Songs by Ken Hada is a collection of songs I wrote 80’s music ballads drums drumming songwriting home recording
Mary Kissed the Ground” is from my EP March, which tells true stories from my time in the Kennedy High School marching band.
This song is about something that actually happened—when we landed in Ireland, Mary, a Drill Team member, stepped off the plane, dropped to her knees, and kissed the ground. No joke. It was real, and for a second, everything stopped. It said something about where we were, how far we’d come, and what the moment meant. Like the rest of March, this song is rooted in memory—real people, real moments, and how those marching band years stayed with us.
Band Bus Ride” is about a milestone in my life. 1980 Kennedy High School marching band trip to Ireland. Band, Color Guard, Drill Team, and chaperones rolled through the Irish countryside in a Mercedes Benz tour bus driven by a guy who looked like Benny Hill.
Social walls came down. Some found friendships, others found romance. It was like The Breakfast Club on wheels. Then, on the last day, John Stamos asked me what I wanted to be. I said drummer. I asked him the same. He said actor. To this day, we’ve remained best friends. This song is part of The Epic, a collection drawn from those unforgettable days.
Fundraiser” is from my EP March, which emerged from a larger group of songs I’ve been calling The Epic—a working title for stories drawn from my time around the Kennedy High School marching band. This song takes place in the summer of 1979, in the Alpha Beta parking lot in La Palma, California.
I had just finished at Walker Junior High and was about to enter Kennedy High. And, we were trying to raise money for the band. But underneath it, I was nervous—caught between who I was and who I might become. I remember buying a SuperBall from a vending machine. It sounds small, but it was something to hold onto.
And in a moment that felt uncertain. Fundraiser is about that quiet fear of the future. You know, the kind that creeps in when you’re not quite a kid anymore? And your not yet sure how to be anything else.
Moon Dream by Ken Hada from the album Home by the band Shoot The moon
Home
Moon Drean is a song I wrote about losing my black labrador retriever.
Further, I was trying to figure out the meaning of death. And on one rainy day, the song came to me. Later, I recorded the vocals as they came to my head. Meanwhile, the rain and background noises were captured by a mic I hung out of a window while making this song. The beautiful chord progression was written by Joey Grijalva. In fact, Joey and I wrote the entire Home CD in one evening. Rest in peace Dee Oh Gee.
A song written by Ken Hada performed by the band Shoot The Moon
Trusting is a love triangle song that I wrote while I the band Shoot The Moon
A song written by Ken Hada
In short, “My Old Town” was written during the pandemic. I wrote this song about growing up in Buena Park in the 1970s and it features Matt Hensley from the band Flogging Molly and the activity called skateboarding. And I really did have a windmill, fort, and a train in my neighborhood.
Listen to my songs here and Shoot The Moon here