FAWM: "No Second Chances"

No Second Chances

Liner Notes

At FAWM, on February 10, 2013, I participated in my very first skirmish! And surprisingly, I got a song whose basic bones I really liked! Wow! So I put it aside figuring someday I'd finish it. Well, today, February 16, 2025 just happens to be that someday and I have finished this song! I rewrote verse lyrics but left the chorus lyrics mostly the same. The verse and chorus melodies are close to the original but I wrote brand new bridge lyrics and melody. And finally, even though I fully understand FAWM is about writing and not so much about production, I spent pretty much the entire day recording, mixing and mastering this song! The original was just me and my guitar but this version has picked acoustic guitar, strummed acoustic guitar, bass, drums and MANDOLIN!!! I am very tickled with how this one came out!

#americana #folk #country

Lyrics

No Second Chances
February 16, 2025
https://johnstaplesmusic.com/FAWM2025/JohnStaples-NoSecondChances.mp3

I might have been innocent
certainly naive
to hook up with you
on a hot summer's eve

you took me for granted
you took me away
and now I have had
all that I can take

no second chances to get this thing right
you've had all the time that you need
I came here with nothin' I'll leave the same way
you'll get no second chances from me
you'll get no second chances from me

we burned like a fire
we flew like the breeze
you held me so close
down under the cherry trees

but you wouldn't listen
you couldn't see straight
I'll leave you tomorrow
Although my heart aches

no second chances to get this thing right
you've had all the time that you need
I came here with nothin' I'll leave the same way
you'll get no second chances from me
you'll get no second chances from me

I loved you completely
but you didn't see
you swore that you loved me
I don't believe
I don't believe
I don't believe

I greet the new morning
with tears in my eyes
hold you one last time
and say my goodbyes

the sun rises slowly
as I walk away
I smile when I see it
and I start my new day

no second chances to get this thing right
you've had all the time that you need
I came here with nothin I'll leave the same way
you'll get no second chances from me
you'll get no second chances from me

© 2025 John Staples
JohnStaplesMusic.com

Comments

@nancycunning 1d

Hey, John - It's sure good to hear your voice. I like that you gave this song a Second Chance so long after you first wrote it. In the song, it feels like maybe this has been going on a long long time, and maybe the reason the You's not getting any second chances is they are up to something more like 34th chances...I don't think this narrator is really ever going to get away this time either. I love the intensity of feeling

@sunnymae 2d

Hey John, just stopped by cuz it's been a while! So nice to hear you doing what you do best. What a great tune. Message received loud and clear. Glad you took this one out of the archives and put the finishing touches on it. It's very uplifting, especially when mando comes in for the lift. Kinda happy break up. We could use more of those. Great production as @tamsnumber4 said. Also hearing you at the top of your range is a great treat! Cool timbre up there!

@tamsnumber4 2d

So glad you gave this a "second chance"! A well thought out, relatable story. I LOVE the production on this, so well done!! Great vocal and rhythm. A toe tappin, melancholy story with a great melody!! Really enjoyed this!!!

@grayland 2d

The beginning of this one reminds me so much of John Prine!! Actually the whole song does! It also reminds me of some of your early gems (cabbage white)... I love the hook alot!! No second chances!! yeah baby!! Great melody and just perfect instrumentation. Thee chorus is classically wonderful. Love the three "I don't Believe"s at the end of the bridge. For me, those frikkin awesome harmonies are icing on a terrific song. You should do that more often, you do it so very well and your voice sounds so excellent singing harmony with your voice!! LOL!!! Nuttin here but pure excellent country folk, done by one of the best there is!!

@kpollock 3d

Nicely done. Relatable song. Very singalong !

And for one days production... I'm in envy. I spend a week and don't get it so good .

@crisp1 4d

Very catchy and a totally relatable story. The mandolin definitely adds a nice touch, too. So good, John!

@odilongreen 4d

Delightful! Tuneful, charming, and, well... just delightful! Also, I'm absolutely sure that the lovely core song would work very well with just your voice and guitar, but I do firmly believe that production and instrumentation can be core components as well (*can be*, not definitively *are*), and the production on this is is really awesome.

@coolparadisoMod 5d

Oh waltz! Glad it’s finaly found its home! Fun3 song it as well, yeah I could see this planning on those stages with all those smiling smiling musos.

@gobbag 5d

I listened to this straight after posting one of my own, and the two are so different it made my head spin! So much variety of style on here. Very nice. And I like the mandolin, too.

@overflow 5d

Bravo! This is an awesome song! And the mando is fantastic in here. 👌

@jerrypettit 6d

A classic--definitely sounds like something I would have listened to on the radio in my formative youth where I was all about "PLEASE...PLEASE...give me another chance...[Sob]...!" Older and wiser now, aren't we! 😉❤️

@judypie 6d

You should indeed be tickled :D I am tickled also. What a fun romp to brighten my afternoon at work. That mandolin though ❤️

@billwhite51 6d

ok, you are ready for the grand ole opry now. or if you dont want to do that, get this waltz to nickecreek, tim o brian, or alison krause..somebody's got to get this song on the radio and into the public mind. it is so perfect. i cant get enough of it.

@texmachine_mk2021 6d

Really strong country song. The instruments are all great. Love the overall pace and feel of the delivery. Oh and nice harmonies in there, too.

@celineellis 6d

Love that you have managed to get back to this song and do some rewrite and take it to the next step. Oh and a Mando so its already a winner. It’s got a great do or die vibe to it

@shelleroo 6d

What a catchy ditty! Bops along in such a fun way for a sad song, but that's pretty typical for country or bluegrass! If you're at all interested, I put a little bit of mandolin in my song "Trouble with a capital F." More mandolin!

@paul_pedersen 6d

This song really works, John. I enjoyed it from top to bottom. I haven't heard any mandolin in this edition of FAWM, so your use of it really stands out.

@ponygal1961 6d

I like it. For some reason I can hear The Dixie Chicks (guess they're The Chick's now?) singing this. Well done, John.

@rinwolf 6d

Stellar production! Mandolin was a nice touch. Awesome job on the lyrics, too! There was a “finish it!” Skirmish sometime recently specifically for “finishing” unfinished songs and skirmish entries from previous years, so I’d say it counts