Tom Hays - Barking Frog Music Group

Just moved into a dwelling that promises to provide a great writing environment with far fewer daily chores and worrisome hassles, and hopefully more time for creativity. Watch for more to come!

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Written by Tom Hays
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"Leon Cried" - Strength is more than muscles.

Sometimes a song will come gushing out of me as if I am on remote control, with someone else pushing the buttons. It's as if someone was giving me a gift of a full grown song.

They usually come without much conscious thought on my part, except to write them down as fast as I can, line after line. And I wonder if these songs come to me for a purpose, and if there are meanings that need to be explored, lessons to be learned. This is one of those songs that was "given" to me.

"Leon Cried"

Leon Brown was a cold hard man.
Never got close unless it fit his plan.
In thirty-four years no one saw him smile,
give him an inch he’d probably take a mile.

But Leon cried when his mama died.
Leon cried when his mama died.

Leon Brown never talked of pain.
Knock him down he’d just get up again.
Lost his leg in the bottom of a mine,
Just shook his fist and gave an angry sign

But Leon cried when his mama died.
Leon cried when his mama died.

Some people know when to give up.
Some people never do.
But Leon loved his mama,
She was the strength that pulled him through

Freed by the tears he could not hide.
He found true strength in his gentle side.
Leon thought hard on his troubled life,
Made his peace with God and then he took a wife.

Cause Leon cried when his mama died.
Leon finally cried when his mama died.

So let's examine this gift song. Leon was a tough guy, who thought he was capable of putting up with just about anything life could throw at him. But the one thing he didn't count on was suddenly and publicly showing an emotion that he had never experienced before.

Tough guys don't cry. But here he was, confronting his own weakness, realizing perhaps for the first time ever that there were things in this life he could not handle . . . some things that were far more powerful than the toughest man.

Admitting weakness is the first step to real strength. Breaking down and giving into an emotion he could not control allowed Leon to realize that life was bigger than he was. I think we can all see similarities in our own life.

Leon made his peace, and learned that reaching out to life brought him more than striking out at life, and that being strong does not necessarily mean being tough. The strength one finds in gentleness is true power.

Bless you.
Tom


If you would like, you may click to hear the complete song. "Leon Cried". It was recorded in Nashville on the album "Deep Down Inside"and is sung by Ray Barnette.

"Leon Cried"
Here's the legal stuff:
Words and Music Copyright By Tom Hays
Platinum Pearls Publishing - ASCAP

Thanks a million times for liking my song "Somewhere West of Wichita" enough to make it the Number One Americana song on n1m GLOBALLY! What an honor. And to have three in the top ten globally is absolutely fabulous! I am humbled. More to come soon.

Lots of requests for more of my songwriting efforts, so I have added another song to our n1m page. Got My MInd On You came about after a late night listining to Rick Vito at a little bar in Nashville. Driving home the lyrics and melody for the chorus came to me as a drove along the dark streets slapping out time on the steering wheel. The next morning my late friend Jim Pulte and I finished the song. It is a personal favorite. This cut is from the album "Candy from Strangers", available on Amazon (expired link). Check it out. Tell your friends.

Thank you for your continuing support of my music. If you have not been to our website lately, I invite you to come take a look and listen. (expired link) I think you will have a good time! Over 30 tunes to listen to.

Take a three minute break and listen to this tune I wrote with my buddy Doc Holiday. You might like it enough to share it with your friends, and maybe even buy the album it is on at (expired link). I hope so! Lots of good stuff there.
Thanks for your friendship and for sharing your music with me.

Check out my tune "Somewhere West of Wichita". Written on an airplane headed to Phoenix. Recorded in Nashville. I've had great comments about it. Hope you feel the same way.

BARKING FROG MUSIC GROUP - WHO WE ARE.
by TOM HAYS

Here's the story of how it all began . . .

"The mind will play funny tricks on you. One minute you’re in a business meeting or hard at work on the job, and then, something will hit you that brings back a familiar taste, or smell, or feeling, and the next thing you know, you’re remembering those times years ago, sitting around a campfire after a big camp meal, with friends or family.

I remember we’d pull up logs and sit around . . just poking the fire, swatting bugs, swapping stories and singing songs, a lot of them made up right there on the spot. We’d pass around the guitar and those that could play would. Those that couldn’t would tell a joke, or a story, or recite a poem. But we’d all join in with something, and it’d go on ‘til the moon was way overhead, and the fire had burned down to red hot coals.

There’d be plenty of laughing and kidding around … and sometimes we’d get to laughing so hard that a “different” noise would come from somewhere around the campfire ... and everyone would look around at all the other faces in the smoke to try to guess who was the guilty party. Sooner or later, it would be agreed that it must have been just a big frog . . barking at the moon.

Those “barking frogs” earned quite a reputation in our part of the country, and it was hard to have a camp-out where you wouldn’t hear at least one or two. So, it came to be generally known that anyone who would come, and maybe join in and play, or sing, say a poem or tell a joke, was automatically a member of the barking frog music group. And back then, we had meetings just as often as we could.

Now, it’s a gathering around a virtual campfire, right here on your computer. We call it the bfmg Café, and anytime you want to listen, there’s a group of folks sitting around playing their songs, and singing, and telling stories. Maybe you’ll join in and sing along, or maybe you’ll want to just sit back and listen. Either way, we hope you’ll have so much fun you’ll come back often. Click to the bfmg Café, put a beverage in your hand, put that work day behind you, and drag up a log! You can listen for free because you're a member of the barking frog music group! Click (expired link)

(expired link). You might want to have a souvenir of your visit to the bfmg Café, for proof that you are a proud member of the barking frog music group or to give to others. You’re invited to drop by the Amazon store to look over the bfmg music CD collection, or click (expired link). Cool!"