MR. BAR OWNER (THE STORY OF MY LIFE)SPAN>

Lyrics

Liner Notes

Last call's been served
In fact, the tables are cleared
The band has gone home for the night
And there on the stage
I feel it drawing me near
The guitar in the dim neon light

And it brings me a smile
When I look back in time
And see the faces watching me play
But that ol’ Jose Cuervo
Sure was no friend of mine
Pulled me down and that’s where I stayed

Hey, mister bar owner
Won't you let me strum on her
I promise I won’t break any string
Mister bar owner I once used to own her
And, ooh, I could make that girl sing
Hey, mister bar owner
Lord knows I’m not be sober,
But please let me stand on your stage
'Cause the story of my life
Found the bottle one night
Please let me turn back to an earlier page
Let me strum her once more on your stage

Well I downed my last drop
And waited for his reply
Then I noticed the tear in his eye
And it turns out that he
Played guitar once like me
On the stage where yesterday lies

Hey, mister bar owner
Won't you let me strum on her
I promise not to break any string
Hey, mister bar owner I once used to own her
And, ooh, I could make that girl sing
Hey, mister bar owner I may not be sober,
But please let me stand on your stage
'Cause the story of my life
Found the bottle one night
Please let me turn back to an earlier page
Let me strum her once more on your stage

Won't you let me strum her once more on your stage

CREDITS:

Music and Lyrics by
Mark Greenawalt (5/27/96 Future-Class X Publishing, ASCAP)

Vocals, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Accordion, Bass, Percussion - Mark Greenawalt

BEHIND THE MUSIC:

I wrote this song while living in Nashville and frequenting all of the NSAI meetings and songwriters nights at the local bars. The song was intended to have a Spanish flair and the feel of a Mexican mariachi band playing a melancholy waltz. The lyrics are a story about a man who had a passion for music and played guitar in his younger years, but then lost the dream to alcohol. He see's his old guitar that he sold up on the stage and wishes he could go back to those days.

I was in a band with a singer/musician named Terry Michael and he sold me a beautiful 8-string mandolin that I learned to play enough to feature in this song. Years later I bought an accordion which also added to that mariachi feel that I was going for.

TECHNICAL:

UPC -
ISRC -

Recorded on Digidesign Session 8 using CAD Equitek microphones, Epiphone 12-String acoustic, and Franciscan mandolin, and Jackson bass. In 2019, Mark updated the recording by bringing the original tracks into Logic X and adding accordion.

PLACEMENTS:

Official Music Video - Filmed 5/27/19 at Scorpion Gulch, Arizona and the Greenawalt kitchen. Produced, directed, performed, and edited by Mark Greenawalt. Camera operators Zane Greenawalt and Sage Greenawalt using a Canon 5Dmiii and iPhone. Edited with Premier software. I bought the Jose Cuervo bottle for the video, but rest assured that it was just iced tea in the shot glasses that was splashed and wasted...no alcohol was harmed during filming. Sage did all of the slow motion video in the kitchen and Zane did all of the on-site video at Scorpion Gulch.