organizing an accident is a weekly newsletter where I leak home demos of unreleased songs, first draft lyrics, thoughts on the creative process, & dispatches from music life in Paris.
Listen to “When Luck Runs Out” (demo):
This song was written on August 31, 2023
This is demo leak #90
Greetings from rainy Paris,
Today’s demo leak is the 90th song I have shared exclusively via organizing an accident. In staying true to the project’s raison d’être, here is a rough phone recording from last August, live at the piano. It is full of the uncertainy, rawness, and devotion that any performance of a newly written song might carry.
This begins the countdown of the final ten demos of the series. Listen/read through the archives here and feel free to check out my releases on Bandcamp, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
With love,
Ryan
“When Luck Runs Out” lyrics
I had a dream of holding flowers
At your funeral, baby
I woke up crying ’til I
Saw you lying there
I never bargained for power
Ain’t got no use these days
But we just can’t deny
This heaven for ourselves
When luck runs out
Baby you take the wheel
I’ll roll the windows down
We can work it out
There’s a one in a million chance
We won’t be better now
Hearing helicopters passing
Flying overhead
I asked if I could love you
Better than myself
Things are fallin’ out of balance
Living on the edge
I never had a chance to
Tell you how I felt
When luck runs out
Baby you take the wheel
I’ll roll the windows down
We can work it out
There’s a one in a million chance
We won’t be better now
These lyrics were written in August 2023.
From the vault
What I’m listening to this week
What I’ve been reading
Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad
Check out my previous demos and writing via the Substack archive + discover my official music releases on Spotify, Apple, or your platform of choice. Find me on all socials at @thisryanegan.
Read the previous post.
Very nice tune. Met Jennifer a couple of years back @ Drew U NJ across the street from our APT. No longer in Jersey but that was a good hit. Goon Squad is a real music biz manefesto superbly executed. She was there promoting Manhattan Beach which is also a cool step back in time a women diver in WWII. Next for me is another older one called The Keep. She's riveting. Big fan. Of course the Band and Dylan Before the Flood was one of my few On The Road California tapes up and down the coast. The organ on When you go your way and I go mine... is stuck in my mind. Goofy and serious funny and biting. They had it all for a moment then it was gone. Real gone they were the beating heart of the beats without knowing it or showing it. Just the facts!