Senryu : elder

elders teach us all
oft unappreciated
reach out now; they’re gone

senryu by M. Nakazato LaFreniere

I’m on the second day of the lyrics challenge.  And since I’m still playing catch up on ragtag’s daily prompts, I did a search on you-tube for “elder” just to see what I might find.  I don’t watch a lot of TV but I found this perfect video from American idol featuring Brandon Elder doing Gone.

And here is the lyrics.  He wrote it for his mom who adopted him after his birth mom traded him for a car.  Gone by Brandon Elder.

I know I can’t, know I can’t,
Give you everything that I have anymore.
All that I ever asked is for to give me everything you had and no more.
‘Cause the days are getting shorter, As the nights grow long,
And I sit alone all day just writing these songs,
About the only girl I’ve ever loved,
And the only girl I want,
But I can’t see you anymore because you’re all gone, you’re all gone.

When I was a young boy, you took me in,
And loved me as your own.
The greatest love that anyone can ever know,
Is the love from a mother’s heart.
Though we are far apart,
I know as the tears fall on my guitar I look up at the stars and you are finally home.

And I know I can’t, know I can’t,
Give you everything that I have anymore.
And all that I ever asked, is for you to give me everything you had and no more.
‘Cause the days are getting shorter, As the nights grow long,
And I sit alone all day just writing these songs,
About the only girl I’ve ever loved,
And the only girl I want,
But I can’t see you anymore because you’re all gone, you’re all gone.

This was the round and song that eliminated him. Home by Daughtry

On American Idol, it showed Brandon Elder as “construction worker” but if you go to his facebook, you can see that he’s been busy lately doing gigs and festivals.  He’s also posting a lot of videos there.  It’ll be cool when he writes a new song. His latest from Facebook: It all looks good from here by Wilson Brothers Band

You don’t see him on you-tube that much.  His last video was 7 months ago about a month after you-tube changed it’s policies.  They changed their monetizing program to make it unlikely you’ll ever earn a cent so most musicians have jumped ship.  Nowadays the video has to  have 4,000 viewing hours per past 12 months to earn when previously it was 10,000 views.  You also need a minimum of 1,000 subscribers. Since songs are short, a 3-minute song will take 80,000 views to reach 4,000 viewing hours. Any view for less than 30 seconds is discounted unless the video is 30 seconds or less then the whole video has to be watched (no quitting during credits if you want a friend to get a view). You-tube is not worth the bother for many independent musicians and many have gone to other platforms like facebook. A lot of my favorite ex-you-tube artists are now on facebook.

You-tube is still a good place for oldies and for the home amateurs making music videos with their favorite song from a CD or stream.  It’s fine for people learning to make movies and not caring how many people see it. It’s great for big corporations who have television shows or record companies.  It’s still working for established you-tube artists who already have thousands of subscribers who avidly watch their videos regularly. However, as the cool place to find new and emerging musicians or videographers — forget it.  You-tube is DOA.

From Amazon:


Brandon Eldon : Gone

Brandon Eldon : Ain’t Going Home Tonight

Wilson Brothers Band: It all looks good from here (sung by the brothers, not Eldon

Amazon disclosure: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”


oops, I’m supposed to nominate 3 people for the lyrics challenge.  Since no one nominated themselves, I’ll nominate my nephew and nieces on facebook.  Seems appropriate to nominate people on facebook.

RDP #84 – ELDER
Reflections of an Untidy Mind
Ragtag Community
The Ragtag Daily Prompt now has it’s own blog site called the “Ragtag Community“.  Each day of the week a prompt is presented by a different person.  You can post writing or images evoked by the word and add your pingback or link to the comments.  Hope to see you there!