A Tributary of Rebirth (January 1, 2015, New York City)
Is there a wound too deep to grieve That nothing will its ache relieve Some hidden, silent, unhealed wrong Some hurt alive from time bygone?
From your first ally, your first friend That did your base foundation bend That cooled like granite so complete Before you stood on your own feet?
That warps the way you walk today That nothing will make go away Yet is so buried and protected That you might seem unaffected?
Can you face it, can you solve it Can you somehow now dissolve it Chart its contours, feel its horror Be a new kind of explorer?
Can you go where few are going Where your ancient tears are flowing Down into the deepest cleft The spring to heal your soul bereft?
Yes, you can go there, you can be A channel of sincerity A tributary of rebirth To all who walk this wounded earth.
Be Creative, Open Your Soul (April 8, 2022)
Be creative, open your soul Take the risk to become whole Yet let the world know how you’re lost And speak no matter what the cost
But also share the things you’ve found While you were searching underground And drop the normal, drop the cover Take the risk to be the other
And take the risk to be unsure To drop your mask, be insecure To model something deep and new For others striving to be true
And take the risk to be rejected By those who seem unaffected And those who never risk a thing To write or paint or dance or sing
And if your sleep at night is tense Then that’s life’s vote of confidence For those who slumber without strife Are those who live a tepid life
So be a hero, be the brave one And maybe on your path you’ll save one Needing someone just like you An honest soul—creative, true!
Shall I Finally Be a Leader? (May 10, 2015)
Shall I finally be a leader One who takes a solid stand With no secret “love me, love me” But instead who lends a hand?
I am inching daily closer By the foot and yard and mile Soothing all my ancient injuries Healing takes a lonely while
Glimpses of potential catch me In the mirror of my life Taller, stronger, and more honest Walking forward through the strife
Sometimes I can see it clearly What my path is meant to be Not a child full of terror Rather integrated me.
Little Boy Inside of Me (April 28, 2015)
Little boy inside of me I know how vulnerable you are You’ve been with me for decades since The dawning of the morning star
Little boy inside of me I work each day to help you grow I’ve grieved and taken distance from The ones who harmed you long ago
Little boy inside of me I love to watch you sing and play We’ve walked together, now we rest There’s only so much in a day.
I Will Fight and I Will Die (May 30, 2015)
I will fight and I will die To change the world I daily try And here’s my basic strategy: To liberate the best of me.
For Those Who Want to Have a Child (May 20, 2015)
For those who want to have a child Have you discovered what is wild Inside of you, in your own soul? Or are you tame, your heart grown cold?
I do not know why you can’t see How hurt our world has come to be And how the folks who procreate Were born five hundred years too late
The time has come to end the crazy Go within, please don’t be lazy And do the world a service true Do not have kids, give birth to you.
The First Waters of Spring (May, 2023)
I love it when the first waters of spring start to flow, when the ice melts off the top of the pond, and you can feel the life within getting ready to wake up. You know that soon the turtles will be coming out of the mud, and the frogs will be coming out too, and soon there will be tadpoles. You can’t see anything yet, but you sense it coming. It’s exciting, a time of expectant waiting. I love that feeling, and I first loved it as a boy. It was just like me, a frozen person soon to wake up.Going Solo Album of Original Songs on Healing and Growth (by Daniel Mackler)Daniel Mackler2024-03-09 | 00:00 Why Is It Hell to Be Honest? 04:49 I Can Hear It 07:27 My Valley Home 09:29 Pizza Parlor Song 11:57 How Long Can I Deny My Artistic Side? 14:32 My Heart’s Expanding 19:27 I Say Forget Them All 22:37 Back on My Track 25:26 If You Feel Like Singing 27:49 I Love You 32:07 I Wanna Laugh, I Wanna Sing 34:38 I Wanna Find a House to Live In 36:36 You’re Gonna Do Okay
Why is it hell to be honest? Why is it hell to be real? Why is it hell to go solo? Why is it hell to feel?
What started all of the horror? What was the root and the cause? How do we get on a course back to truth? And how did we get so lost?
The answers are so very simple The answers are so very plain The answers are such that a child could understand And easily explain
So let me state them plainly And simply from my heart It’s not hard to comprehend them It’s applying them that’s hard
It’s not about honoring mother father, or culture, or state It’s honoring the child that’s within you Your basic, precious fate
It’s becoming your own parent It’s becoming your own friend It’s becoming your own mother As the means to this dear end
And it’s hell because the world has gone crazy And so very few want to know And those with the need to be honest Can just feel all alone
I Can Hear It
When the sunlight's out of the valleyand the sunlight's off of the lake the water still keeps rollin and the coldest waves still break
Cause i can hear it i can hear it when I listen i can hear it
when the sunlight’s out of the forest and the greens all fade to brown and the birds all finish their singing their heartbeats still make sounds
chorus
when the distance separates us and the telephone lines are down and there's no one left to love me and keep me planted on the ground
chorus
when the morning air is freezing and the firewood is wet and my blistered feet are frozen i'll make it homeward yet
chorus
My Valley Home
there's a land that i live in cross the bridge from where I've come there's a land that i live in and it separates me from some there's a land that i live in it's a world of life and love a world joined up with others on quest to open up
to heal and still to feel all in a thousand different tongues while the paths we take are each our own they lead to a valley we call home
a common bond is one we've forged while traveling afar alone and hungry no companions but our guiding stars the common thread that we've all felt is the fabric of our land woven of love and empathy for all our fellow man
the strength we hold is in our hearts we can't be torn apart 'cause the land beneath our feet has life and our footsteps make our art
there's a land that i live in cross the bridge from where I've come i've come from blindness fear and darkness to face the rising sun i can't go back and i won't go back cause i love my valley home where the wind at night is cool and fresh and the stars, they guide me when I roam
Pizza Parlor Song
[chorus] I wanna be a happy face Behind the glass in a pizza parlor Eating my pizza and laughing about the rain I wanna be a love musician Play my songs for all who’ll listen Pick and sing from morning until night
But I am sort of noncommittal All my plans are weak and brittle Wandering through this razed and ravaged land The only things I do with force Are write and play guitar of course Besides that I’m a feather in the wind
chorus
I called for an apartment out in Brooklyn But someone else was already lookin So I just shrugged and played some more guitar But Life has got some plans in store And come a month I’m out the door So I had better kick this act in gear
chorus
How Long Can I Deny My Artistic Side?
verse What’ll I turn into if I give in and go with the flow? Who’s gonna want to spend their nights, keeping me warm from the snow?
Chorus 1 How long can I deny my artistic side? How long can I deny my artistic side?
verse It’s a strange new bed in a strange new city to try and call my own Any two sheets to squeeze between to stop me when I roam
Chorus 2 it’s a struggle to play in the big leagues now that they’re phasing out the minors it’s a struggle to play in the big leagues now that they’re phasing out the minors
verse Bringing home the food and still feeding myself within if that's not just the struggle of life then I don't know what is