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Hello forum friends. I have always loved water, particularly the ocean. I particularly love the northern California coast-many parts are absolutely beautiful. For Spring break of '14, my Family and I stayed in Point Arena in Mendocino county. That was the trip during which I wrote the lyrics to Real Good Time. We stayed at a place about 2 miles from the Point Arena lighthouse which is featured in the film FOREVER YOUNG with Mel Gibson, and NEED FOR SPEED. The latter was playing in the theater 50 miles north of there and we watched it during the trip. That was a cool experience to come back there after the film and connect the lighthouse to the climactic scene of the film (the film is very so-so). We also took the tour of the lighthouse and heard about the duties of the keepers. I was always intrigued by lighthouses, beacons in the night maintained by solitary men. It was this intrigue that motivated me to write this song. Hope you enjoy it! Comments much encouraged. Take care. Greg THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER Say a prayer for the lighthouse keeper His loneliness is getting deeper Pale light reaching into the distance For some confirmation of existence And his grey eyes are growin’ old He learned his craft from his dad Still laughs and cries over talks they had High seas tales and pirates’ treasures Noble lads and earthly pleasures But now, the winds blow cold He spends his days now in a fog Nights are without end Making entries in his log Of visits from imaginary friends Sand and lonely lighthouse keeper Had a love once, couldn’t keep her She blew in one day off the ocean He stayed put, she stayed in motion Like the tide, came and went In a few more years now, he’ll be gone No need to pass his knowledge on His humanity is antiquated His successor will be automated He’ll be laid to rest for eternity On a little hill above the sea Next to his beloved father Two lighthouse ghosts will scan the water For the ghosts sailing by https://soundcloud.com/gjohnson-2/lighthouse
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Greg,
What a great sounding production/arrangement and the lyrics are a wonderfully crafted visual and emotional story. I love lighthouses too, there's such a mystic about them and you can't help but let your mind wander to what it was like when a real human had to climb all those stairs. It never occurred to me to write a song about it. Kudos!
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Man, Greg! This is SO very good. In all regards.
A beautiful write - beginning to end. Paints a perfect picture... Such elegant language...and yet, conversational. Songwriting at the highest level.
The melody is gorgeous.
The production/arrangement is excellent. Reminds me of Springsteen's "Meeting Across The River" (one of my all-time favorites).
Beautiful vocal. Good mix.
"Sad and lonely lighthouse keeper
Had a love once, couldn’t keep her
She blew in one day off the ocean
He stayed put, she stayed in motion
Like the tide, came and went"
It does not get better than that.
(I read "The Light Between Oceans" not long ago... this captured those images perfectly)
I'm a fan (don't I sound like a blubbering one?...)
floyd
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Man, Greg! This is SO very good. In all regards.
A beautiful write - beginning to end. Paints a perfect picture... Such elegant language...and yet, conversational. Songwriting at the highest level.
The melody is gorgeous.
The production/arrangement is excellent.
Beautiful vocal. Good mix.
"Sad and lonely lighthouse keeper
Had a love once, couldn’t keep her
She blew in one day off the ocean
He stayed put, she stayed in motion
Like the tide, came and went"
It does not get better than that.
Greg, I'm shamelessly stealing from Floyd, because he said it far better than I ever could. And boy, did you ever send me down Memory Lane. My wife is from N. California. We met while I was stationed in Eureka. We're going back this fall on an anniversary tour. And having sailed those west coast waters for several years - I spent many a watch taking bearings to Pt Arena Lt. I still remember the chart numbers. Here's a link to one of them you might find interesting. Take care. http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/18640.shtml
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Hi Greg,
just very beautiful in all aspects. The sax solo
seems to be made exactly for this song.
I'm not touched by songs very often. This is
an exception.
Guenter
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Hi Greg, Very relaxed song! Nice piano, which RT is it? Nice lyrics too. Lots of lighthouses here in Holland, so this might as well have been a Dutch song  Rob and Anne-Marie
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Very nice one Greg! Love the subtlety of the lyrics vocal and backing.
Confirmation of existence
Noble lads and earthly pleasures
visits from imaginary friends
humanity is antiquated
Just a few of the delicious tidbits.
Leaves me feeling mellow. Cheers.
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Beautiful song.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Has a Barry Manillow feel/sound to my ears.
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Great write and performance; thanks for sharing!
My TunesPsalm 57:7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
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Very nice work..... out of the box in one way and in the box in the other.
Your lyrics are fantabulous!
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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My, but that's a pretty tune.
Well done!
Thanks for the music,
Dan
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floyd already quoted it but wow!!
"Sand and lonely lighthouse keeper
Had a love once, couldn’t keep her
She blew in one day off the ocean
He stayed put, she stayed in motion
Like the tide, came and went"
I see no reason to try and parse out
everything that is so good about this.
Both of us had rather just kick back
and enjoy it all again.
As an aspiring writer I am humbled.
Thanks for this addition to our SC
playlist!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Simply superb in every aspect Greg. Beautiful song, performance and production.
Charlie
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Hi Greg ...
what a lovely song! This is sweet yet poignant ... and so enjoyable. We loved everything about this. Simply put .. a wonderful musical project from beginning to end. This is a great example when the sum of the parts makes the whole as good as it can be. We loved it!
Alan & Di
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Greg, I spent the last week camped on the beach in the Fl Keys staring directly at the Tennessee Reef lighthouse. This is the only unmanned lighthouse in the Florida Keys that still has a lantern and it has a Fresnel lens. It is still in operation today. Also walked past the Key West lighthouse across from Hemingway's house. Since I had the visuals to go along with the song it made listening extra special. This is very well written, produced and sung. A touchingly beautiful lyrical and mood piece. Glad to see you toned down the brightness on the vocal. It is perfect. The melody at times is reminiscent of something that I just can't put my finger on. Really great work and a gentle reminder of better days gone past. Top notch all the way! Tom
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Beautiful melody and song, love the easy flow, love the piano and sax. Well written, made me think of Brian Wilson. I'd like to know if that's a piano real track or super midi also, wherever it comes from it's very nice.
Kenny
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Thanks so much Josie!! I always look for you feedback and it was a nice treat to see you first to post. Really dig you Rhino song! Take care. Greg
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Thanks for the wonderful review Floyd! It means a great deal to me. You are truly a Zen master songwriter. I truly treasure your kind words (and your song posts)! Take care. Greg
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Thanks for the nice reply Scott! I checked out your link. Never seen a map like that. Very cool! You've been doing some really excellent stuff lately. Always look forward to hearing more. Take care. Greg
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"I'm not touched by songs very often. This is
an exception."
Guenter, this is truly one of the greatest compliments I've ever received. That's why I write-to try to touch people's emotions. Great to know that I occasionally succeed. Absolutely love your remixes. Every one is so much better than the originals. You are truly creative!! Take care. Greg
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 11 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
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Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
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