Worse Than Any War

[Ray Brookes]

Your own-goal lies; small print eyes
Your park-bench arguments; tied to some splintered mast
Those touch-screen moods and family feuds
How did we ever think that this could really last
All those malevolent murmurs mumbled under your breath
You, your sister your mother like a scene from Macbeth
We tried so hard, so hard we should've tried some more
My signals strong but your reception poor
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

Those train–wreck tears; selective ears
Your spit and sawdust, empty pocket friends
Fake platitudes; poetic attitudes
Those bumper sticker philosophies and token gesture trends
Your dated, antiquated phoney language
Turning every situation to your own advantage
We tried so hard, we should've tried some more
How come every act of love was just another chore
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

That restaurant scene; so very keen
To be seen as misconstrued from head to toes
A sleeping beast. Our fragile peace
Your jolly, Pretty Polly, shopping trolley bargain basement clothes
I remember freezing in the ice of your despair
All for a good cause but I guess we won't go there
We tried so hard, we should've tried some more
Our loaded dice vows read out like a football score
The peace we tried to keep was worse
Worse than any war.

[pjd1]

Briliant Ray another classic song from your bottomless draw, i will play that again its so good , as an artist you have some pretty exceptional ideas , but the trick is to put them into a composition and make it work , this is one of them , oustanding music and composition

Dunny

[Kody]

High quality tune, man. Great songwriting, great production. I'm here for it!

[Redler]

I can't say anything, what to do another way, everything works fine here; composition, performance and production. Some nice flavors on the arrangement as well!

And of course; really fine song!

[hardlock]

Stunning song. Takes you for a ride, pulls you in - spins you around and sends you back for more. A fine production!

[TPB]

Well besides being a excellent musician you are also one of my top word smiths as I am a lyric man you songs and how you write them is always top shelf another one one for my play list. I have a folder on my computer that I put all he great songs in and play them all day when I am working and your songs always go into that folder. Playing is clear and great lyrics are top of the line bravo brother
Tim

[StephenM]

I feel fortunate to get to hear your music...it's really something superlative.... yes, you have it all Ray... some of your songs I like better than others, as with any artist but your list plays like anyones favorite 3 albums...good stuff...

[WarpCanada]

The music is fantastic, arrangement and playing and melody remind me of The Civil Wars, and Mark Knopfler.   Theme-wise, the song reminds me a lot of one of my favorite songs by The Civil Wars, "I wish you were the one who got away".  There's a pain and a clarity in that song that is every bit as good in this song.  It seems like a song about a love gone wrong, and I think that might be a pretty deep well of inspiration.

The lyrical hook here, "The peace we shared was worse than any war" is as good as any song on the radio, and like the "wish you were the one who got away", it has that reversal of expectation in it, that I think fits with the theme of broken down relationship.

In this case, I think this one is pretty top shelf, the lyric-writing, the melodic structure, and the overall arrangement. Very good.  The slide parts on here, if that's slide guitar, are GREAT.

[Hilary]

You are quite the talent Ray - this is chock-full of Rayness 

[Farrell Jackson]

A real stunner Ray! Mellow and smooth vocal delivery yet the lyric are so powerful and well written that they make the song huge. You are quite the wordsmith and also quite the music man. More than well done!

Farrell