Get all 9 Ryan Sheeler releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Road Home, Letters From North of Town (2021 Remaster), Roads We've Taken, A Star Above The Highway, Skies and Shadows, Polk County Line, Light In The Rain, Letters from North of Town, and 1 more.
1. |
Skies and Shadows
04:08
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Skies and Shadows – Ryan Sheeler (2013)
VERSE 1
Wrestle all your life with fame
Does anyone really care
They build you up and knock you down
Or is it really just hidin’ some kind of fear
Where are your friends – silently in their corners
It’s another banner week
Of disappointments, ups and downs
Of thunderstorms and sunshine
doors slam shut, others open
maybe you’ll believe or just ask why
CHORUS
Up from the sky – down to the ground
Lord, burn it down, turn it around
Set this pride on fire and break my heart
Let me live this freedom out
escape this shadow game
VERSE 2
Now he sits in the driver’s seat
Of a life goin’ nowhere fast
Never really found
the love that seems to last
Where is he going? Where are we going?
I wanna run like a child, happy and free
And don’t wanna chase after things
White clouds, even rainy days
I’m just walking down this bridge - with a smile on my face
c.2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 ASCAP
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2. |
Gold Wedding Band
03:29
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3. |
Moon Over Texas
04:57
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Moon Over Texas
Words and music by Ryan Sheeler
VERSE 1
I caught a plane to the next job, watchin’ the night go by
Lost my heart waitin’ for someone special to arrive
I was holding on to this dying dream that I knew who was best for me
I was chasing my own paradise not knowin’ where it’d be
CHORUS
Black skies line my past as I watched the moon over Texas shine
I knew I wouldn’t be just flying through another lonely night.
The look in your eyes shook me right out of my wildest dreams
Maybe unanswered prayers are more than they seem
VERSE 2
When I saw you first I knew I’d lay my dreams to rest
Love never needs to speak a word when two hearts connect
If you knew how much I prayed each night, asking God to fill my needs.
True happiness was answered when I got down on my knees.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
Suppose I called you from so far away just to say how much I love you
I couldn’t wait to say I’m coming home very soon
VERSE 3
People say how God brought them together and how it must’ve been in the stars
Well I’ve learned a lot of lessons I know He’s led me to where you are
Every day when that moon goes by the more I have to let go
forget about the past mistakes and lean into loving you more
c.2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
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4. |
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Class Reunion (November ’91)
– words and music by Ryan Sheeler (2013)
VERSE 1
I didn’t really find out ‘til I read the old headlines
From the city paper; now its class reunion time
I didn’t know him too well and I didn’t know her at all
It was just months after I left town as summer changed to fall
VERSE 2
Life took me away from them by the summer’s end
I lost touch with most of them but I still kept some friends
So I don’t know how cold it was that November day
I read it in the papers; 20 years replayed
CHORUS
Times passed quickly and the smiles fade away
Laughter turns to memories those memories always stay
But this time it was different; One act changed it all
We all aged 10 more years when they buried them that fall….
VERSE 3
Pictures in the yearbook and the articles that I found
now I know two are missing and two families cheated out
it’s 20 years later and my friends still look the same
Time heals a lot of things except for all the pain
VERSE 4
we all met at a local bar and we talked the night away
while the slideshow clicked and the memories stayed
I just know we lost something…. Somehow, someway,
Prayers will enter in where there are no words to say…
CHORUS
SOLO/BRIDGE
CHORUS – END
c. 2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
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5. |
Walk Across The Room
03:36
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Walk Across The Room by Ryan Sheeler (2013)
VERSE 1
He saw her yesterday
20 years ago they sat in the same class
And worked the same old fast-food college job
PRECHORUS 1
It’d be easy to write another song to say
“I love you so much…what’s your name?” – never play that game
CHORUS
How many times do you wish
You’d just walk across the room
And meet someone and watch
The smile on their face bloom
We all need love, but we never ask
For it to come our way at last?
VERSE 2
They never did go out
‘cause he never took the step
It’s easier to be afraid
Than to worry about regret
PRECHORUS 2
The unseen chains of fear will fall away
when you connect with someone
Who’s feelin the same.
BRIDGE
Sometime it’s not about what you say
But what gets said to you
Listenin’ to what’s inside your heart
Tellin’ you the truth
c. 2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
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6. |
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7. |
Fields and Footsteps
04:52
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Footsteps in Fields – Ryan Sheeler
VERSE1
We drove away from the church, up the streets north of town
Past the veteran’s hospital to that field of brown
We listen’d to them play the Taps as it echoed in the sky
Tears rolled down our faces, and we said our goodbyes.
CHORUS
Those who wear silent badges of tears that hide their scars
Sometimes they won’t hold your hand but they’ll give away their hearts
Men who never talk about what it means to fight and die
And yet are willing to do just that for you and I
VERSE 2
The honest love and toughness in my grandpa’s eyes
made me think we take for granted the meaning of a sacrifice
Freedom isn’t free I know; from footsteps in far-off fields
Now I’m learning just what it is a story like that reveals CHORUS
VERSE 3
“on behalf of a grateful nation”, left so much more unsaid
Thank you for your service and the way that you led
We remember all your prayers and all of your stories too
But I would give that all away, for another day with you
c. 2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
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8. |
Stealing Paradise
04:03
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Stealing Paradise – words and music by Todd Teske (2013)
VERSE 1
I’ve taken more than I can count
A debt that only seems to mount…each time
So much more than I can pay…
Now I’m reaping my reward
The only thing I can afford … and still
It’s not enough - It’s not enough
CHORUS
It feels like stealing paradise
As he turns to find my eyes
And in his agonizing cries
I hear “You’ll be alright” -- “You’ll be alright”
-Ending-1
And then – he dies…this man – he dies…
VERSE 2
Sin is Sin and Pain is Pain
Black is Black like midnight rain… on me
That falls on me…once again
Watercolors mix to brown
Every color washing down…the drain
And I wish my pain…would do the same
CHORUS
-Ending-2
And then – he dies…this Jesus dies…
VERSE 3
Dangling from this Roman tree
Why he’d even look at me’s .. not clear
What’s he doing here? …he’s not like me….
“Remember me” I dare to say
Half expecting him to turn away
But I hear him say… “with me today…”
CHORUS
-Ending 3
And then – he dies…my Savior dies…
c. 2013 Todd Teske - used by permission
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9. |
Be Forgiven
04:40
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Be Forgiven – words and music by Ryan Sheeler (2013)
VERSE 1
Maybe we don’t how far we’ve fallen and a lot of us don’t even care
Maybe that’s the problem not realizing we’re there
You see it all the time on the streets and in the news
People livin’ their lives - tradin’ down for grace refused
PRECHORUS
But I don’t wanna live that way, divided heart or not
I want the hope in sharing what You’ve got
CHORUS
May we be forgiven and our heart be truly free
Take away the blindness, so we can really see
thousands turn to you from sea to shining sea
(May we) be forgiven …and make it true inside of me
VERSE 2
We wear a mask to hide ourselves - more fragile than we let on
The stress piles up so far – it seems all my faith is gone
But I open up my heart – to the touch of your hand
The questions don’t mean so much, and I start to understand
PRECHORUS 2
You’re more than just a picture…greater than we know
You loved us all enough to let us go
BRIDGE
I wonder what would happen if people really new
How very close to them you are
Would they recognize your voice
Knocking on the door of their hearts?
SOLO – CHORUS - END
c. 2013 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 ASCAP
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Ryan Sheeler Ames, Iowa
Guitarist and songwriter from Central Iowa
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