Session Two 2025 Lyric Contest Winners

Congratulations to all our Session Two 2025 Lyric Contest winners. Read the winning lyrics for first through fourth place, below.

CLICK HERE to enter the 2025 Session Three Lyric Contest.

1st Place – “She Used to Love The Rain”

By: Jonathan Helfand

She Used to Love the Rain
© Jonathan Helfand

Mama’s in room 405. I stop by every day
I think it cheers her up but sometimes it’s real hard to say
she’ll have gaps when she’ll lose track and slip backward in time
and then she’ll take my hand and say – ‘remind me’

(I tell her) she used to love the rain
and flowers in the spring
the smell of new mown hay
and the drawings that my kids would bring
she has cloudy days when she can’t remember my name
so I tell her – how she used to love the rain

I came in to see her. The doctor’s by her side
she tells him ‘here’s that nice young man who visits time to time’
I think about all that she’s lost. It tears me up to see
how her illness robs her of a million memories

she used to love the rain
and flowers in the spring
the smell of new mown hay
and the drawings that my kids would bring
she has her cloudy days when she can’t remember my name
so I tell her – how she used to love the rain
On the friday after Easter
We were gathered at the churchyard
The crocuses were blooming
And the skies were cold and grey
The pastor asked does anybody want to share a memory
As the Heavens opened
I stood up to say

she used to love the rain
and flowers in the spring
the smell of new mown hay
and the drawings that my kids would bring
I don’t think about the times when she could not recall my name
No, I hold in my heart – how she used to love the rain

Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2025 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

2nd Place – “The Year We Had Nothing For Christmas”

By: Douglas Westberg

The Year We Had Nothing For Christmas

My Mom passed her favorite childhood doll down.
To make it more special, she sewed a new gown.
My Dad built a dollhouse from scraps that he found
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

My Dad made my brother a sailboat of oak
To float in the tub when he went for a soak.
He fashioned the mast from a bicycle spoke
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

My Dad wrote some poems and he put them in frames.
The first of each line spelled out each person’s name.
My Mom made a turkey and everyone came
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

My Mom made up stories and wrote them all down
On fine handmade paper in books leather-bound,
All starring her children as sleuths of renown
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

I drew Mom a picture and colored it green,
Of Mommy and Daddy and Roger and me
As we’re decorating the new Christmas tree,
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

To all of us Roger gave coupons galore,
Redeemable at Roger’s own little store
For kisses and candies and maybe a chore
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

Now that my brother and I are all grown,
With spouses and houses and kids of our own,
The Christmases that I remember alone
Are the years we had nothing for Christmas.

The fancy new toys, I’ve forgotten them all,
But the poems and the pictures still hang from the wall.
And there on the bookshelf, the porcelain doll,
That taught me the meaning of Christmas
The year we had nothing for Christmas.

3rd Place – “RED RIVER RUNS”

By: Sandra DeVault and Marti Jane Dodson

RED RIVER RUNS
Marti Jane Dodson, Sandra DeVault

Verse
Some came with ambition
And whiskey for a trade
Some rode in with a mission
On a train from Santa Fe

The devil never found a pair
Of hands he couldn’t use
And angels just can’t hold a man
Who’s got nothing to lose

Chorus
Red river runs with the tears of Oklahoma
Red river runs with the blood of men long gone
That Texas sun shows no mercy on the chosen
That southern sky, never cries over the bones
She rambles past and don’t look back for anyone
Red river runs

Verse
The mothers and the daughters
Just watched ‘em ride away
Baptized by muddy water
In the belly of the snake

She called ‘em like a siren
Then she signed and sealed their fate
Nothing lasts forever
But that damned old crimson clay

Ch Repeat

Outro
You can see black velvet shadows
Moving silent in her mist
The canyon whispers echo
And her banks never forget

A highwayman comes calling
Lost soul standing alone
He’s damned to make that crossing
For a thousand years to come, and that
Red river runs.

Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2025 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

4th Place – “Texas From Heaven”

By: Brooke Elizabeth Malouf

How far is Texas from heaven

I take these same roads that you drove down
Not a week goes by that I don’t still expect your call
But there’s a kind of lonely you just can’t drive around
When the hole inside don’t ever fill up at all

You saw my first steps and my years growing
You put that good bible in my heart
It’s your voice that whispers to me just keep going
When it hits me hard that we live worlds apart
So

Chorus
How far is Texas from heaven?
Cause damn I miss you everyday
Your happy there, I’m guessing
But down here this heart still aches
I could still use your guidance
With a calloused strong hand on my back
I Try to walk your shoes of kindness
Just hate it that you aint ever coming back
And every single morning breaks with this question
How far is Texas from heaven?

V2

I’ve been pretty busy mending fences
Think you’d be pretty proud of that
Some people I just got to keep forgiving
You always said rear views weren’t for looking at the past
But

Ch

Bridge:
I know I won’t see you for miles down this road
But when I do…ill hug your neck…and probably won’t let go…
So

Since 1984, American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest has helped aspiring songwriters get noticed and have fun. Enter the 2025 Lyric Contest today before the deadline:

Honorable Mentions:

“Best Trailer in the Park”
By Kassi Conditt

“Cold Case”
By Amy Solylo

“Gratitude”
By Stephanie Fagin-Jones and Alexander Jones

“perfect saint, poor father”
By Addy Cariota

“Proof of God”
By Raymy Krumrei

“Queen of Alabama”
By Lux Beauregard

“Rain Delay”
By Gary Kreie

“She Believed Him”
By Wendy Revel

“Thank the Ones Who Serve”
By Carla Gordon

“THE MAILMAN’S GOING HOME”
By Bryan Leckie

“You took the Sun out of Sunday”
By Brian Townsend