This one ran over time. I’d hoped to post it in early January but chords needed work, vocals needed work, everything took longer than expected. And I didn’t think it quite fit the Solstice quintessentially, so here it is on its own.

It’s in time for the Oscar season, I guess. I don’t watch anything associated with competition or awards, especially arts-related.

Intro (FM) is 5 bars @ 94 bpm, then 16 @ 112, followed by five verses (Dm) at 134. Maudlin MIDI piano chords and the MIDI file in the stems in case it helps with tempo and key.

Like Moths to Flame*
Lyrics (c) & (cc)BY D A Ayer 2023-01-31

Intro (FM)
Well, my throat’s on fire from Auld Lang Syne—or perhaps too much cheap rum—
while my eyes still burn from those prayers we smoked in hopes of days to come.
A new dawn rises groaning from the couch of last night’s host.
Yes, it’s 2023 my friend, so let’s drink a parting toast:

Verse 01 (Dm)
Here’s to the young ones who dared believe despite the odds
that wanting something bad enough could earn the favor of the gods,
who saw dirt tracks as shining roads to fortune, wealth, and fame
drawn to the city lights like moths to flame.

Here’s to the ingenues lined up out in the hall
reading for a role already taken in a backroom deal last fall,
vestal virgins sacrificed to the immortal marquee names,
drawn to the city lights like moths to flame.

Here’s to the b-ball boys, the fastest on their feet,
caught up in the crossfire of drive-bys on the street,
who never gave a signature but practiced just the same,
drawn to the city lights like moths to flame.

Here’s to waves of pilgrims out of Hometown, USA
surfing Greyhound buses headed vaguely toward LA,
who washed up in the strip malls as the tide ran out again,
drawn to the city lights like moths to flame.

Here’s to would-be heroes of ten thousand silver screens:
the ones who didn’t make it, their faces never seen…
Here’s to all the dreamers whose fifteen minutes never came…
drawn to the city lights like moths to flame.