Michael M. Singh, T-22165
RJD (A4-126)
480 Alta Rd.
San Diego, CA 92179

1/23/24

Dear Between The Bars,

Enclosed is my Certificate for Songwriting workshop! Also are 6 pages of 5 songs written by all in group collectively.

Please read the words! If you'd like to write me, please write to the above address or go to getting.com, navigate to: R.J.Donovan prison & enter my name + CDCR# to be an approved (text corresp) list.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Michael M. Singh

Certificate of Achievement
Michael M. Singh
For the successful completion of the course
Jail Guitar Doors Songwriting Workshop
January 3, 2024

ALPHA YARD Cohort Oct 2023 - Jan 2024

MASK COMES DOWN
Verse 1: |Em///|C///|Em///|C///|
Em C
My deepest flaws, I try to hide, the scars are way too deep,
Em C
Darkness takes me away, darkness knows my name
Em C
Rebellion, as a mask, now it's my only task
Em C
More I try, the further I go, I stop, I let it flow

Chorus: |G/Am/|C/Em/|G/Am/|C/Em/|
G Am C Em G Am C Em
The role I play, is what people see, maybe one day, I can just be me
G Am C Em G Am C. Em
Trick or treat, when the mask comes down, maybe one day, I can just believe

Verse 2: |Em///|C///|Em///|C///|
Em C
Don't judge me, by my mask, or the things I do
Em C
You know I am mad, and sometimes sad, it's just what I do
Em C
Refuse to identify, to an untrained eye, or cry
Em C
Calm down and walk away, don't care what people say
Chorus x 2:
Solo over verse
Chorus out

I Gotta Friend

Verse 1 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
Doubt my truths, anger always leads me to rage, in the end, resentment stays
I'm stuck sitting at a table hopin' you'd stop chewing with your mouth open
Dark blue, dark blue, the anger stole what she was told, take a bite out of my
reflection, judging me, playing on my rejection

Chorus 1 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
I gotta friend who broke a window serving 25-to-life
They get 7 mil a day and can't keep on the lights
I gotta friend, I gotta friend

Verse 2 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
Tired of my emotions controlling me like a slave, numbing the pain, landin me
in a cage, I gotta admit, I am so jealous of you, because they believe your lies,
while they doubt my truths, No anger, no resentment, just like a rat in a maze,
I'll say it's about time I finally forgave

Chorus 2 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
I gotta friend in the back of the bus with a shotgun, getting paid well for what
I've done, I gotta friend, I gotta friend
I gotta friend who broke a window serving 25-to-life, They get 7 mil a day and
can't keep on the lights, I gotta friend, I gotta friend

Outro Bridge: |E7#9///|Cmaj7///|D5///|E7#9///|
Now that I am older, angers slower, with fears of being unknown
I thought you was my friend, but you left me in the end
When I think back on it, amnesia begins

50 YEARS OF PAIN

Verse 1: |Bm7///|F#m///|A///|E///|
Bm7 F#m
Innocence and ignorance, it's all fun when it makes no sense,
A E
I know you did the best you could, I wish I could say the same
Bm7 F#m
All these different paths to choose, wrong role models leading me to lose
A E
It's hard to find my way through this sea of blues

Chorus: |D///|Bm7///|G///|Gm///|
D Bm7 G Gm D
When I was young, I'd see the sun, memories come crash in like a storm that
Bm7 G Gm
hits like rain, Nap time, prepared me for, 50 years of pain

Verse 2: |Bm///|F#m///|A///|E///|
Bm7 F#m A
As a child I couldn't see, that you fed and clothes me, You taught me how to
E Bm7 F#m
hold on, now it feels like that's all gone, Vivid in my book of dreams, glorious
A E
repeat for me, Now I'm older and turning gray, it's hard to find my way

Chorus x 2: |D///|Bm7///|G///|Gm///
Solo over verse
Chorus out

More Than A Number
(turn over)

ALPHA YARD Cohort Oct 2023 - Jan 2024

More Than A Number
Alpha Yard Dec/Jan 2023

Verse 1 |Am///|C/G/|Spoke Word
Working hard, filling my brains with hope, not pumping my veins full of dope
Determined to fulfill a dream deferred, redemption from a vision blurred,
I want you to feel my plight, each day in here is a long hard fight!
To be a phoenix rising from the ash, insight, intelligence, with a flash if you believe in rehab and me;
How much better society can be, In here the level of sense ain't so common, were alive by eating top ramen,
Sitting, hoping and praying, wish I could let God find a way in, they locked me up and threw away the key;
Now they gotta find it and set me free!
I am more than a number, a lotto ticket played, I'm praying for a jackpot, it's a long ways away,
If only you could know, what in these walls I've seen, it would haunt you while you are wide awake,
And kill you in your dreams
I'm dancing in the rain, my reflection aged with pain, who knows their names,
who knows their shame; replace my face with a "5," they scream this until I die
More than a number, more than a number

Chorus 1|Am///|C/G/|
Am C G Am C G
Moooore than, more than a number, mooooore than, more than you can count

Verse 2 Am C Spoke Word
These days are changing, figure me figuratively a figure 8, or an algebra equation, rate me please A-Z, and judge me
racially, never mind my being is phenomenal, and everything about me is astronomical,
I walked through the gate, now I got no date, I got some time left, my name is behind me now
I am just a number in time, BM2376, this is all I get, am I more than a number I wonder
We all came into this world just the same, I just grew up in a home where broken promises were dished out more than ice
cream, where your parents drank so much, the only means of a fun childhood escape were in my dreams
I want you to know the person I am today is working through that trauma
My life is far from perfect, when I write at times, I forget to place the comma,
But through higher education & recovery, my new dedication, my life's no longer reckless, my actions are more selfless,
through this journey I've grown into so much more than a number, so much more than a number

Chorus 1 |Am///|C/G/|
Am C G Am C G
Moooore than, more than a number, mooooore than, more than you can count

Sitting in the rain, coughing and sneezing in pain, given a number 157, rather just go too heaven, more numbers than I
can keep, don't want to be like sheep
Times change and people change, nothing remains the same. Been in prison too long, can you feel my pain? I'm more
than a number, more than an inmate in this lonely place,
I am more than a number, hard to sleep and slumber, sometimes I sit and wonder, how can an innocent man, being in a
corrupt system of numbers, many care only about themselves, no understanding they're a number too
But I trust in a higher power that I figure will help me through
Everyday, beans and lukewarm food, officers and attitudes enforcing the rules, I have goals, education and sophistication,
motivation, keeping my concentration off the spiral of depression
Staying strong, even though I was wronged, refuse to let the menace of oppression win, I count from 1 to number 10
Feeling stressed I being again
In here the enforce cooperation, yeah I follow in participation, As I become stronger, I become better, getting closer to my
destination, determination, dedication man of morals and love, I am even smarter, Yes I know I am more than a number

I Gotta Friend
Alpha Yard Nov 2023

Verse 1 Tight Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
Doubt my truths, anger always leads me to rage, in the end, resentment stays
I'm stuck sitting at a table hopin', you'd stop chewing with your mouth open
Dark blue, dark blue, the anger stole what she was told, take a bite out of my reflection
Judging me, playing on my rejection

Chorus 1 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
I gotta friend who broke a window serving 25-to-life
They get 7 mil a day and can't keep on the lights
I gotta friend, I gotta friend

Verse 2 Tight Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
Tired of my emotions controlling me like a slave, numbing the pain, landin me in a cage
I gotta admit, I am so jealous of you, because they believe your lies, while they doubt my truths
No anger, no resentment, just like a rat in a maze, I'll say it's about time I finally forgave

Chorus 2 Funk: |Am///|C/G/|Am///|C/G/|
I gotta friend in the back of the bus with a shotgun, getting paid well for what I've done
I gotta friend, I gotta friend
I gotta friend who broke a window serving 25-to-life
They get 7 mil a day and can't keep on the lights
I gotta friend, I gotta friend

Outro Bridge: |E7#9///|Cmaj7///|D5///|E7#9///|

Now that I am older, angers slower, with fears of being unknown
I thought you was my friend, but you left me in the end
When I think back on it, amnesia begins

50 YEARS OF PAIN
Alpha Yard Nov 2023

Verse 1: |Bm7///|F#m///|A///|E///|
Bm7 F#m
Innocence and ignorance, it's all fun when it makes no sense,
A E
I know you did the best you could, I wish I could say the same
Bm7 F#m
All these different paths to choose, wrong role models leading me to lose
A E
It's hard to find my way through this sea of blues

Chorus: |D///|Bm7///|G///|Gm///|
D Bm7 G Gm D Bm7
When I was young, I'd see the sun, memories come crash in like a storm that hits like rain
G Gm
Nap time, prepared me for, 50 years of pain

Verse 2: |Bm///|F#m///|A///|E///|
Bm7 F#m
As a child I couldn't see, that you fed and clothed me,
A E
You taught me how to hold on, now it feels like that's all gone,
Bm7 F#m
Vivid in my book of dreams, glorious days repeat for me
A E
Now I'm older and turning gray, it's hard to find my way

Chorus: |D///|Bm7///|G///|Gm///
D Bm7 G Gm D Bm7
When I was young, I'd see the sun, memories come crash in like a storm that hits like rain
G Gm
Nap time, prepared me for, 50 years of pain

Solo over verse
Chorus out

More Than A Number
Alpha Yard Dec/Jan 2023

Verse 1 |Am///|C/G/|Spoke Word
Working hard, filling my brains with hope, not pumping my veins full of dope|
Determined to fulfill a dream deferred, redemption from a vision blurred,|
I want you to feel my plight, each day in here is a long hard fight!|
To be a phoenix rising from the ash, insight, intelligence, with a flash| if you believe in rehab and me;
How much better society can be| In here the level of sense ain't so common, were alive by eating top ramen,|
Sitting, hoping and praying, wish I could let God find a way in,| they locked me up and threw away the key;
Now they gotta find it and set me free!|
I am more than a number, a lotto ticket played, I'm praying for a jackpot, it's a long ways away,
If only you could know, what in these walls I've seen, it would haunt you while you are wide awake,
And kill you in your dreams
I'm dancing in the rain, my reflection aged with pain, who knows their names,
who knows their shame; replace my face with a "5," they scream this until I die
More than a number, more than a number

Chorus 1|Am///|C/G/|
Am C G Am C G
Moooore than, more than a number, mooooore than, more than you can count

Verse 2 Am C Spoke Word

Chorus 1 |Am///|C/G/|
Am C G Am C G
Moooore than, more than a number, mooooore than, more than you can count

MASK COMES DOWN
Alpha Yard Oct 2023

Verse 1: |Em///|C///|Em///|C///|
Em C
My deepest flaws, I try to hide, the scars are way too deep,
Em C
Darkness takes me away, darkness knows my name
Em C
Rebellion, as a mask, now it's my only task
Em C
More I try, the further I go, I stop, I let it flow

Chorus: |G/Am/|C/Em/|G/Am/|C/Em/|
G Am C Em G C Em
The role I play, is what people see, maybe one day, I can just be me
G Am C Em G Am C. Em
Trick or treat, when the mask comes down, maybe one day, I can just believe

Verse 2: |Em///|C///|Em///|C///|
Em C
Don't judge me, by my mask, or the things I do
Em C
You know I am mad, and sometimes sad, it's just what I do
Em C
Refuse to identify, to an untrained eye, or cry
Em C
Calm down and walk away, don't care what people say

Chorus x 2: |G/Am/|C/Em/|G/Am/|C/Em/|
G Am C Em G Am C Em
The role I play, is what people see, maybe one day, I can just be me
G Am C Em G Am C. Em
Trick or treat, when the mask comes down, maybe one day, I can just believe

Solo over verse
Chorus out