I’ve got some good news to share! My song “Take The Highway” was a semi-finalist in the Rock/Indie category of the 2010 UK Songwriting Contest. This is an international competition where songwriters from all over the world submit their songs to be judged by producers in the UK, and entries are assessed based on songwriting ability – not how well they are produced or performed. You can find out more about the contest here.

The results were announced today and I must say I’m pretty pleased with that achievement, considering that this is my first time entering an international songwriting competition. Have a listen to the song below (it’s the same video I submitted for the contest).

“Take The Highway” is a conversation between a father and his young son. The father expresses regret for the life he has led, and acknowledges that he has not set a good example to his boy. He entreats his son not to follow in his footsteps, and vows to provide a good life for the boy. Lyrics below:

Take The Highway
© Music and Lyrics by Marcel Lee Pereira, 2008

How long can you hold your breath
Just count from one to ten
I’ll stub out my cigarette
And you can breathe again
The father laughed with his little boy
As he sat him on his lap
Spoke Dunhill coated words
Lifted his tiny little cap

He said you know I want to give
Everything to you
When your mother was alive
She said the same thing too
So I’ll try to make a good life
For us two

Chorus
I may not know wrong from right
But there’s one thing I have learnt
Money is a dark dark tunnel
There’s no end there’s no return
You may not become what you imagine
Eventually
But take the highway, yeah
Not the dirt track like me

The boy eyed curiously
A tattoo of St. Paul
Preaching from his father’s arm
Scarred by one too many brawls
I was driven by failure and greed
His father softly said
Every dollar stained with blood
It got to my head

He said you know I want to give
Everything to you
When your mother was alive
She said the same thing too
So I’ll try to make a good life
For us two

Swept away my tracks
Washed off the scent of my past
Don’t use me as your mirror
Don’t come any nearer

***

Another of my songs, “We Dance”, received a Commended Entry in the Pop category. This is a song I wrote last year about the beautiful and personal moments I share with my wife, Carol, when it’s just the two of us in our own little bubble, protected from the outside world. I’m quite happy with how this song did as well. Most importantly, though, Carol has always loved it 😉