My entry into the 2024 NPR Tiny Desk Contest is this song about a parking lot tree, titled "A World So Small".

The earliest memory that lives in my head I was 4 in a truck with my dad, sitting next to my brother The bed full of boxes of all that was left To carry her life from the house where we lived to another And the radio was off Say goodbye, little boy, say goodbye You can cry, little boy, You can cry But in time you will see It's the best it could be So for now say goodbye, say goodbye The days before that one, I've tried to fill in With pictures and stories she told me, but that's not the same thing For a couple years after, again and again I'd blow out the candles, and wish life was more like that painting She left on the wall Say goodbye, little boy, say goodbye You can cry, little boy, You can cry But in time you will see It's the best it could be So for now say goodbye, say goodbye Once I got older I could understand The hurt down inside, pouring out of her hands The best way to love us was leaving back then The hardest decision a mother could stand To make space, and to wait, and have faith That love would find a way in Say goodbye, little boy, say goodbye You can cry, little boy, You can cry But in time you will see It's the best it could be So for now give her time, give her time

Hold On 'Til The End When we were kids we fell in love We fell in love when we were kids What you will miss you'll never know You'll never know what you will miss Too many things we tried to chase We tried to chase too many things We didn't think those were the days Those were the days we didn't think And we'll hold on til the end Though life will pass, we make our plans We make our plans though life will pass It goes too fast right through our hands Right through our hands it goes too fast These open skies they fill my heart They fill my heart, these open skies To be alright, I'll face the dark I'll face the dark to be alright And we'll hold on til the end I tried my best, was it enough? Was it enough I tried my best? There is no rest in giving up In giving up there is no rest I'll raise my glass and drink it slow I'll drink it slow and raise my glass To days gone past and still to go And still to go to days gone past And we'll hold on til the end

I wish that I knew when you're coming unglued how to help When the skies start a-rumbling and you turn to running like hell For years I have tried To bridge the divide But I think it's the hand we were dealt And they're nothing to do but keep playing Win or lose Who can tell? I wish I could say when the clouds would turn gray and let loose Or alarm bells would ring and their warnings would sting like the truth That the world isn't fair Most people don't care And you're lucky to find some that do And I know we're a long way from perfect We're just trying To get through I wish I was more like the man you're so sure that you see As patient and wise and gentle and kind as your dreams But I'm half of those things Half as much as you think And I probably always will be But I'm doing my best to get better Thanks for choosing To believe

In September of 2023, I set a goal to write a song every day for the entire month. I started on the 2nd, and finish the month was 29 songs. I'm sharing them bit by bit (except for a few that will never see the light of day). This one was from day 3. Crickets Crickets hold a steady drone while I walk the dog Blue skies overhead to show me there is nothing wrong Still somehow it doesn't feel Doesn't feel quite right as I hear Crickets hold a steady drone… Dandelion and Queen Anne's lace Bloom along the edge Patterns in the pavement fade to Shadows in my head Faults that grow so slowly oh So slowly take it back until the Dandelions and Queen Anne's Lace… I dreamed a world So full of green Siphonophores Fill empty seas Like all that was Had never been Somewhere out across the earth A baby girl is born Microscopic miracles So gracefully performed She'll taste the turning atmosphere The atmosphere we sold for something Somewhere out across the earth…

In September of 2023, I set a goal to write a song every day for the entire month. I started on the 2nd, and finish the month was 29 songs. I'm sharing them bit by bit (except for a few that will never see the light of day). This one was from day 9. Faded Pictures In the days before you knew me Better than I knew myself Other eyes would look right through me Passing by like vague farewells Just a stranger in a strange land Walking slowly, looking down Never trusting in my own hands Lost inside with no way out Love, oh it was a dream Love, it was everything When you came I wasn't ready I was sure no one could swim In the waters I was treading But you went and dove right in And the currents tried to hold you Far away and out of reach And I don't know why you chose to Risk it all to get to me Love, oh it was a dream Love, it was everything Not every day was perfect But looking back right now I wouldn't trade a moment That led us through the dark To what we found Faded pictures, smiling faces See those kids we used to be Little moments rearranged us Time and patience set us free Knowing now the place we landed What a thing so rare is worth I can see it, understand it How could you have been so sure? Love, oh it was a dream Love, it was everything

my original song "Soldiers Lullaby" released 5/26/23 written by Ian Galipeau and Jon Braught lyrics: My name is Raymond but I go by Russ Truth is, I don’t remember too much Did a six month stint in Kandahar ‘til a bullet shattered my left arm And they packed me up and shipped me home My high school sweetheart spent a year by my side Just waiting patient for the bones to heal up right But the wires crossed inside my head Were a circuit that she couldn’t mend So she packed up and headed home It’s ringing in my ears as her words hang in space You’re still alive by God’s good grace But I’m back bleeding in the sand every time I close my eyes Living in this soldier’s lullaby The VA doctor said I’m fixed good as new Looking at an x-ray, just his version of the truth But the Percocet he gave away Sweet capsules made of pure escape They wrap me up, bring me home It’s ringing in my ears as his words hang in space You’re still alive by God’s good grace But I’m back bleeding in the sand every time I close my eyes Living in this soldier’s lullaby The pharmacy cut me off as winter turned spring I found a friend who said that he could keep the angels singing A simple prick and I could fly Beyond these fractures in my mind Lift me up, send me home It’s ringing in my ears as I'm floating in space You’re still alive by God’s good grace But I’m back bleeding in the sand every time I close my eyes Living in this soldier’s lullaby Sometimes I wonder if you’d love me better dead Fallen in a combat zone, ‘stead of left out here to beg I’d be draped beneath your sacred flag Not frozen in my sleeping bag Wrap me up, send me home www.iangalipeaumusic.com www.imstagram.com/iangalipeaumusic www.youtube.com/‎@iangalipeaumusic  www.facebook.com/Ian.galipeau.music

my entry to NPR's 2023 Tiny Desk Contest is a new song of mine called "A Matter of Time". It's about that thing that Copernicus, Igor Stravinsky, and Thomas midgley Jr had in common - they were all profoundly misjudged by their contemporaries. lyrics: It was just an observation To suggest the world might not be  Right exactly where we thought it was To propose a revolution That would turn the heavens upside down And cast a doubt on God above He drew a picture, divine in its simplicity  It’s just a matter of time It’s only time that matters Now, and there's not a chance that you can wait it out There was violence in each movement It spilled across the stage In storied sounds and waves of melody Wrong or right, a spring was opened up Boiling hot emotions Overflowed into the empty streets They couldn't know it would echo for a century It’s just a matter of time It’s only time that matters Now, and there's not a chance that you can wait it out They showered him with medals For his endless dedication  To the substance of discovery A chemist for the ages He catalyzed an atmosphere Of progress for humanity All we needed was a little lead in gasoline It’s just a matter of time It’s only time that matters Now, and there's not a chance that you can wait it out