A reader recently wrote me to say, “I jumped to your epilogue out of curiosity and found a magnificent poem, ‘A Matter of Time.’ Are these lyrics to a song as well as a poem? You cited AnderSongs 2020 at the end of the poem.”

Yes, “A Matter of Time” is a song I wrote long before I embarked on my solo canoe trips. Upon completing my memoir, I realized that I had, in fact, captured the essence of the book in this song, and thus I printed the lyrics as an epilogue to the book.

Here is the actual song, as recorded in the mid 1980s at the Wally Cleaver Studios in Fredericksburg, VA with a group of talented musicians: Buddy Charleton (long-time steel guitarist with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours), steel guitar; Jonas Taub, lead guitar and vocals; Peter Bonta, keyboards; and myself playing rhythm guitar and singing the lead vocal.

Solo’s Preface begins with lyrics from “Ghosts”, which are again cited later in the story. “Ghosts” was also written in the 1980s. I’ve yet to bring it to the studio, but, if you’ll forgive the quality and the vocals, below is a home-recorded version of the entire song:

One final song is excerpted in Chapter 4 of Solo, that being “Waiting for Daytime to End.” This spoken story-song was written in honor of my Grandpa Miller, who patiently taught me about chores, farm life, and life in general. Again, you’ll have to forgive the quality of this recording, as it is done at home with my meager equipment.

Please respect the fact that all of these songs are copyrighted and are not here for downloading, but for your listening pleasure on this web page.

Take care, Dick

Copyright © 2021 by Dick Anderson