From the KSPS PBS studios.

It's Inland Sessions.

My name is Thomas Hart.

I've been writing songs for a long time, and uh, instrumental guitar for the last 12 years.

My mom played in a family band.

As a result, she saw to it that, uh, me and all of my siblings were given a taste of music, and I'm the one that really bit.

I, I just never really looked back.

Uh, uh, music was always, always, “it for me.

Well, it's, it's an artistic, compulsion, you know?

It's like, Gene Kelly in, in, uh, uh, “Singing In The Rain.” “Gotta dance.” “Gotta dance.” It's a compulsion.

[Laughs] And, uh, uh, music nourishes me like nothing else.

And that's why, I have kept up with it.

for a guy who writes lyrics, Im at a loss for words to, uh, uh, adequately describe, uh, the, uh uh, what music brings to me and and, and I do feel that, uh uh, if, if you have that gift, you better use it.

Otherwise, you'll go crazy.

[Laughs] Okay, here's a song with words.

It's called “Beyond the Way of Dreams.” And appropriately enough, it's about trying to remember a dream.

[Beyond the Way of Dreams by Thomas Hart] Rising with the light in the morning Trying to remember a dream Balanced on the edge of awakening Another faded memory Suddenly scattered Among diamonds and residue Vanished out of mind and time Leaving me here with another day to get through Maybe it's the rhythm of a heartbeat Hidden in the rhythm of a dream Maybe it's a long lost appetite Hidden in a slumbering used to be Deep in the night Beyond the way of dreams Only a connection of light Camouflage in the veils of mystery Nothing is quite as it appears to be Nothing is quite as it appears to be Standing in the middle of a river Water rising up to my chin Hanging on the tip of a crescent moon The tides of God rolling in Suddenly, I'm back again And I'm not really sure from where Vanished out of mind in time Leaving me here and wishing I could get there Nestled in the arms of a lover In the shade of a towering tree Dancing to the rhythm of a heartbeat The waves of love washing over me Deep in the night Beyond the way of dreams Only a connection of light Camouflage in the veils of mystery Nothing is quite as it appears to be Nothing is quite as it appears to be Sweat lavender air in a sunlit room Mingling with somebodies perfume Music on a piano down the avenue Playing our song You make me feel brand new And then with a turn and a sigh Standing in a staggering sun Looking for a sheltering sky Nowhere to hide Nowhere to run until I fly Up from the skies Over the rainbow Behind blue eyes Rising with the light, I cant help but wonder Where it leads Deep in the night Beyond the way of dreams Only a connection of light Camouflaged in the veils of mystery Nothing is quite as it appears to be Nothing is quite as it appears to be Nothing is quite as it appears to be Uh, you have to trust the process.

That's that's, uh, that's the essence of it.

You just have to... trust that... you're going to get from A to B and from B to C, and you're going to get to a point where you say either “yes, this is good.” I want other people to hear this or, no, nobody's going to hear this.

[Laughs] And I have plenty of those.

Here's a song about hierarchies.

It's called “The House on the Hill.” The house on the hill The lock on the gate.

The eyes of the old caretaker Sizing up your face The opulent lawn The impeccable hedge The electrical wire surrounding the air Don't try to squeeze through the bushes If the juice doesn't get you, the Doberman will.

It's an order of men And you buy your way If they let you In the house on the hill The man on the street and the neighborhood bar Watching an endless procession of German and Japanese cars In the still of the night In the light of the day Cozy old chauffeurs with nothing to say Bulletproof windows protect them Safe from the eyes and the light and the heat A review of the rules For the losers and fools It's a lesson for the man in the street The house on the hill The rules of the game The guile of a vain contender, seeking to make a name If he plays the cards right, he assuredly will Then he'll belong to the house on the hill Then he'll belong to the house on the hill.

Then he'll belong to the house on the hill Then he'll belong Heres a song that addresses the questions that science has yet to answer.

It's called “The Biochemistry of Love.” They say everything is physics I say everything but thought All the thinking we ever did And that's all we ever got Molecules of matter Every chain reaction changes And the biochemistry of love is still mysterious and strange The quality of kindness The effort of a heart The hand that holds the answer And the question for a part Oh, electromagnetism won't explain the Delta blues And the biochemistry of love isn't always as you choose Spinnin, spinnin, around a star Out on the edge of the Milky Way.

Billions of atoms are what we are wearing a blueprint of DNA All the technology won the war Bullets and bombs don't bleed No algebra calculated the misery or the greed.

Rationale and reason Theory and review Photons, protons and electrons Some becoming me Some becoming you, yeah Light and gravitation They may be constant As we change And biochemistry of love is still mysterious The biochemistry of love is still mysterious The biochemistry of love is still mysterious and strange The music industry is brutal.

My advice to anyone who wants to do music is to, uh, be humble, be, uh, curious.

Don't let the critics get you down, because there will always be people who say, “eh.” But there will always be people who say, “that's really cool.” Those are the people you play for.

Most songwriters will tell you about a song that they didn't exactly write, but it just would whoosh right through them.

This song is that song for me.

Took me about 20 minutes to write it.

It's called “Shadows of a Mind in Disguise.” Standing on the edge Staring into space Dazzled by the stars Caught up in the pace Wonder all around who believe their eyes Shadows of a mind in disguise Lost in every look Longing on release Deeper than a dream Not to be believed Wander all around Still the pretty lies Shadows of a mind in disguise Every change in time Every ancient laughing line Every breath to breathe Every thought to ease You are the heart and it's not too late For the world may never, never wait Though it all may never be Security You are sure to stay Love will not be bound Love will not be tamed Should the tower fall Love will not be blamed Wander all around Make your brief reprise Shadows of a mind in disguise Here's the last song I would like to thank Inland Sessions for having me.

It's been a lot of fun.

Uh, and this song I wrote for my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

And it goes out to all of you married people that managed to make it work.

“Love Brought Us Here.” The deeper you go, the deeper it gets The more that you know There's more to know yet Love brought us here And year after year Love brings us more than we know The harder you try, the harder it gets We live side by side Our own safety net Love brought us here and year after year Love brings us more than we know This is the life time that we share This is the promise that we keep This is the good Lord with us everywhere This is our love Still running deep And the deeper you go, the deeper it gets The more that you know There's more to know yet Love brought us here And year after year Love brings us more than we know Love brought us here And year after year, Love brings us more than we know Here more from the artists on this program on the Inland Sessions Podcast.

Available now at ksps.org/podcasts