2025 Competition Entry:

Good Ole Heart of Mine by Mike Ellis

Genre

Country

Artist

Website

Co-writer(s)

no

Performer(s)

Just Me

Description

This was written specifically for a Dolly Parton pitch, obviously I know who Dolly is and know her music, but I didn’t really know much about her as a person, so I had to do a bit of research and watch a few documentaries about her life etc. But at the same time, be careful not to learn too much as I would risk writing of her past which the brief specifically stated not to do.

So this song touches on her legacy, not only as a singer/ songwriter, but as a glowing star of humanity, V1 references her music, V2 touches on her acceptance for diversity/ inclusion and V3 tenuously refers to her faith (but in her way, not the way of the church) the end of each verse exits with the reference of music and the chorus speaks for itself.

I wanted to do so much more with this, but I was pressed for time as I have been working away a lot leading up to Christmas, and there was no way I was missing the deadline for the pitch (which was 1st Jan), but as a “two take” recording of the vocals in my conservatory on New Years Eve, I am quite happy with the result. I am not a singer (by any means), and could only achieve a brief example of what it could sound like, I believe a pro singer (Dolly) could really belt this one out with so many outlets for harmonies etc. even an extended version with another chorus (or two) no music, just Dolly whacking it out getting the crowd going with hand claps.

Bio

I only really started writing songs in 2006 when I came out of a turbulent relationship, the songs I wrote were just an emotional vent at that time, most were rubbish and although a couple were decent, I looked back on them as the springboard that would one day encourage me to write something really good.

Since then I have written the odd one or two over the years, and then in Aug 23, I was sat playing and thought to myself, I’ll start writing some songs, it wasn’t planned, it just come to me, so I looked around on the internet to see what I could do once I had written the new material and found the UK Songwriting Contest, and that was my initial motivation.

I wrote and recorded seven songs in ten weeks, all of which received 5 stars, this really gave me the confidence to step it up a notch and look into doing it a bit more seriously. And over the past year, I have been doing songwriting courses, learning the craft a bit more and exploring styles of music I never thought I’d ever record.

If it wasn’t for my day job (Security Designer) I’d have a lot more time to spend on my music, at the minute its very much as and when I have the time, but now I’m now sitting on songs that have commercial qualities , I am pondering what to do next? I’m not a singer at all, I’ve got around an octave of range which would never be good enough for release as an artist, which is why I have stayed on the songwriter path and wouldn’t get on a stage if my life depended on it. My vocals are ok enough to give an indication of what I’d like the song to sound like, but very much prefer to leave that to the voice of a professional singer who can make the song their own.

The biggest thing for me with music is that I just love playing and creating it, I can sip a couple of red wines, think of a topic and the next day knock out a song. Ambition wise, I have a dream that one day, one of my songs gets picked up by a major artist gets released and I hear it on the radio etc. That to me would be amazing, am I there yet? Not quite! but I think I’m only a slight nudge away, and ‘IF’ one of my songs makes and I start getting a revenue stream from it, then I’ll definitely give up the day job and concentrate on the music full time.

Lyrics

Good Ole Heart of Mine
(G Major) 120bpm
Mike Ellis

V1
It’s a path I’ll keep a walking, so long as I’ve still got shoes
Writing words of rhythm and rhyme, to chase away those blues
With some hope, love and laughter, we can make it clear
Hearing words of kindness, bring the magic to your ears

Chorus
I’m just a little ray of sunlight, to brighten up the dark, always and forever will it shine
I’ll fill your soul with joy, no matter where you are, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, from this good ole heart of mine

V2
Identity is who we are, and a song helps set us free,
It can touch the hearts of everyone, religion, race and creed
It binds us all together, it is our common ground
Every single person, will be unified through sound

Chorus
I’m just a little ray of sunlight, to brighten up the dark, always and forever will it shine
I’ll fill your soul with joy, no matter where you are, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, from this good ole heart of mine

V3
Remember that forgiveness, is a message from the heart,
Once the weight is lifted, you can make that brand-new start.
Music is the healer, where rights are made from wrong
Find your strength within the words, that’s the power of a song

Chorus
I’m just a little ray of sunlight, to brighten up the dark, always and forever will it shine
I’ll fill your soul with joy, no matter where you are, it’s a gift that keeps on giving, (from this good ole heart of mine)

Chorus
I’m just a little ray of sunlight, to brighten up the dark, always and forever will it shine
I’ll fill your soul with joy, no matter where you are, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, from this good ole heart of mine

From this good ole heart of mine

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