Skirmish Feb 3 5PM Pacific time
Prompt was Failure
Autoharp and vocal by Pearl Manhattan
Who’s expectations am I working with
Who set the goals I didn’t meet
You put me on the spot and I will plead the fifth
Put me on the stand, I’ll take a seat
Who set the pace I’ve been running to
Who painted down the finish line
Icarus and Sisyphus feel me, yeah they do
But inside I know, this failure isn’t mine
In my eyes, I’m the winner every time
Just showing up and doing what I can
You can’t judge another
Until you’ve walked that mile
In their shoes -
There is no loser
There is no failure.
I can only control the things in my grasp
I carved the path the best way I could
All the while lugging this baggage from my past
Only motivated to do good
Sometimes its not about the smartest
Intellect’s a number on a test
You don’t need to be told you’re an artist
Just take it seriously and do your best
In my eyes, I’m the winner every time
Just showing up and doing what I can
You can’t judge another
Until you’ve walked that mile
In their shoes -
There is no loser
There is no failure.
When it comes down to it
No one has to prove it
If you did or didn’t do it
Who’s to say?
In my eyes, I’m the winner every time
Just showing up and doing what I can
You can’t judge another
Until you’ve walked that mile
In their shoes -
There is no lose
There is no failure.
@devslev Feb 2022
really enjoy your voice+autoharp!
@coolparadiso Feb 2022
love the autoharp. good on you! yup we are the only ones who decide success and failure. I really like this one! its a beauty! a classic in what a skirmish can unearth! top stuff
@tcelliott Feb 2022
The "walk a mile" figure is classic but important and I really like the "there is no lose, there is no failure" lines. It's cool that you brought out the autoharp. I need to find mine now that I've heard you use yours to great effect. Great skirmish, Pearl.
@dock Feb 2022
Great lyrics! the rhymes are easy and natural feeling. The pacing of the lyric/melody is good too. (I've heard too many demos where the lyric gets jammed into too little music) Your bridge between the last choruses is very effective. You showed up for this one!
@jwhanberry Feb 2022
Well done my friend. You packed a lot of subtleties into your song and expressed your feelings quite clearly. Fabulous skirmish.
@hmstreetteam Feb 2022
+1 on the anthemic chorus. I’m feeling the air of defiance or “says who?” And then the angle of encouragement adds another to the message. Deep message!
@wylddandelyon Feb 2022
Just showing up is surprisingly effective, because so many people don't.
@andrea Feb 2022
This is incredible. I am blown away that you wrote this for a skirmish. It is emotional and beautiful. Bravo!!
@pianoquest Feb 2022
Wow, what a great anthemic chorus! Nice work.
@vivalarayna Feb 2022
I love this all so much!! So many beautiful truth bombs in here and the autoharp is so lovely. "You don’t need to be told you’re an artist/Just take it seriously and do your best" should be the new FAWM motto! Thanks so much for participating!
@krrisstin Feb 2022
really uplifting chorus, i like it! i also really like the icarus sisyphus line.
@pabrizzer Feb 2022
the failure is in the judgement - i like this
i guess icarus flying for a little while could be considered a success but the score reads sun 1 icarus 0
@aeye Feb 2022
autoharp! yes! Great song for this prompt. I like how it's just about doing what you can do and that's all you can do. That's all any of us can do really, just be our best and do what we can. Great song.