Matthew Kenneth Gray, American Writer and Lyricist -

Prove You Wrong

You don’t think I really love you
You think I’ve one foot out the door
You don’t think I really love you
You think I think you’re a bore

But I gotta say
Oh I gotta say
I bet I could prove you wrong
Yeah I’m gonna stay
Oh I’m gonna stay
That’s why I wrote you this song
In my heart you’ll still belong
I bet I could prove you wrong

You don’t see yourself with me
After all is said and done
You think I’ll meet somebody else
Who I’ll also tell she’s the one

You can keep playing hard to get
But I will never give up on you
Yet you keep telling me I can’t
I can’t make your dreams come true

I bet I could prove you wrong

July 19, 2021

The Me From Long Ago

He was the kind of boy who’d
practice more than go on dates
He’d work on his serves and strokes
Rather than hang with his mates

He’d spend many hours and hours at
The club working out to be & feel great
Wondering if being a teaching pro
Could end up as his fate

That was the me from long ago
When you see me now as I am
You would never know
I was the Prince of the court
Trained with a great tennis coach
I didn’t allow others to get close
That was the me from long ago

He knew some girls he wanted to
take out to the basketball games
But he didn’t have a lot of courage
And I’m not gonna name names, but

There was one who caught his eye
And he tried and tried and tried
But at the end of their first Prom
He messed up bad and she cried

That was the me from long ago
When you see me now as I am
You would never know
I had no game with gals at all
Next to them I felt so small
I was full of worry and woe
Yep, that was me from long ago

Through the years he changed
Into the man I am today
And now I’m here to tell you
I’m glad I went all this way
To get out of that town
To go work on myself
And learn as much I’ve learned
For a life I know I earned

So if you think about who I was
I am different from those days
I stopped playing tennis years ago
But I’m a sucker for the latest craze

Went with my heart & wrote instead
Then everything fell into place
And that’s why you’re seeing this
Big ol’ smile that’s on my face

You see the me from long ago
Is not the me I am today
My both knees are damaged
And God knows I want to play, but
I’m better off staying creative
And that’s all I’ve got to say
About the me you now know
And that me from long ago

About the me you now know
And that me from long ago

From long ago
From long ago
From long ago
From long ago

July 14, 2021

She Knows How

She does the dishes
She folds the clothes
She manages the home
Dinner delights my nose
Oh, it’s plain to see
She knows how
To get a rise out of me

She picks up the kids
And doesn’t complain
She cuddles close
When it starts to rain
Oh, it’s meant to be
She knows how
To get a rise out of me

She loves her Mama
She loves her Daddy
When I’m in the rough
She’s my caddy
And she grabs my club
And tells me to
Put it in the hole
And I do, Hell yeah, I do…

When I’ve had enough
She brings me a beer
And she whispers softly
In my eager ear
Soon enough,
I’m flying free…
How does she know
How to get a rise out of me?

She sure knows how
To get a rise out of me

July 4, 2021

The Quiet Hearted Soldier

The wind blows her Carmel Valley hair
She sees me longing for her there
Oh but, I’m a soldier with a quiet heart

I’m the boy at the end of that night
Who’ll do all he can to treat her right
Who needs a little bit of a kick start

Like sincere words she won’t regret
A soothing smile taking on the bet
I’d kiss her back as we stand at her door

I hope she feels the same as me, oh
And if she does, I hope to see, and
Hear her say she’ll miss me when I go to war

It’s different now, guys are cruel, they’ll
Adore you in private, ignore you in school, and
don’t realize girls don’t like those games

They act like macho guys with their pals
Then are intimidated by the aggressive gals
On the phone, they mix up all their names

But she’s known me all those years
And I’ve never brought her to tears
Oh, I don’t want to see her break and cry

I hope she knows I want to be there, when
She’s feeling nobody shows they care
I’ll do what it takes, and she’ll know why

Those sincere words she won’t regret
That soothing smile taking on the bet
I’d kiss her back as we stand at her door

I hope she knows I’ll always feel the same and
dream of the day when she takes my name
And overjoyed when I come back from the war

So overjoyed when I come home from the war
So overjoyed when I come home from the war
For her husband, the quiet hearted soldier

June 11, 2021

Can After Can

She checks her appointment book the night before
And gets dressed for bed then closes the door
Then falls asleep to her favorite Netflix show

It’s the one about the detectives who solve crimes
They speak in logic, not in couplet rhymes, and
I sleep beside her but there are secrets I don’t know

And when she
Looks out the window her eyes turn green
And she thinks of the days when they were mean
She loves them so, but needs to let them go
Or she’ll
Take it all out on the kids, take it all out on me as she
Drinks can after can, there’s still misery
All about the past, where she felt so low

I see her there as I try to sleep again
But I then think about the moments when
I said bad things I know I regret now

I’d move out ashamed just to leave her be, but
We’ve already built our own family, and
If there’s a solution for that, I’ll figure out how

And when she
Looks out the window her eyes turn green
And she thinks of the days when they were mean
She loves them so, but she needs to let them go
Or she’ll
Take it out on the kids, take it all out on me as she
Drinks can after can, there’s still misery
All about the past where she felt so low

And I love her so, like cowboys love the Rodeo
Oh yeah, I love her so, like cowboys love the Rodeo

When she
Looks out the window, her eyes turn green
And she thinks of the days when they were fucking mean
She loves them so, but she needs to let them go
Or she’ll
Take it all out on the kids, take it all out on me as she
Drinks can after can, there’s still misery
All about the past where she felt so low

In the here and now, it seems like she'll never grow
Oh yeah, in the here and now, it seems like she’ll never grow

June 10, 2021

She Almost Had Me There

She met me through my father
He mentioned I liked jazz bands, too
So she got in touch with me one day
Going out seemed like the thing to do

We went to see Wally and his band
We took a day trip down to Santa Cruz
Hit the coasters, ate some corn dogs
Love seemed effortless to choose

She almost had me there
She almost tugged me closer to her chest
She almost could have been my girl now
Oh how I thought she’d stay the best
My friends were surprised and I was too
We dated longer than other girls they knew
When she said it was over, truth is I cared
Cause she almost had me there

I took her to a couple weddings
Of good friends of mine back then
I had been thinking of getting serious
It really was just a matter of when

We shared incredible chemistry
We bought each other cute little rings
To remind us of the love we shared
And we got each other things

Yeah she almost had me there
She almost tugged me closer to her chest
She almost could have been my girl now
Oh how I thought she’d stay the best
My friends were surprised and I was too
We dated longer than other girls they knew
When she said it was over, truth is I cared
Cause she almost had me there

We almost could have done it
Sealing the deal just wasn’t in the deck
And when I drove home after the breakup
I was an absolute fucking wreck

I was listening to a tape by Matthew Sweet
Singing about some fictional romance
I remembered when we saw Indigo Swing
She kissed me sweetly during that dance

Yeah she almost had me there
Yeah she almost had me there
Oh, she almost had me there
Yeah she almost had me there

May 31, 2021

Grinding the Corn

t took me a long while
To understand how to do it right
Like a younger boxer
Who’s training hard for a fight

I didn’t learn it from a book
It was from experience & porn
Then I finally got the hang
Of grinding the corn

I had lots of partners
They lost their patience with me
I didn’t have what they needed
To be comfortable and free

Until I started comprehending
I had to poke it like a thorn
Then she was hot and bothered
From grinding the corn

Grinding the cord
Is harder than it seems
It’s easier to do it
When you’re having wet dreams
Grinding the corn
Has nothing to do with food
But once you master the process
It’ll put your woman in a better mood

I can’t tell you how to do it
You’ll have to learn on your own
But you can’t be soft or timid
You’ve gotta be hard as a stone

You’ve gotta keep your goal in mind
Until she blows that mighty horn
Then you both will get great sleep
After grinding the corn

So keep at it, you’ll eventually master
The art of grinding the corn

Memorial Day Weekend, 2021

Screw City Nights

Back in 1999 my bro called me
He needed help with Expediting
From what he said, I got excited
He was baiting and I was biting

So I gave 2 weeks at the Hotel
And headed to the Midwest
Qualified for that fast freight job
Then I didn’t get much rest

Pre-Chorus:
Cause we were on the go
We were headed everywhere
But I wanted to go back home
Cause I loved the scene there

Chorus:
Screw City Nights
At the Office
Screw City Nights
At Uncle Nick’s
Screw City Nights
With my co-workers
Screw City Nights
It was the time of my life
Screw City Nights
Searchin’ for a wife

A part time job in retail
Was the better fit for me
I quit my job with my brother
Cause I wanted to feel free

Pre Chorus 2:
I wanted to drink ‘n dance
Remember it was 1999
I wanted to find romance
Make a girl mine all mine

Screw City Nights
At the Office
Screw City Nights
At Uncle Nick’s
Screw City Nights
With my co-workers
Screw City Nights
It was the time of my life
Screw City Nights
Searchin’ for a wife

Screw City Nights
Searchin’ for a wife

May 9, 2021

Lyric Notes:
Inspired by Weezer, The Cars and Cheap Trick!
Screw City is the nickname for Rockford, IL.

Why Are You Afraid of Me (Baby)

I brought you 50 red balloons right before Prom
It was the the craziest thing I’ve done for anyone
I turned up one day to ask you to go on a walk
I think that’s why you decided you were done

Why
Oh why
Oh why
Oh why
Why are you afraid of me
Of me
Of me
Of me
Baby

I saw you between classes, and you looked away
Then turned around and headed down the hall
Babe I had so many things I needed to say
And you also didn’t answer all my phone calls

Why
Oh why
Oh why
Oh why
Why are you afraid of me
Of me
Of me
Of me
Baby

Was it something I did
Was it something I said
Or was it something I didn’t do
Girl, I really wish I knew

Was there something I could have said
Was there something I could have tried
Or were you just passing time
And I didn’t commit a crime, so

Why
Oh why
Oh why
Oh why
Why are you afraid of me
Of me
Of me
Of me
Baby

Baby, ooooooooooooh
Baby, ooooooooooooh
Baby, ooooooooooooh
Baby

May 4, 2021