Patrick Anderson

~

2005-11-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

Had a great time cruising the Caribbean this summer for our 5-year family reunion. 42 Andersons voyaged for 7 days and created some very special memories. This photo was taken on a sailing and snorkeling excursion. Can't wait to go again!

Full moon December 4, 2006 ... I'm holding the camera with my left hand out of frame. Had to maipulate the image a little to straighten the horizon.

I love the beach here on St. Simons Island. It is my refuge ... a place where I can get grounded and re-centered whenever I need to. Now that I'm here, I think I will always have to live on (or very near) the beach.

Silent Pride

2005-11-11T20:59:00.001-05:00

This song, and in a larger sense, my interest in song and lyric writing were inpired by my daughter Carly. I wrote the music for Silent Pride in 2003 after having recieved a new guitar for my 50th birthday (Carly had a hand in that as well). I liked the chord progression and asked her to help me with some lyrics. Carly chose the theme and wrote the first draft. From there, we worked together and crafted the first complete song either of us had ever written. In January 2005 we were awarded first place for lyrics in a preliminary round for VH-1's Song of the Year. And since then I have been inpired to write over 25 songs and dozens of poems, igniting a creative passion in me that had been latent for far too long. Thank you so much, Carly darling. You helped me launch my renaissance. I love you always. ~Dad

Click Here to Hear the Song
Lyrics by Carly Anderson & Patrick Anderson

(Unbold lyrics sung from the point of view of the occupying Europeans/Americans; Bold lyrics sung from the point of view of Native Americans)

Long ago
We came to know
Your silent pride.
We were afraid
But we stayed
To put you down.

Finally
You lost
And you paid the cost.
Thanks for the hand
Thanks for the land
Now go away.

CHORUS
Do not cry
Your tears will dry
Like salt inside your wounds.
Walk the trail
Tell your tale
The earth preserves your bones.

Long ago
.
We looked at you
In wonderment.
We were afraid
But we stayed
To be your friends.

Finally
We knew
It could never be.
We’ll hit the plains
You’ll never change
Good bye for now.

CHORUS
.

You betray
We walk away
Along the trail of tears.
Deep inside
Our silent pride
Will wash away our fears.

Your lives
Will render
Never ending pride.
We’ll keep your names
On our cars and lakes
And on our teams

Dream your dreams
Of freedom lost
Between the seas.
Wake up to see
The fences surrounding
The property.

CHORUS
Do not cry
Your tears will dry
Like salt inside your wounds.
Walk the trail
Tell your tale
The earth absorbs your bones.

BRIDGE
Be strong...Let them be wrong eternally.
Be still.......Live to fulfill our destiny.

Our lives
Don’t matter
.

In your scheme of things.
Don’t desecrate
Our names with
Insincerity.

Take our world
And leave us with
Our memories
Wake up and see
.

How badly you ravage
The property.

CHORUS
You betray
We walk away
Along the trail of tears
Deep inside
Our silent pride
Endures beyond the years.

Copyright 2004 Patrick Anderson

I Simmer

2005-11-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

`

Hidden in a place where notions gather and subside
Just around the corner from the secrets I confide
In between the bookmarks of a story deep inside
I simmer.

Stranded by a neap tide on the shoals of loneliness
Searching for the shoreline like a captive in distress
Drowning in the waters of a steamy consciousness
I simmer.

Half a mile from heaven in the vast eternity
Lighting up the fire of forbidden mystery
Burning through the incense of a fragrant potpourri
I simmer for you. I simmer.

Copyright 2005 Patrick Anderson

A Few of My Photos

2005-11-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

I love to shoot the sunrise ... here's one that rained fire upon the waters!

St. Simons Island is like no other place on earth ... a little paradise. This is low tide just before the dawn.

Reflections of a huge dune field along East Beach in St. Simons

Waves through the dune grass just in front of the beach house.

A neap tide under a rising full moon is a mystical experience. The photo does not do it justice.

Another beautiful St. Simons sunrise taken from the rooftop deck.

I walked out on the sandbar and got together with some of my friends tonight!

You Gotta Stand for Somethin'

2005-11-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

Music & Lyrics by Patrick Anderson

Planes are crashin’, lights are flashin’
People dyin’, children cryin’
Heroes charging through the smoke
God in heaven we invoke
Soldiers screamin’ ‘cross the desert
Facing dangers, freeing strangers
Do they even want the freedom?

How to keep it, how to use it
Why it matters, why you choose it
Are we even right to give it
Can they ever hope to live it
Sons and daughters packed in boxes
Save us from our paradoxes
Who will bless your sacrifice?

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ if you wanna be free
You got to stand your ground, it’s not a mystery
You gotta stand
You gotta stand for somethin.’

Children strapped with ammunition
Taught to seek the martyr’s mission?
Promised virgins so seductive
Could a god be so destructive?
Abraham is really freakin’

Yaweh, God & Allah shriekin’
Jesus and Mohammed speakin’...

(They're sayin:)

“This is not the way We meant it
Get it right or just forget it
Twisting words to bend their minds
Missing all the vital signs
No more jihad, no crusade
You got to terminate the hate
Do you think you’re goin’ to heaven?”

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ when it’s out of control
You know you can’t get to heaven if you blow up your soul
You gotta stand
You gotta stand for somethin.’

Women with their faces wrapped
Hide within a world trapped
And dominated by the masters
Wailing o’er their sons’ disasters
Can you put the past behind you
Will you break the chains that bind you
Free your body, free your mind.

Bodies grind in rhythmic motion
Selling cars and suntan lotion
Inhibitions lost forever
As we crave each new endeavor
Youth and wealth and gettin’ laid
They’re the currencies we trade
Do you think we’re making progress?

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ now don’t you agree
You got to liberate some integrity
You gotta stand
You gotta stand for somethin.’

Children watch the television
Captured without supervision
MTV exploits their senses
Peddling its sick intentions

Hide behind the first amendment
Shape their minds for your enrichment
Mothers don’t you see what’s happening?

Fathers of our revolution
Did not die for this pollution
Entertain at any price
You desecrate their sacrifice
We’re pukin’ on your gross creation
In the name of free expression
Don’t forget to check your ratings.

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ if you know what I mean
You gotta take control of your visual screen
You gotta stand
You gotta stand for somethin.’

Sons and daughters feed the vulture
Of this drug infested culture

Go ahead, you’ll be OK
Take your poison everyday
Reality is just a show
It’s not a place you have to go
Can you find your own reflection?

Will you let this misdirection
Drag you through its dark depression
Suck you in and spit you out?

Leave you hopeless, full of doubt
Can you fight it on your own
Or will the vulture pick your bones
Reality will set you free.

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ if you want to be free
You got to clear your mind
You got to disagree
You got to stand
You got to stand for something.’

Sons of Dixie free your soul
Africa is not your foe
Lose the hatred, calm the rage

Teach yourself to disengage
Fold your flag and seek the truth
The Stars and Bars confine your youth
Ain’t you heard the war is over?

Damn the slavers’ vile transgression
Praise the freedom from oppression
Bring the children to the table

Reach them, teach them, lose the label
Don’t accept the masters’ dole
Shed the chains and take control
Everybody get to work now.

CHORUS
You got to stand for somethin’ if you wanna be free
You got to break the yoke of dependency
You got to stand
You got to stand for something.’

Hurry, hurry step this way
You’re headed for the judgment day

You must have sinned while in the womb
It’s in the book, there is no room
To deviate from what we’ve written
Watch that snake, you might get bitten
Write a check, we’re trying to save you.

Do you think that God’s so stupid

Wreck your soul before you use it
Man extracts a wicked toll
By using God for mind control.
And do you think He gives a damn

Who occupies the Promised Land?
Leave Him out, it’s not His battle

CHORUS
You’ve got to stand for somethin’if you wanna be free
You gotta be in charge of your eternity
You got to stand
You got to stand for something.’

Anti-lifer, get your thrill?

Even though you missed your pill.
What gives you the bloody right
To give and take a life tonight?
Make some more you fetus hater.
You can always kill ‘em later.
Can’t you hear your baby screaming?

Doctor let us make a note
Of your hypocritic oath.
How can you deliver death
Just before life takes a breath?
Discover, Visa, Mastercard.
You hold them all in high regard.
Get a job you baby killer!

CHORUS
You’ve got to stand for somethin’ when there’s somethin’ to say
You gotta live with yourself at the end of the day
You got to stand
You got to stand for somethin.’

Copyright 2004 Patrick Anderson
All Rights Reserved.

Momentary Surrender

2005-11-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

`

What if we found ourselves
all alone in a darkened room
with only a single candle...
its amber glow lighting you
from within, flickering
reflections in your eyes.

And if I left my senses
for just a moment and
brushed along your neck
with a stroke of satin...
...would you quiver like the flame
that dances in your fantasies?

If I wandered up your
gracefulness and lifted
your chin, posing you just so...
looking through your eyes
to see everything inside...
what would I see?

Would you stop me if I
found your lips with a
whispering kiss...barely touching,
speaking transluscent words
that have no sound and
require no translation.

What if it felt just right
and you forgot about your
circumstances...lingering
just a little longer than
you should with an answer
you never meant to give?

If you drank in a breath of
momentary surrender, would you
want me to kiss you a little
longer, a little deeper...
reaching for a place where
you can only feel the truth?

And if I surrounded your soul
in a shameless embrace...
opening impossible doors...
would you feel my heart
burning to tell you the things
I only utter in my dreams.

Would we sink into your steaming
garden, losing our minds in the
forest of an expanding inferno...
melting hopelessly together
in a scalding daze of forgetfulness...
would you let that happen?

How long would it take you
to exhale those simmering shivers...
the ones that come from nowhere
and radiate like hot novas through
every pore of your awareness...
would it take forever?

And where would we go from there...
does it matter?

Copyright 2005 Patrick Anderson