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Bars Made of Pain
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BARS MADE OF PAIN

This will be my last song for a while. Something that I saw made me recall it today.
"Bars Made of Pain" is a romantic obsession song.

I wrote it about 20 years ago and recorded it in a studio with musicians.
I was guitar and vocals on the studio recording.
My favorite instrument is steel pedal. Wrote it to feature a steel guy that I knew. He gets rolling in the outro of the studio version.

Tonight, I dug it up and fed it to SUNO, asked for a cover and am really intimidated by how much better it sounds than mine.

LAWHON – Alternative Music | Free Music Streaming | 2 Songs
Discover LAWHON, an independent alternative artist on SoundClick. A growing catalog of 2 tracks and 70 streams on SoundClick.
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[Intro]
[acoustic guitar strumming, steady drum beat, clean electric guitar lead fills]

[Verse 1]
[baritone male vocals]
Stared at the ceiling in dawn's creeping light
As hard as I tried, didn't sleep all night
Wondering where you are, who you might be with
Missing your touch, craving your kiss
I tried with a pillow, then tossed it away
I tried laying still, the pain never fades
I stared at the sheets where you used to lay
I reached for the shoulder I kissed every day

[Chorus]
[full band, slide guitar swells]
My world is a prison with bars made of pain
There's no place to go, escape is in vain
Wherever you went, you took my soul
Left me in a world dark and cold
My world is a prison with bars made of pain
There's no place to go, escape is in vain
Though nothing to you, you stole my mind
I got the sentence, you committed the crime

[Instrumental Break]
[melodic electric guitar solo with slide guitar accents]

[Verse 2]
I boarded a plane, flew to the coast
Sat by the ocean, the stars were my host
Each lapping wave spoke the sound of your name
But nothing was there, just echoes of pain
I drove to a mountain, climbed to the top
Scraped the clouds in a place next to God
I could see forever, but all that was clear
Nothing to see, you'd never be there

[Chorus]
My world is a prison with bars made of pain
There's no place to go, escape is in vain
Wherever you went, you took my soul
Left me in a world dark and cold
My world is a prison with bars made of pain
There's no place to go, escape is in vain
Though nothing to you, you stole my mind
I got the sentence, you committed the crime

[Outro]
[guitar solo continues]
You committed the crime
With each passing face, I look for your eyes
[acoustic guitar fades out]
« Last Edit: June 08, 2026, 10:25:09 pm by LAWHON »
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Re: Bars Made of Pain
« Reply #1 on: »
A really nice song. I checked out both versions. I prefer the original if I'm honest...but that's the rock musician in me. The Suno version is very polished for sure, but it sounds like a lot of other songs I've heard lately that have been done this way. I certainly wouldn't be intimidated by it. The musicians you worked with back then did a good job and your vocals and guitar playing are good.
I really enjoyed this. :)
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Re: Bars Made of Pain
« Reply #2 on: »
Quote from: ChrisPrice on June 09, 2026, 03:34:30 am
A really nice song. I checked out both versions. I prefer the original if I'm honest...but that's the rock musician in me. The Suno version is very polished for sure, but it sounds like a lot of other songs I've heard lately that have been done this way. I certainly wouldn't be intimidated by it. The musicians you worked with back then did a good job and your vocals and guitar playing are good.
I really enjoyed this. :)

Thanks Chris.
I agree with you that it sounds like a lot of other songs.
Nonetheless, SUNO laid in some very tasty guitar fills.
And I never even imagined that I would get a vocal on a demo that was comparable to Ronnie Dunn.

It amazes me and I remain intimidated.  :)

Thanks for the feedback.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2026, 07:08:49 am by LAWHON »
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Noodlin' guitar player
Re: Bars Made of Pain
« Reply #3 on: »
Yeah man...that pedal steel makes me happily drool.  I agree with Chris the original is the killa version IMHO.  Hey I gotta ask ya about the song Ocean Breeze.  Really great guitar work. Were you looking for collaboration on that?  If so, well, the concept kinda fascinated me so I wrote some lyrics for it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post them.
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Re: Bars Made of Pain
« Reply #4 on: »
Quote from: Stone Flowers on June 10, 2026, 10:48:09 am
Yeah man...that pedal steel makes me happily drool.  I agree with Chris the original is the killa version IMHO.  Hey I gotta ask ya about the song Ocean Breeze.  Really great guitar work. Were you looking for collaboration on that?  If so, well, the concept kinda fascinated me so I wrote some lyrics for it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post them.

Stone,
I would be delighted for you to write the lyrics for the guitar audio.
My primary goal was to work on my guitar playing.

My hazy plan is to end up with something that is a hybrid of our input of the lyrics and a guitar solo, with SUNO supplying the rest of the band...somehow...maybe?  ;)
I've no idea, as yet, of how to actually get that done.

Whenever your ready, please post the lyrics and we'll see what we can get done.

Looking forward to your involvement.

Lawhon
« Last Edit: June 10, 2026, 05:15:54 pm by LAWHON »
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Noodlin' guitar player
Re: Bars Made of Pain
« Reply #5 on: »
Quote from: LAWHON on June 10, 2026, 05:13:08 pm
Quote from: Stone Flowers on June 10, 2026, 10:48:09 am
Yeah man...that pedal steel makes me happily drool.  I agree with Chris the original is the killa version IMHO.  Hey I gotta ask ya about the song Ocean Breeze.  Really great guitar work. Were you looking for collaboration on that?  If so, well, the concept kinda fascinated me so I wrote some lyrics for it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll post them.

Stone,
I would be delighted for you to write the lyrics for the guitar audio.
My primary goal was to work on my guitar playing.

My hazy plan is to end up with something that is a hybrid of our input of the lyrics and a guitar solo, with SUNO supplying the rest of the band...somehow...maybe?  ;)
I've no idea, as yet, of how to actually get that done.

Whenever your ready, please post the lyrics and we'll see what we can get done.

Looking forward to your involvement.

Lawhon, lyrics below, perhaps a bit rough but maybe workable.

Here’s how I use Suno:  I load in one of my originals, just me singing and playing guitar.  I tell Suno to cover it and put in certain prompts, i.e piano, fiddle, congas, etc.  Might be the same for more than one song or unique to one song.  Might take me 6 or 8 attempts before I get the recording I like.  It has to sound and feel like the original.  Suno has a feature that allows the user to extract just the instruments file.  Which I do and then load it into my DAW, Logic Pro.  I then sing my own vocals on to a separate track and tweak the sound till I’m satisfied. I'll post some of these coming up.

If I shouted please take me down to the sea
Would the wind hear me
And float me along to the beach

If the clouds drifted in
Would I be able to fly in my mind
And walk with deep sandy feet
drinking in the ocean’s breeze

Aww the city favors a different mind
Someone who can stand the sight
Of a forest of concrete and hard lights
And the stormy sea of humanity

But I long for the shore
Yeah I’ll find myself there on my knees
Watching the white caps blowing foam
Yeah I know what I need
A cool salty ocean breeze

The cradle of life stretches to the horizon
I found my way here to find some
Peace belonging and ease
And give in to the calling of the ocean’s breeze

Ah if the wind could pick me up
And float me to the sea
If only in my mind
I’ll surrender to the ocean’s breeze

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