If all you want to do is hear a song, scroll down to the title and click on PLAY THIS SONG. If you want to see the lyrics as well, click on READ THE LYRICS.

If you want to look at performance information about a song, click on the song title. This will take you to a separate page for that song where you will find information useful for preparing the song for a show or recording, including:

Song length
Song style/genre
Song keys and note range
About the song
Gender point of view, if relevant

Each song page also has a Contact Dennis link that can be used to request free Sheet Music, which I will email to you as a printable PDF file. You can also request a hardcopy in any key. A free Demo CD of songs that interest you is also available on request; let me know if you wish the FULL PIANO-VOCAL version or, to facilitate rehearsing, the PIANO TRACK ONLY for any song.


Special Material: I'm open to writing a song specifically for you to premiere - "special material" attuned to your vocal style, perhaps for a particular show or revue appearance, perhaps built around your suggestions regarding theme, title, or lyric phrases. I would do this on spec, retaining the copyright - unless we decide on a full blown collaboration - and the right to place the song after you bring it to the world. You want funny, you want sad, you want both on wry bread, who ya gonna call?


SONGS:

A MISTY DAY IN ISTANBUL
Midtempo, moody ballad about the breakup of an affair in a city rife with images of the dustbin of history

AMAZING, ISN'T IT?
In this uptempo duet with a Latin beat, an older couple find each other late in life and decide it's never too late for an intimate relationship

AN ORDINARY DAY
Thoughtful piece on the commonplace miracles that stitch together what we take for granted as ordinary days

BROOKLINE WASSAIL
Four-part harmony holiday piece, with lyrics geared to charity fund-raising events

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU, I FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
Up tempo love song about what makes a marriage really work

GET OUT ON YOUR OWN
Hard-driving comic piece that reveals what the Fairy Godmother really told Cinderella

IF I COULD TELL YOU
A mid-tempo song that uses varied musical styles in a setting of W.H. Auden’s poem about the power of Time to take away all that we cherish

I WANT IT ALL BACK Lyrics by Trent Walker
A soulful, blues number with a moderate swing tempo about the longing to restore an affair or a marriage that’s ended.

I WISH I COULD WRITE A SIMPLE SONG
Driving jazz comic number on how to write a song

I'M SEEING MY CHILDREN FOR CHRISTMAS
Midtempo story-song about a divorced parent at Christmas time

IT'S TIME FOR ROSES
Romantic ballad about finally making a commitment

MY LUCKY DAY
Upbeat jazz comic song on how lucky you have to be to meet someone special

PANTHALASSA
Contemplative art song about life in the prehistoric world-ocean

SOONER THAN SOMEDAY Lyrics by Bob Levy
This danceable rumba provides the backdrop for the frustrated musings of someone impatient for a friendship to become something more

SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 191
Midtempo Civil War tale about a series of chance events in 1862 whose consequences played a large role in the North's victory over the South

SPRINGTIME IN BOSTON
Uptempo Latin number about why it’s worth enduring winter for the short, but glorious spring in the beautiful city by the Charles

SUCH A CURIOUS FEELING
A romantic, uptempo comic song to a bossa beat that asks the musical question: is love just a matter of brain chemistry?

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE CAT
Very offbeat gospel number about a dead cat, our place in the universe and a parent's prayer

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON
A marching/bossa nova bedtime story about the strange adventures of three cats

THE PATH TO MY KINGDOM
Words placed on a mid-19th century Shaker “spirit” drawing by Polly Ann Reed are set to a lilting, original melody in versions for either voice with piano accompaniment or a capella.

THE STORIES IN MY MIND
Mid tempo story-song about a kid whose love of reading sets him apart from most of his peers

THE STORYTELLER
Midtempo art song about Lewis Carroll and his young muse, the real Alice

TOO MANY BOOKS!
An uptempo, jazz comic number about the perils of collecting too many books for shelving in a city apartment that’s too small to hold them

WE’RE JUST BETTER OFF APART
A classic blues number that applies a contemporary bite to dealing with an affair that’s reached a dead end

SONG THEME INDEX:

Duets
AMAZING, ISN'T IT?
EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU, I FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 191

Love/Relationships/Valentine
AMAZING, ISN'T IT?
A MISTY DAY IN ISTANBUL
EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU, I FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
I WANT IT ALL BACK
IT'S TIME FOR ROSES
MY LUCKY DAY
SOONER THAN SOMEDAY
SUCH A CURIOUS FEELING
WE’RE JUST BETTER OFF APART

Childhood/Growing Up
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON
THE STORIES IN MY MIND

Christmas
BROOKLINE WASSAIL
I'M SEEING MY CHILDREN FOR CHRISTMAS
THE PATH TO MY KINGDOM

Cities/Urban Life
A MISTY DAY IN ISTANBUL
SPRINGTIME IN BOSTON
TOO MANY BOOKS!

Comic
GET OUT ON YOUR OWN
I WISH I COULD WRITE A SIMPLE SONG
MY LUCKY DAY

TOO MANY BOOKS!

Science
PANTHALASSA
The following numbers from THE CRETACEOUS CABARET (at Musicals Page) can be done as standalone science songs
WHAT THE BONES DON’T SHOW
THE AGE OF REPTILES
EXTINCTION IS A TERRIBLE THING
PUTTIN’ ON SOME FEATHERS

Feminism
GET OUT ON YOUR OWN
WE’RE JUST BETTER OFF APART

History
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 191

Inspirational/Spirituality
AN ORDINARY DAY
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE CAT
THE PATH TO MY KINGDOM

Literature/Books
IF I COULD TELL YOU
THE STORIES IN MY MIND
THE STORYTELLER
TOO MANY BOOKS!

Songwriting/Performance
I WISH I COULD WRITE A SIMPLE SONG


All songs are copyright by Dennis Livingston, assigned to Hallmark Music Co. Inc. and registered with ASCAP. Requests to license a Livingston song for recording may be sent to the Mechanical Licensing Dept. at Harry Fox Agency (711 Third Ave. 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017) (212/370-5330). If you have any questions, CONTACT DENNIS.

 

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