Ken Bierschbach

The Bold Type

The verses were constructed from a March 1996 issue of The Grand Rapids Press (a Wednesday I believe). I wrote down about thirty headlines and then put them together in a way I thought sounded interesting. I then wrote a chorus and a bridge that fit what I wanted to say.

Home based love is a hit with the cops
Prison and pension is at the top
Migration in reverse, Americans flee,
Cat set on fire and he hits a referee, the bold type

The comforts of home, assault weapons are a right
Molesting midshipman tears down the stoplights
Smoking kills alcoholics freemen cause a flap
No lies just mistakes, isn’t that a bunch of crap, the bold type

All the news that’s fit to print
Aren’t you getting kind of tired of it
It doesn’t make sense and it’s just a lot of hype
But that’s what you get -- with the bold type, the bold type

New York shivers there’s a union vote on Friday
Sexual battery, the benefits are many
Bearded guards cut it close, rapists vote by mail
Cause sought for no thought, no sale

Chorus

Make it last, don’t read too fast
Give your mind a chance to breathe
But you should know, by reading slow
you take the chance that you’ll be pleased
By the bold type

Teen gets twelve and he’s on the road no more
Rejuvenated with a switch, even up the score?
Judge’s son acquitted global warming in dispute
Drive by, goodbye, she was cute, the bold type

Chorus & fade

Why Don't You Want Me

The chorus came first on this song (like on many). It's just a story about wanting something you can't have, and is very loosely based on a 5th grade crush I had. I was listening to a lot of Melissa Etheridge when I wrote this, and remember thinking the bridge was something I could hear her singing.

Don't wanna ever lose the passion
Don't wanna ever lose the flame
Don't wanna be your latest fashion
Don't wanna have to play your games
I just want you can't you see, why don't you want me

Well I saw you on a Friday you were with another guy
I didn't care I was feelin' high
Got my nerve and walked right up to you
I asked if I could have a dance
Hopin' there was a half a chance
You and I might have some great romance
Things just never work out like they're planned

(chorus)

So I went to your residence, man I was really tense
Saw his car, was it a coincidence
Went to ring your bell but chickened out
Didn't know what to do, standin' there like a fool
Man oh man, I was feelin' blue
Got back in my car and drove away

(chorus)

I don't know what I would do
If you felt about me the way I feel about you
Would I stay real cool would I scream and shout
I might never ever know but I'd love to find out

(chorus)

Felony Eyes

I introduce this song as something I wrote for my teen-age daughters, but it's really just a song about individualism and the strength it takes to be your own person.

Let me tell you a story, ‘bout a sweet little girl
Came into this big world, with a head full of curls
Always the cutest kid, with her dimpled smile
Never made her parents mad, always went the extra mile

Then some time later, things began to change
That cute curly headed kid, began acting strange
Traded her suburb smile, for a city sneer
Now mama stares and shakes her head and says, "what’s happenin’ here?"
Cause now she...

Drives a motorcycle she’s got black fingernails
Tattoos on her forearms earrings made of nails
She’s pierced every body part so is it a surprise
That the girl’s got felony eyes

She looks like an angel, in a devil’s dream
With her friends in tow, all variations on a theme
Followed everywhere she goes, by suspicious stares
Pointed fingers laugh at her, but she doesn’t care
Because she...

(chorus)

You just don’t understand, this is who I am
I have a right to be me
And so she...

(Inst.)

Let me tell you a story, ‘bout a sweet little girl
Came into this big world, with a head full of curls
Always the cutest kid, with her dimpled smile
Never made her parents mad, always went the extra mile

(chorus)

Borderline

This song is about people who through their circumstances, intended or not, end up living on the edges. This was my favorite song for a long time.

There's a young boy on the street somewhere
Feels so all alone
Can't find a place, to call his home
So he spends his time, on the borderline

There's a young man in a closet, just can't seem to cope
All his friends are dyin', so what's the use in hope
Now he spends his time, on the borderline

The borderline it is a place where any one of us could be
The questions beg some answers, why can't we see

There's an old man with a bottle, livin' with despair
There's no help over here and no help over there
So he spends his time, on the borderline

On the borderline they spend their time
On the borderline life is unkind

The borderline it is a place where any one of us could be
The questions beg some answers, when will we see

There's a woman in a shelter, livin' with her kids
Her husband hit her, oh yes he did
Now they spend their time on the borderline
On the borderline (repeat & fade)

At The End Of The Day

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

I watch a lot of Sunday news shows, and I noticed that a lot of politician's were using the phrase "at the end of the day" in order to let everyone know what the final outcome would be (in their opinion of course) of whatever they were discussing. I was hearing this phrase a dozen times every Sunday and it started to bother me. To make myself feel better, I wrote this song.

At the end of the day, will we have done what’s right
Will we have moved from darkness into light
At the end of the day, will the world be sane
Will we still have our sadness have our pain

At the end of the day, we must all look inside
And see the things we tried so hard to hide

At the end of the day, will our babies smile
Will we know that our lives have been worthwhile
At the end of the day, will we all be free
Will we have fulfilled our destiny

(chorus)

Lifetimes go by so fast, can we build something that will last
At the end of the day

(Inst.)

At the end of the day, will all religions know
Just doing what is right is how you grow
At the end of the day, when we finally rest
Will we be satisfied, will we have done our best

(chorus)

And face the things we tried so hard to hide

Faith, Hope and Love

I found some lyrics my brother-in-law, Rodney Vaccaro, had written for a show many years ago. I put my own music to them, rearranged a few things and had the chorus to this song. The issues in this song have bothered me for the majority of my adult life and it was a good release. It was Tom Hagen's (producer of The Bold Type) idea for the taped segments you hear at the end of the song. They helped me say what I wanted to.

Faith, what do you do for the world
Do you help us find our way are you a cure for the world
Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jew who's right
Seems like the only way to find out is to fight

War, you are repulsive to me
Hatred, convulsive to me
Bigotry, you know it's black and white
Be sure and lock your doors at night

Hope, are you just puttin' us on
Waiting patiently until the day you are gone
Needs, wants and dreams they are all wrapped up in you
Can you tell me please just what are we to do

War, you are repulsive to me
Hatred, convulsive to me
Bigotry, should keep us up at night
When will people get it right

The world we live in is bleedin' fast
We need to cauterize the wounds and make it last
Take the message out to everyone
Can the damage be undone

Love, are you what we're searchin' for
Are you the key that unlocks every door
Will we know you when you finally come our way
Or will we meet you and just not know what to say

War, you are repulsive to me
Hatred, convulsive to me
Bigotry, it's neither black nor white
Draw the shades and stay inside

Best Friend (for Lucia)

This song was written specifically for my wife (pronounced LOO-sha), and is about our time together since 1980. As the liner notes say, "truly the best thing that ever happened to me".

We’ve walked amid the mountains, we’ve stood beside the sea
With our dreams as our companions, and our love our energy
We’ve looked below the valley, and we’ve heard the night time wail
And we’ve touched and evening’s rainstorm, and we’ve smiled at a giant’s tail
Don’t you know that I love you, and that it makes me glad
That baby you are the best friend I’ve ever had

We’ve shared a new creation, and we’ve watched the world grow small
And we’ve felt the grief of knowing, that sometimes we cannot fix it all
I know sometimes that I hurt you, sometimes I make you mad
But baby you are the best friend I’ve ever had

It ain’t no mystery, this thing ‘tween you and me, was somehow meant to be

Sometimes I don’t understand it, the way you drive me mad
And baby you are the best friend I’ve ever had
We’ve walked amid the mountains, we’ve stood beside the sea
With our dreams as our companions, and our love our energy
Now honey this is the real thing, you know it ain’t no fad
And baby you are the best friend I’ve ever had

And don’t you know that I love you, and that it makes me glad
That baby you are the best friend I’ve ever had

A Nothing Song

Sometimes a songwriter just needs to write a song. This is what happens. To help with the chorus I went through a "fake book" and looked at every song that didn't have actual words in either the chorus or verses. I've always liked this one.

This is a nothing song, it’s not too important it’s not real long
It doesn’t have a message, doesn’t take a stand
It doesn’t have anything to say that’s grand

This is a nothing song, it doesn’t make a point, doesn’t right a wrong
It’s easy to play and it’s not hard to sing
It really isn’t much of anything, so

Sha la la la la do do do, hey na nee na nee, be bop a lu
Hey bop a re bop, wop bam boom
And that’s the chorus of this nothing tune

This is a nothing song, it’s has no direction it’s not real strong
But it was somethin’ to do at a quarter past two
Feel free to sing along on the do do do’s

(chorus)

There’s ob-la-di and ob-la-da, there’s cold-cuts in the fridge
The abadaba honeymoon was really somethin’
That was the bridge

This was a nothing song, it’s almost done, yea it’s almost gone
If you should wonder what it was about
You know nothing is the answer now let’s all shout

(2x chorus and fade)

Grandpa's Knee

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

I wrote this song shortly after my grandpa, Ed Fedewa, passed away. Everything in the song is true. This was one of the first songs I picked for the CD, and at the first meeting said I wanted to include a bit of my grandpa singing and playing at the end of the song. After I picked the song Wabash Cannonball, we discovered that both songs were in the same key and fit very well together. That's Karma.

One of my first memories when I was two or three
Is of a red brick farm house and sittin' on Grandpa's knee
A wood stove in the kitchen and a big ol' apple tree
And there just weren't no better place than sittin' on Grandpa's knee

He taught me about music and how to work a room
Taught me how to tell a joke and how to jump a broom
I didn't really know it then but now I clearly see
That I'm a whole lot better off for sittin' on Grandpa's knee

When Grandpa went to meet his maker that was a sad day
But I know he's lookin' down and listenin' to me play

As I grew up I didn't go to see him quite as much
Birthday cards and mom and dad were how we kept in touch
But I was there with him and he was always here with me
And I knew I always had a spot on Grandpa's knee

I wish that I'd have told him just how much he meant to me
And how I always felt real safe when sittin' on Grandpa's knee
The last time that I saw him he was feelin' kind of blue
But the last words that he said to me were, "Kenny, I love you"

(chorus)

One of my first memories when I was two or three
Is of a red brick farmhouse and sittin' on Grandpa's knee
Well everybody loved that man and everyone could see
That there just weren't no better place than sittin' on Grandpa's knee

Yea you know that I loved him and I hope that it will be
That one day I will once again be sittin' on Grandpa's knee
Yea one day I will once again be sittin' on Grandpa's knee
'Cause there just weren't no better place than sittin' on Grandpa's

Sittin' on Grandpa's
Sittin' on Grandpa's knee

Leave Me Alone

This song was written specifically for my wife (pronounced LOO-sha). After writing this song my name was pronounced M-U-D. I seem to require more private time than most and this was my "not so subtle" way of saying so. This is also the song that kept me plugging away at the "business" of music. In the very early 90's this song landed me a single song contract with a west coast publisher (impressive, ain't it?). The song was never picked up, but hey, Bette Midler's people listened to it.

I'm in a kind of mood, one I can't explain
I only know I feel like jumpin' on the fastest train
I don't know what I'm runnin' from or what I'm runnin' to
I only know I need a little time away from you
So leave me, just leave me alone

You know I don't know if I like it and I don't know if I don't
I don't know if I will and I don't know if I won't
I don't know if I'm wrong and I don't know it I'm right
The only thing I know is that I don't want you tonight
So leave me, just leave me alone

Leave me alone to get it together
Leave me alone to get in shape
Leave me alone so I can get better
Leave me alone to get myself straight

You know it's not that I don't love you and it's not that I don't care
It's just sometimes I'm feelin' like I just don't want you there
It's not that I'm unfaithful and it's not that I'm untrue
It's just sometimes I gotta get away from you
So leave me, just leave me alone

(repeat chorus)

You know I'm in a kind of mood, one I can't explain
I only know I'm feelin' like I gotta get away
I don't know what I'm runnin' from or what I'm runnin' to
I only know I need a little time away from you
So leave me, just leave me alone

You got to leave me, just leave me alone
You gotta leave me alone (repeat & fade)

A Prayer For You

This song was written for a friend with some problems. I'm terrible at the whole face-to-face thing, so I wrote this song instead. I don't think my friend has ever heard it.

I know about the life that you've led
And I can hear the monsters in your head
I can see the sadness in your eyes
And I can sense the angry heartbreak that you feel
For the piece of you that's died

Winter nights 'round here they get real cold
Are you afraid of growin' old
Or are you just too scared to try
Do the thought of distant memories make you wanna
Just hang your head and cry

But I love you and I hate to see you do this to yourself
But I just don't know what to do
So I sat down and I wrote this little song
It's a prayer for you

You treat your friends as if they didn't know
You tell yourself that it doesn't show
But when you're all alone and look inside
Do you question your own answers to the monsters
That you try so hard to hide

(chorus)

I know about the life that you've led
And I can hear the monsters in your head
I can see the sadness in your eyes
And I can sense the angry heartbreak that you feel
For the piece of you that's died

This is a prayer for you
I'll sing a prayer for you (repeat and fade)

Reaching For His Rhyme

To be honest, it's a song about me feeling good about feeling a bit sorry for myself because "I'm not the only one". This is also an oft repeated theme of mine.

I know this guy he looks just like you
Keeps to himself never knows what to do
Jack of all trades but master of none
Looks in the mirror sees an unfortunate son

Thinks that the world is passing him by
Lots of confusion why should he try
Nobody listens nobody cares
Another mirror another lonely stare

Don’t you think that he could be all wrong
Don’t you think he’s wasting his time
Waiting for the world to come to him
Instead of reaching for his rhyme

Sits in his room and waits for the call
Hey you’re the winner you have it all
Knows he should try but he just doesn’t dare
Walks past the mirror sees that there’s nobody there

(chorus)

(Instrumental break)

(chorus)

I know this guy he looks just like you
Keeps to himself never knows what to do
Jack of all trades but master of none
Looks in the mirror he’s not the only one