’ve run clean out of patience

 I need a bodhisattva
To show me I am not lost
That will at any cost 
Build a fire within my frost
Until the ice becomes soft
And the harsh edges wear off
Until the summer in my mind 
Simmers to warmth  in my heart
To reunite me with the harmony 
that at once we were all a melody
Singing as a whole through out eternity
A celestial symphony

Once upon a time everything was simple 
Dancing through moments swift and nimble
Finding and decoding clear to see symbols
That all added up to majesty and mystical 
Mysteries that teased what treasure lies
Just beyond reality
And that actually we were spiritual
Beings playing in this day dream
And would soon softly wake up again to the real thing

But what used to be so tangible 
Became  unimaginable 
In just a matter of minutes 
I must have been swept in a current
That took me in a hurry to somewhere uncertain
Where the darkness is lurking beneath
The wild wavs lurching 
Where nothing yields from my searching 
Where my melody meets only echos 
In an empty malevolent hollow environment
The literal embodiment of pathos and somber lament
Where all the wistful souls are sent
When they can’t afford the rent

Wings broken from hitting the bottom 
I exist in constant ponder as I wander 
The ruins of my own doing. 
Cruel memories of a pristine tune
That now only glows like a new moon
Behind the clouds so thick with gloom
This rain isn’t going to stop soon
Rhythmless drops like ticks and toks
Of a broken clock that mocks
The pace of my aimless walk

I still think I’ll see a sign
Maybe a wink or nod from the divine
A flicker of hope that I may call mine
Something to ease my weary mind
And help the others and I survive
Even just a small spark of light
Enough to make a small fire 
For us to warm our wills gone tired
A little wind to lift our spirits just a little higher

I think that is when it hit me like an iron
The irony is that my own self pity dampened
My self actualization from happening
Blaming myself when It should have been a call to action
To gather the masses and gain traction 
To break the dark pattern and build a latter
With hope and laughter that will ring true
From here and on after
Until we reach the green fields in the pasture