EDIT: Hey guys, a lot of people are ragging on me because the songs I've picked...some of them are pretty crappy. However, I should've noted beforehand that these are songs that I love from my whole musical journey. The music that I listen to now on a regular basis is vastly different from what I did 10 years ago. However, many of those songs from years ago still have a place in my heart b/c they brought me to where I am now. If the same songs came out now I probably wouldn't even hear them since I rarely listen to the radio anymore. So, hopefully that explains choices like Celine Dion, BoyzIIMen & Michael Bolton.
- or my favorite recordings of songs
- or songs that you should go buy from iTunes if you don't have them
Runners up:
Why Cry by The Panic Channel
When a Man Loves a Woman by Michael Bolton
100. Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion
99. Knockin' on Heavens Door by Guns & Roses
98. Remix to Ignition by R.Kelly
97. Recipe for Love by Harry Connick, Jr.
96. Open Arms by Mariah Carey
95. No One Love Me Like You by Jars of Clay
94. Rain King by Counting Crows
93. Until the World by the Afters
92. Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith
91. Landed by Ben Folds
90. Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
89. Dr. Dre Song by Ben Folds
88. Can't Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones
87. Hallelujah I Just Love Her So! by Ray Charles
86. Wartime Prayers by Paul Simon
85. Home by Downhere
84. Walk Down This Mountain by Bebo Norman
83. Tennessee by Arrested Development
82. Nothing to Say by Andrew Peterson
81. Can't Stop Loving You by Phil Collins
80. Answering Bell by Ryan Adams
79. Colored People by DCTalk
78. I'm Not Sleeping by Counting Crows
77. And So It Goes by Billy Joel
76. On Bended Knee by BoyzIIMen
75. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson
74. Amazed by Desperation Band
73. Tiny Dancer by Elton John
72. Helter Skelter by the Beatles
71. St. Robinson & His Cadillac Dream by Counting Crows
70. Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
69. AM Radio by Everclear
68. Boys of Summer by the Ataris
67. Picture by MuteMath
66. Change the World by Eric Clapton
65. Look After You by the Fray
64. With a Wink and a Smile by Harry Connick, Jr.
63. Only Living Boy In New York by Simon and Garfunkel
62. Your Body Is a Wonderland by John Mayer
61. Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye
60. Love Song by Five for Fighting
59. Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
58. Show Me How to Live by Audioslave
57. I Think About You by Bryan Adams
56. All Along by Blessed Union of Souls
55. Song for the Asking by Simon & Garfunkel
54. Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder
53. Jolene by Ray LaMontagne
52. Hackensack by Fountains of Wayne
51. I Could Not Ask For More by Edwin McCain
50. Crazy by Aerosmith
49. Don't Lie by the Black Eyed Peas
48. Hard to Handle by the Black Crowes
47. End of the Road by BoyzIIMen
46. Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John
45. Without Me by Eminem
44. Cigarette by the Graham Colton Band
43. Crazy by the Gnarls Barkley
42. Love is Only a Feeling by the Darkness
41. Come Back to Bed by John Mayer
40. Senorita by Justin Timberlake
39. Golddigger by Kanye West
38. This Love by Maroon 5
37. Hey Julie by Fountains of Wayne
36. Some Folks Lives Roll Easy - Paul Simon
35. When You Were Young by the Killers
34. Carrying Cathy by Ben Folds
33. Ophelia by the Band
32. If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel is Dead) by Counting Crows
31. Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith
30. God Only Knows by the Beach Boys
29. Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles
28. Killing Me by the Graham Colton Band
27. Bright Lights by Matchbox20
26. Elevation by U2
25. Gone by Switchfoot
24. Always on Your Side by Sheryl Crow & Sting
23. Somebody to Love by Queen
22. Brick by Ben Folds Five
21. Memory by Sugarcult
20. With Imagination by Harry Connick, Jr.
19. You Are Here by needtobreathe
18. Move Along by the All-American Rejects
17. Save Me by Queen
16. Learning to Breathe by Switchfoot
15. Kiss from a Rose by Seal
14. Trouble by Ray LaMontagne
13. City of Blinding Lights by U2
12. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
11. Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman by Bryan Adams
10. Army by Ben Folds Five
9. Typical by MuteMath
8. Stockholm Syndrome by Muse
7. Yellow by Coldplay
6. Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams
5. Blackbird by the Beatles
4. Long December by Counting Crows
3. Butterflies & Hurricanes by Muse
2. Control by MuteMath
1. Hysteria by Muse
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Kinda bored
I've been kind of lazy and bored lately. I recently got 3 games for my Playstation and it seems any free time I have has been spent playing those games.
I got Madden 2007, Godfather: the Game, and the new Tombraider. I haven't played Tombraider yet because I've been playing Madden since I got it. I beat Godfather, too, but now I'm going to play it again and try to get some new things done in it now that I know what I'm doing.
Anyway, American Idol started Tuesday. I admit that I watched all 4 hours of the double night premiere. I feel like it was such a waste of time...so many bad singers. So few good ones. Hopefully it gets better.
And I have hunch it will.
I got Madden 2007, Godfather: the Game, and the new Tombraider. I haven't played Tombraider yet because I've been playing Madden since I got it. I beat Godfather, too, but now I'm going to play it again and try to get some new things done in it now that I know what I'm doing.
Anyway, American Idol started Tuesday. I admit that I watched all 4 hours of the double night premiere. I feel like it was such a waste of time...so many bad singers. So few good ones. Hopefully it gets better.
And I have hunch it will.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Album Credits
Closer
words and music by Chris Sligh
All this waiting and medicating
Has left me hating my sin
Altogether, let's leave forever
Let's pretend never is here
I'm here...are you here?
Can you pull me closer to you
And love me like I never failed
Can you pull me closer to you
And love me like I never failed your love
And love me like I never failed your love
Shadow boxing with my own conscience
I've lost my friendships to love
Altogether now, let's pretend we know how
Love works itself out again.
I'm here...are you here?
chorus * interlude * chorus
Know
words and music by Chris Sligh
Lost in the windows of time,
You see a time of change
Don't it all feel strange?
Stuck in the reverb of me,
I hear echos of myself
But I can't say what I see.
I'm finding the answers
To my great divide
Someday when the sky is falling I will let you know
Someday when my dreams are caving in I will let you know
I'll let you know
Forget the first verse of life:
There's nothing learned at all -
At least until you fall.
Stratospheres and atmospheres collide,
Worlds come to an end
And there's nowhere left to hide.
pre-chorus * chorus
...when I'm falling
I'll let you know when I'm calling
I'll let you know when I'm breaking
I'll let you know when I'm making it through.
chorus
In a Moment
words and music by Chris Sligh
In a moment, love can pass you by
And in a moment, a heart can come alive
Every moment's getting better
Every moment brings me closer to you
Can I hold you till the morning light
Takes away the dead of night
And sunrise shines on you?
Can love take all these fears away
Till morning comes with brand new day?
It's love that pulls us through
In a moment.
In a moment love can tear you down
And in a moment a heart can come around
pre-chorus * chorus
I feel you in my heart
I feel you in my soul
Oh, you make me whole
In a moment...
chorus
Naive
words and music by Chris Sligh
Let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the strong say, "I am weak"
I pray the Lord this life be long
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Truth be told, I tell the truth
Still I struggle with it told
Can all these "answers" lead to you
Or some imagined pot of gold
I know...
Oh, yeah I know
I don't wanna be
So naive
Just holding on, Just holding on to...
Whispers in the dark say I'm a fool
And simple fools say I'm unwise
To trust in more than golden rules
Or things beyond seen with these eyes
I know...
chorus
Love...I'm holding on to love
Love that crossed a bridge I'd never go
Love that holds me close enough to know
And faith enough to know
That I can be naive
chorus
Need
words by Chris Sligh
music by Chris Sligh, Chad Boyd, Daniel Peek & Russ Chapman
Don't you ever get so tired
Of feeling like there's no one, there's no one here
When you're so surrounded
You still feel like there's no one around you
Don't it ever feel so wrong
To live your life so totally lonely
You're so stuck in freedom
That friends just never know you need them
But you need them
Don't let go
Don't let go of love
Don't let go:
It's everything that you need
Don't you ever want this love that's been
Handed to you forever, forever
All you've ever wanted
Is in these arms that holds us together
Held together...
chorus * solo * chorus
Rise
words and music by Chris Sligh
Every time you save me
Every time you save me
Every time I fall you pick me up
And when I fail, you right me
And pick up the pieces that might be
The pieces of me I haven't given over yet
Your love digs deeper than the valleys
And I can't hide anymore, anymore
Love is rising up like a spring up from the ground
Redemption comes and turns this heart
Turns this heart around
Love is rising up and I can't make a sound
Redemption comes and turns this heart
Turns this heart around
The sun's on the right horizon
Still I can feel it rising
It's rising just like the love I know is welling up
So, pick up the broken pieces
And I'll give up the broken pieces
The pieces of me I haven't given over yet
pre-chorus * chorus
Redemption falls like rain into the thirsty ground
The thirsty ground that is my soul
Out of nothing rises up,
Except the hands that bore my pain
Redemption comes to fill my broken heart
chorus
Somewhere
words and music by Chris Sligh
What kind of world gives us pain when we're weak?
Where do we go to make our ends meet?
What kind of world rewards love with the hurt?
Where do we go to make this work?
Where do we go? Where do we go?
Take me down to somewhere
I can know I'm free
Take me down to somewhere;
Just go with me, just go with me
Just go with me!
What kind of world throws our faults in our faces?
Where do we go to fill the empty spaces?
What kind of world trades our answers for doubts?
Where do we go to work this out?
Where do we go? Where do we go?
chorus * solo * chorus
Cry Tonight
words and music by Chris Sligh
You could never understand
Just how scared I am
I've lived and loved and lost a thousand times
Is this a second chance
Just to make it past all this energy?
I don't wanna cry tonight
Don't wanna hang my heart on my sleeve
But you're everything my soul could ever need
Don't wanna cry tonight
It's just a little faith
Gets us further in this race
We all know trust don't come too easily
Is this just romance
Or will we take a chance on something beautiful
chorus
'Cause all I ever need is you All I need is you...
chorus 2
Hero
words and music by Chris Sligh
You got a beautiful name
Don't ever let it get away
'Cause times are changing fast
But don't give up what changed the past
It's a wonderful world
But will it last beyond today
'Cause times are changing quick
We're all hurting, we're all sick
We're all hurting, we're all sick
Looking for a hero
Someone just to come and save the day
Looking for a Savior
Someone just to take our pain away
Someone just to take our pain away
It's a beautiful sound
To find myself just to let me down
'Cause times are changing fast,
But I don't know what will last
You got a beautiful soul
Don't ever jade yourself with hope
'Cause times are changing soon
And love can save us from this room
Come and save us from this room!
chorus * solo * chorus
Convenience
words by Chris Sligh & Jon Sligh
music by Chris Sligh
Ache for life, it's your show
Shallow sure, all we know
Are the masks that we wear.
You find it easy to hide
With your well-crafted smile
You hold the world at bay
Empty spaces in a sea of faces
Still everyone's a smile
Easy come, easy go is all we know
To break these walls down inside becomes too hard
Small talk slowly becomes our consolation prize
Convenience keeps us miles apart
Lost inside me the words
To find me the chance
To open your eyes
Your words are empty, white noise
Without meaning, a mist
That hides who you are
pre-chorus * chorus * solo * chorus
Waiting
words and music by Chris Sligh
It just seems like you're taking your time
I'm just waiting for the sun to shine
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, without you here to stay
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
Yeah, I'm waiting
All I want is to see you smile
If a blink lasts forever, this might take a while
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, I want you here to stay
chorus
It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
I wanna see you...I wanna see you
chorus
Tunnel Vision
words and music by Chris Sligh
Every time I slip away,
I dream a little dream of you
You got me thinking 'bout your love
When I got too much else to do
Is this way it's gonna be?
Is this how I'll just get through?
Is this how I'll get through?
Oh, you know
I've got the tunnel vision
I've got my eyes only for you
I've got the tunnel vision
I've got my heart set up for you
It's been weighing on my mind
How you love me all the time
I've been around a time or two
Wasting time till I met you
Is this the way it's gonna be
Is this how I'll just get through?
Is this how I'll get through?
pre-chorus * chorus
I've got the tunnel vision I've got my eyes only for you... (repeat)
chorus
Gone
words by Chris Sligh
music by Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Is this it?
Is this the place we all wanna be?
Or are we blind in our confusion,
Battered by contusions that make us bleed?
Make us bleed?
I'm gone I'm gone
There's nothing left for us to hold onto
There's nothing left to breathe the breath of life into
There's nothing left but hopes and dreams that shoot you through
There's nothing left, there's nothing left
I'm gone.
So, here we are:
Are we beyond what decent people do?
Are we broken in our shadows?
Or can we really know what's beyond you?
pre-chorus * chorus * solo * pre-chorus * chorus * solo
How Long
words and music by Chris Sligh
Shadows fill the places where I used to be
And now I know the pictures I hold on to
Are gone away, they're gone away
And I'm just getting older
Maybe getting older brings me closer to you
All my days are spent away
In daydreams and all I wonder is...
How long, how long
How long till I get to be with you
How long, how long
My heart is longing for you
All my life's been leading to this:
I've been dreaming
I know that life was meant for so much more
All the dreams and hopes to be
Are just dreams of something bigger
Maybe all this dreaming brings me closer to you
pre-chorus * chorus * solo
How long, how long
How long till I see your face again?
chorus
Album Credits:
Produced by Chris Sligh
Engineered by Adam Fisher
Mixed by Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Guitars: Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Lead guitars: Adam Fisher & Chris Sligh
Bass: Cole Edmonson, Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Drums: Pennyworth Hinkleman & Dustin Merryweather
Piano: Chris Sligh
Wurly: Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Keys: Chris Sligh
Soundscapes: Chris Sligh
BGV's: Chris Sligh
Gang Vocals: Chris Sligh, Adam Fisher & Jon Sligh
Strings peformed by the Greenville Symphonic Strings of Majesty and Grace
Strings arranged by The Don
words and music by Chris Sligh
All this waiting and medicating
Has left me hating my sin
Altogether, let's leave forever
Let's pretend never is here
I'm here...are you here?
Can you pull me closer to you
And love me like I never failed
Can you pull me closer to you
And love me like I never failed your love
And love me like I never failed your love
Shadow boxing with my own conscience
I've lost my friendships to love
Altogether now, let's pretend we know how
Love works itself out again.
I'm here...are you here?
chorus * interlude * chorus
Know
words and music by Chris Sligh
Lost in the windows of time,
You see a time of change
Don't it all feel strange?
Stuck in the reverb of me,
I hear echos of myself
But I can't say what I see.
I'm finding the answers
To my great divide
Someday when the sky is falling I will let you know
Someday when my dreams are caving in I will let you know
I'll let you know
Forget the first verse of life:
There's nothing learned at all -
At least until you fall.
Stratospheres and atmospheres collide,
Worlds come to an end
And there's nowhere left to hide.
pre-chorus * chorus
...when I'm falling
I'll let you know when I'm calling
I'll let you know when I'm breaking
I'll let you know when I'm making it through.
chorus
In a Moment
words and music by Chris Sligh
In a moment, love can pass you by
And in a moment, a heart can come alive
Every moment's getting better
Every moment brings me closer to you
Can I hold you till the morning light
Takes away the dead of night
And sunrise shines on you?
Can love take all these fears away
Till morning comes with brand new day?
It's love that pulls us through
In a moment.
In a moment love can tear you down
And in a moment a heart can come around
pre-chorus * chorus
I feel you in my heart
I feel you in my soul
Oh, you make me whole
In a moment...
chorus
Naive
words and music by Chris Sligh
Let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the strong say, "I am weak"
I pray the Lord this life be long
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
Truth be told, I tell the truth
Still I struggle with it told
Can all these "answers" lead to you
Or some imagined pot of gold
I know...
Oh, yeah I know
I don't wanna be
So naive
Just holding on, Just holding on to...
Whispers in the dark say I'm a fool
And simple fools say I'm unwise
To trust in more than golden rules
Or things beyond seen with these eyes
I know...
chorus
Love...I'm holding on to love
Love that crossed a bridge I'd never go
Love that holds me close enough to know
And faith enough to know
That I can be naive
chorus
Need
words by Chris Sligh
music by Chris Sligh, Chad Boyd, Daniel Peek & Russ Chapman
Don't you ever get so tired
Of feeling like there's no one, there's no one here
When you're so surrounded
You still feel like there's no one around you
Don't it ever feel so wrong
To live your life so totally lonely
You're so stuck in freedom
That friends just never know you need them
But you need them
Don't let go
Don't let go of love
Don't let go:
It's everything that you need
Don't you ever want this love that's been
Handed to you forever, forever
All you've ever wanted
Is in these arms that holds us together
Held together...
chorus * solo * chorus
Rise
words and music by Chris Sligh
Every time you save me
Every time you save me
Every time I fall you pick me up
And when I fail, you right me
And pick up the pieces that might be
The pieces of me I haven't given over yet
Your love digs deeper than the valleys
And I can't hide anymore, anymore
Love is rising up like a spring up from the ground
Redemption comes and turns this heart
Turns this heart around
Love is rising up and I can't make a sound
Redemption comes and turns this heart
Turns this heart around
The sun's on the right horizon
Still I can feel it rising
It's rising just like the love I know is welling up
So, pick up the broken pieces
And I'll give up the broken pieces
The pieces of me I haven't given over yet
pre-chorus * chorus
Redemption falls like rain into the thirsty ground
The thirsty ground that is my soul
Out of nothing rises up,
Except the hands that bore my pain
Redemption comes to fill my broken heart
chorus
Somewhere
words and music by Chris Sligh
What kind of world gives us pain when we're weak?
Where do we go to make our ends meet?
What kind of world rewards love with the hurt?
Where do we go to make this work?
Where do we go? Where do we go?
Take me down to somewhere
I can know I'm free
Take me down to somewhere;
Just go with me, just go with me
Just go with me!
What kind of world throws our faults in our faces?
Where do we go to fill the empty spaces?
What kind of world trades our answers for doubts?
Where do we go to work this out?
Where do we go? Where do we go?
chorus * solo * chorus
Cry Tonight
words and music by Chris Sligh
You could never understand
Just how scared I am
I've lived and loved and lost a thousand times
Is this a second chance
Just to make it past all this energy?
I don't wanna cry tonight
Don't wanna hang my heart on my sleeve
But you're everything my soul could ever need
Don't wanna cry tonight
It's just a little faith
Gets us further in this race
We all know trust don't come too easily
Is this just romance
Or will we take a chance on something beautiful
chorus
I don't wanna cry tonight
Don't wanna know my heart's broke in two
'Cause all I ever need right here is you
I don't wanna cry tonight
'Cause all I ever need is you All I need is you...
chorus 2
Hero
words and music by Chris Sligh
You got a beautiful name
Don't ever let it get away
'Cause times are changing fast
But don't give up what changed the past
It's a wonderful world
But will it last beyond today
'Cause times are changing quick
We're all hurting, we're all sick
We're all hurting, we're all sick
Looking for a hero
Someone just to come and save the day
Looking for a Savior
Someone just to take our pain away
Someone just to take our pain away
It's a beautiful sound
To find myself just to let me down
'Cause times are changing fast,
But I don't know what will last
You got a beautiful soul
Don't ever jade yourself with hope
'Cause times are changing soon
And love can save us from this room
Come and save us from this room!
chorus * solo * chorus
Convenience
words by Chris Sligh & Jon Sligh
music by Chris Sligh
Ache for life, it's your show
Shallow sure, all we know
Are the masks that we wear.
You find it easy to hide
With your well-crafted smile
You hold the world at bay
Empty spaces in a sea of faces
Still everyone's a smile
Easy come, easy go is all we know
To break these walls down inside becomes too hard
Small talk slowly becomes our consolation prize
Convenience keeps us miles apart
Lost inside me the words
To find me the chance
To open your eyes
Your words are empty, white noise
Without meaning, a mist
That hides who you are
pre-chorus * chorus * solo * chorus
Waiting
words and music by Chris Sligh
It just seems like you're taking your time
I'm just waiting for the sun to shine
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, without you here to stay
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
Yeah, I'm waiting
All I want is to see you smile
If a blink lasts forever, this might take a while
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, I want you here to stay
chorus
It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
I wanna see you...I wanna see you
chorus
Tunnel Vision
words and music by Chris Sligh
Every time I slip away,
I dream a little dream of you
You got me thinking 'bout your love
When I got too much else to do
Is this way it's gonna be?
Is this how I'll just get through?
Is this how I'll get through?
Oh, you know
I've got the tunnel vision
I've got my eyes only for you
I've got the tunnel vision
I've got my heart set up for you
It's been weighing on my mind
How you love me all the time
I've been around a time or two
Wasting time till I met you
Is this the way it's gonna be
Is this how I'll just get through?
Is this how I'll get through?
pre-chorus * chorus
I've got the tunnel vision I've got my eyes only for you... (repeat)
chorus
Gone
words by Chris Sligh
music by Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Is this it?
Is this the place we all wanna be?
Or are we blind in our confusion,
Battered by contusions that make us bleed?
Make us bleed?
I'm gone I'm gone
There's nothing left for us to hold onto
There's nothing left to breathe the breath of life into
There's nothing left but hopes and dreams that shoot you through
There's nothing left, there's nothing left
I'm gone.
So, here we are:
Are we beyond what decent people do?
Are we broken in our shadows?
Or can we really know what's beyond you?
pre-chorus * chorus * solo * pre-chorus * chorus * solo
How Long
words and music by Chris Sligh
Shadows fill the places where I used to be
And now I know the pictures I hold on to
Are gone away, they're gone away
And I'm just getting older
Maybe getting older brings me closer to you
All my days are spent away
In daydreams and all I wonder is...
How long, how long
How long till I get to be with you
How long, how long
My heart is longing for you
All my life's been leading to this:
I've been dreaming
I know that life was meant for so much more
All the dreams and hopes to be
Are just dreams of something bigger
Maybe all this dreaming brings me closer to you
pre-chorus * chorus * solo
How long, how long
How long till I see your face again?
chorus
Album Credits:
Produced by Chris Sligh
Engineered by Adam Fisher
Mixed by Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Guitars: Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Lead guitars: Adam Fisher & Chris Sligh
Bass: Cole Edmonson, Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Drums: Pennyworth Hinkleman & Dustin Merryweather
Piano: Chris Sligh
Wurly: Chris Sligh & Adam Fisher
Keys: Chris Sligh
Soundscapes: Chris Sligh
BGV's: Chris Sligh
Gang Vocals: Chris Sligh, Adam Fisher & Jon Sligh
Strings peformed by the Greenville Symphonic Strings of Majesty and Grace
Strings arranged by The Don
Friday, January 12, 2007
Jack Osbourne
Look, everyone says I look like Jack Osbourne.
I would like to point out that Jack is 21. I am 28.
Jack looks like me.
Get it right.
I would like to point out that Jack is 21. I am 28.
Jack looks like me.
Get it right.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The album discussed from a lyrical & musical standpoint.
Closer
We live in a world where we constantly walk away from love, but at the same time we live in a world of medication. We all have some way of medicating ourselves, whether it's alcohol or porn or religion or (name your drug of choice). For me, every time I medicate, I find myself frustrated with my failures. So, the medicating does the opposite for me than the desired effect. Call it guilt or whatever you may call it...medicating just makes me hate my position all the more. The ultimate cure for our disease is to be loved as if we never failed the love of One whose love never fails. So, in the dark, I cry out, "I'm here! Are you here?" even though I know the answer. And then I am pulled closer to him.
From a musical standpoint, this song was an attempt to simply melt faces off. It's definitely the most rocking I've ever written, and we used some effects to make my voice sound even more harsh than it did originally. We also did some cool stuff with some very normal sounds. For instance, we took a string part and ran it through my Line 6 Delay pedal on the sweep echo setting, then I just messed with the knobs till we got this wierd sweeping, distorted string sound that doesn't even sound like a string patch. I think the genius move on this song, however, was the reggea bridge with a slightly out of key solo. Adam killed it on this solo...it's very Tom Morello-ish.
Know
Too often, we find ourselves awash in the reverberations of our lives. We make choices that then reverberate until, often years later, we hear echoes of ourselves. However, it's these choices that make us who we are. Do we make mistakes? Yes. But the mistakes we make are ultimately what forms our psyche and the personalities that we become. This lyric is simple. We make choices, and those choices have repercussions. However, I'm the one who deals with my choices. So, when my world is ending and my dreams are caving in, I'll let you know. Otherwise, deal with your own choices.
Musically, this is one of those songs where I wear my influences on my sleeve. With a band called needtobreathe, the singer often goes into this cool falsetto thing that I love. For years, I have used my falsetto in live situations but not a ton on recordings. So, with this song, I wrote a soaring melody - one that I think is the best "hook" I've ever written - that takes me into falsetto, then back down to my full voice. The chord progression on the verses is very Coldplay-ish, but we tried to change up the instrumentation to make it seem more original. This is one of those songs that a lot of people have said seems familiar from the first listen...to me that's what makes a great pop song.
In a Moment
Love is a two-sided beast. For every positive reaction we feel "in love", there are equal reactions of negative feelings. However, it is within a short time that things can turn around with love. The lyric is simple. I am in love, good or bad. Specifically, I want to hold her till sunrise comes along and the dark times pass.
This song was a blatant attempt at writing a hit song. To my ears, it sounds like Chris Sligh is trying to write a Edwin McCain song and ended up rocking out a little more than Edwin does. I don't think I consciously tried to emulate Edwin - I actually don't really like Edwin's music very much - but that's what it ended up sounding like to me. But on the other hand I don't think Edwin wrote a better hook than this one. One special thing about this one, though, I think is the bridge. The melody soars, the chords go to places the ear doesn't expect and it ends with a very Beatle-esque chord progression. Perhaps that is my strength: being able to take all these vast musical influences and put them together in a way that makes something somewhat original.
Naive
I return to the idea of medication. One distinct form of medication is religion. One can rely on religion as one can rely on alcohol or any drug. Religion makes life easier to live and can act as a salve for what ails us. However, in my grapple with religion, I find myself with distinct feelings of naivety while at the same time hating my own naivety. We use all these phrases in religion that give us peace and hope, all the while ignoring the pain that the world around us is in. Ultimately however, part of faith is being able to allow oneself a bit of naivety. Logic should definitely enter the equation, and religion is a drug to be avoided, but ultimately if we believe that the Bible is true, then we grasp some semblance of naivety. And I must be okay with that.
Musically, this song is very intense without necessarily being pure rock and roll. It's an atmospheric kind of rock that really turns me on. Anyone can turn up an amp to 11 and riff till someone's ears bleed...it's a lot harder to take a wurly and make it rock with some semi-clean guitars. The song is reminscent of MuteMath, but I hope it isn't a complete rip-off...I don't think it is. I would put this in the top few songs I've ever written.
Need
The Beatles once said, "love is all you need" and in reality, love is all we need...it just isn't the love that we all are thinking of. We get so busy with our lives and with our freedom that it's easy to forget that the love that's been given to us forever is everything that we need.
I'm not a very good co-writer. I'm very shy when it comes to sharing my ideas for songs...I guess I just get a rush from seeing one's reaction to a completed song that never quite happens while trading ideas in co-writing. Anyway, my former guitarist Chad Boyd brought this riff into practice and we jammed until we had a song. And this might be one of my better chorus hooks. Adam's lead riffs are perfect and the choice of using wurly on the chordal riff at the beginning was an inspired choice, I think.
Rise
The lyric is pretty self-explanatory. Love changes us all when we allow it in. When we give up the pieces of our hearts, then love will change us and redemption turns us around.
This song is the one that took the longest to come to fruition. I can remember writing this one and thinking that if we did it right it that this one could be a hit. However, the band I had at the time just couldn't seem to put it together. So, I worked on my own with this one for a long time and finally came up with the arrangement you hear now. This one is a joy to do live and see everyone screaming out the "Whoas" at the beginning and the end of song.
Somewhere
When I look at the world around me, I can't understand how pain and suffering are compatible with a loving God. I don't think that this struggle is on that has a pat answer that makes it all better. So, I ask myself and I ask God a lot where we can go to make the idyllic situation of life without pain work. Unfortunately, the question is returned to me with an answer I don't want to hear. Eden was the place where life without pain worked, and humans screwed it up with sin. The afterlife is the next answer. In heaven, we'll be in a place without pain. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to wait so long.
Writing a 6/8 song that rocks is - to me - one of the hardest to do. I love to write a 6/8 ballad, but had never succeeded at writing an upbeat 6/8 song. Originally, this lyric had been put to the music that turned into "Know". But it just didn't work. So, in about 15 minutes, I laid down a 6/8 drum loop and wrote the music for this song. The demo rocked and when Adam laid down the opening, brooding riff, I knew we had something special. The bridge is a piece of music that I have been trying to put into something for about 3 years now and had never succeeded in fitting it into anything - it was originally a 4/4 riff - but it just worked here. And the solo at the end of this song is simply blazing.
Cry Tonight
Everything that we believe in is us taking a chance on something beautiful. Love is taking a chance that our lover will never leave us or forsake us; religion is taking a chance that the skeptics aren't correct and that God is real...really, life is about taking a chance on something beautiful. If the divine wasn't always just around the corner, then we would have nothing to live for. We never quite reach it, but we feel it, and we know its beauty.
I originally wrote this song for my wife 3 weeks after we met (she wasn't my wife yet). Back then it was a love song. We had never been able to find a place to record the song and I always thought it had the workings of a strong song. So, as we worked on this album, I decided to try to re-arrange and re-write the song. It ended up being a strong Brit-rock kind of track. The guitar hook on the choruses is a nice counterpoint to the vocals.
Hero
All of us are sick and hurting, not matter who we are or what we've done in life. We have a disease that requires healing. In life, we constantly look for heroes...we are fascinated with comic books, superhumans in television and movies, and the common heart desire is that we long for something bigger and better than us. We need a hero. We need a Savior.
I would put Closer, Somewhere and Hero in the same class I think, musically. All of them are just balls to the wall kind of rockers. They are somewhat self-indulgent (i.e., all have lengthy guitar solos), all of them are a little down and dirty, and all of them are easy audience sing-alongs when we play them live. With this one, we attempted to add in some more interesting elements but this one just needed to be plain and simple, down and dirty rock and roll. The drums provided the intersting thing here, I think, and Adam's solo is really great.
Convenience
The toughest thing about relationships is when the relationship becomes real. When a relationship is new and energetic, it's easy to become, for a short time, a better version of ourselves. Then, when the relationship becomes comfortable, when it becomes convenient, we find ourselves taking the easy way out. Easy come, easy go is all that we know in our relationships and it's hard to break down the walls that form over months and years...ultimately, comfort and convenience can be the wedge that drives us apart.
From a musical standpoint, this would my greatest homage to bands like Radiohead, Starsailor and Muse. It's wierd, rife with stange sound effects and white noise. It could also be an homage to the synth dance/rock stuff of the Killers or the Bravery. Melodically, the song soars into that falsetto on the chorus, and it seems to work. This is one of my favorites, also.
Waiting
Waiting sucks. Recently in my life I've had to do a lot of waiting, and it sucks. Sometimes it seems like Love takes its time on coming back to us. I don't want to be impatient, because love is well-worth the wait. But waiting sucks.
From a musical standpoint, the song is a simple pop song with some punk elements. We originally recorded this song for our debut album, but it never quite met my expectations...I always thought it could be a great rock song. When we started to record this album, I thought it would be cool to rework this one, so I took it up 4 keys and sped it up a great deal, then added the intro to it. Also, on the choruses, the drummer had the idea to go into half-time and it just opened the song up like crazy.
Tunnel Vision
The lyric is pretty simple. I've got tunnel vision for love. It's that simple.
This song was originally just a throw away song that I wrote to have enough demos to choose from. It's a simple chord progression, but it actually ended up being a favorite of fans live. So we added it to the album. The little Steely Dan guitar solo on the bridge was a last minute idea that is a lot of fun...it definitely takes the song to another place.
Gone
Sometimes, when I'm at my darkest, I feel very Ecclesiastical; I feel like everything is meaningless, everything is vanity, everything is just a soap bubble blown away with the wind. I ask myself, as I look around me, if this is the place that the human race - or more specifically where I - want to be.
I wrote the basic structure of this song (verse & chorus) and laid it down for Adam. I went out of town for a while and told Adam to make magic with the song. He took it and fleshed it out into an entire song, and it sounds pretty good, I think. His bridge/solo section is very nice, and the ending takes off and explodes. When we went into production, we knew we had to take the demo and step it up a little bit. So, Adam did that crazy guitar part on the 2nd chorus and I came up with the idea for a reverse piano on the verses.
How Long
I have this longing in me for the great beyond. I wake up every day with a longing for what's next. I daydream about it. I dream about it, and as I get older, I realize maybe every moment I get a little closer to Love. But I still ask "how long?"
Musically, this is the perfect conclusion to the album. It starts and ends low energy, and explodes in the middle. I love a song whose melody I can sing in a lower octave then take it up an octave. This is probably my favorite song on the album.
We live in a world where we constantly walk away from love, but at the same time we live in a world of medication. We all have some way of medicating ourselves, whether it's alcohol or porn or religion or (name your drug of choice). For me, every time I medicate, I find myself frustrated with my failures. So, the medicating does the opposite for me than the desired effect. Call it guilt or whatever you may call it...medicating just makes me hate my position all the more. The ultimate cure for our disease is to be loved as if we never failed the love of One whose love never fails. So, in the dark, I cry out, "I'm here! Are you here?" even though I know the answer. And then I am pulled closer to him.
From a musical standpoint, this song was an attempt to simply melt faces off. It's definitely the most rocking I've ever written, and we used some effects to make my voice sound even more harsh than it did originally. We also did some cool stuff with some very normal sounds. For instance, we took a string part and ran it through my Line 6 Delay pedal on the sweep echo setting, then I just messed with the knobs till we got this wierd sweeping, distorted string sound that doesn't even sound like a string patch. I think the genius move on this song, however, was the reggea bridge with a slightly out of key solo. Adam killed it on this solo...it's very Tom Morello-ish.
Know
Too often, we find ourselves awash in the reverberations of our lives. We make choices that then reverberate until, often years later, we hear echoes of ourselves. However, it's these choices that make us who we are. Do we make mistakes? Yes. But the mistakes we make are ultimately what forms our psyche and the personalities that we become. This lyric is simple. We make choices, and those choices have repercussions. However, I'm the one who deals with my choices. So, when my world is ending and my dreams are caving in, I'll let you know. Otherwise, deal with your own choices.
Musically, this is one of those songs where I wear my influences on my sleeve. With a band called needtobreathe, the singer often goes into this cool falsetto thing that I love. For years, I have used my falsetto in live situations but not a ton on recordings. So, with this song, I wrote a soaring melody - one that I think is the best "hook" I've ever written - that takes me into falsetto, then back down to my full voice. The chord progression on the verses is very Coldplay-ish, but we tried to change up the instrumentation to make it seem more original. This is one of those songs that a lot of people have said seems familiar from the first listen...to me that's what makes a great pop song.
In a Moment
Love is a two-sided beast. For every positive reaction we feel "in love", there are equal reactions of negative feelings. However, it is within a short time that things can turn around with love. The lyric is simple. I am in love, good or bad. Specifically, I want to hold her till sunrise comes along and the dark times pass.
This song was a blatant attempt at writing a hit song. To my ears, it sounds like Chris Sligh is trying to write a Edwin McCain song and ended up rocking out a little more than Edwin does. I don't think I consciously tried to emulate Edwin - I actually don't really like Edwin's music very much - but that's what it ended up sounding like to me. But on the other hand I don't think Edwin wrote a better hook than this one. One special thing about this one, though, I think is the bridge. The melody soars, the chords go to places the ear doesn't expect and it ends with a very Beatle-esque chord progression. Perhaps that is my strength: being able to take all these vast musical influences and put them together in a way that makes something somewhat original.
Naive
I return to the idea of medication. One distinct form of medication is religion. One can rely on religion as one can rely on alcohol or any drug. Religion makes life easier to live and can act as a salve for what ails us. However, in my grapple with religion, I find myself with distinct feelings of naivety while at the same time hating my own naivety. We use all these phrases in religion that give us peace and hope, all the while ignoring the pain that the world around us is in. Ultimately however, part of faith is being able to allow oneself a bit of naivety. Logic should definitely enter the equation, and religion is a drug to be avoided, but ultimately if we believe that the Bible is true, then we grasp some semblance of naivety. And I must be okay with that.
Musically, this song is very intense without necessarily being pure rock and roll. It's an atmospheric kind of rock that really turns me on. Anyone can turn up an amp to 11 and riff till someone's ears bleed...it's a lot harder to take a wurly and make it rock with some semi-clean guitars. The song is reminscent of MuteMath, but I hope it isn't a complete rip-off...I don't think it is. I would put this in the top few songs I've ever written.
Need
The Beatles once said, "love is all you need" and in reality, love is all we need...it just isn't the love that we all are thinking of. We get so busy with our lives and with our freedom that it's easy to forget that the love that's been given to us forever is everything that we need.
I'm not a very good co-writer. I'm very shy when it comes to sharing my ideas for songs...I guess I just get a rush from seeing one's reaction to a completed song that never quite happens while trading ideas in co-writing. Anyway, my former guitarist Chad Boyd brought this riff into practice and we jammed until we had a song. And this might be one of my better chorus hooks. Adam's lead riffs are perfect and the choice of using wurly on the chordal riff at the beginning was an inspired choice, I think.
Rise
The lyric is pretty self-explanatory. Love changes us all when we allow it in. When we give up the pieces of our hearts, then love will change us and redemption turns us around.
This song is the one that took the longest to come to fruition. I can remember writing this one and thinking that if we did it right it that this one could be a hit. However, the band I had at the time just couldn't seem to put it together. So, I worked on my own with this one for a long time and finally came up with the arrangement you hear now. This one is a joy to do live and see everyone screaming out the "Whoas" at the beginning and the end of song.
Somewhere
When I look at the world around me, I can't understand how pain and suffering are compatible with a loving God. I don't think that this struggle is on that has a pat answer that makes it all better. So, I ask myself and I ask God a lot where we can go to make the idyllic situation of life without pain work. Unfortunately, the question is returned to me with an answer I don't want to hear. Eden was the place where life without pain worked, and humans screwed it up with sin. The afterlife is the next answer. In heaven, we'll be in a place without pain. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to wait so long.
Writing a 6/8 song that rocks is - to me - one of the hardest to do. I love to write a 6/8 ballad, but had never succeeded at writing an upbeat 6/8 song. Originally, this lyric had been put to the music that turned into "Know". But it just didn't work. So, in about 15 minutes, I laid down a 6/8 drum loop and wrote the music for this song. The demo rocked and when Adam laid down the opening, brooding riff, I knew we had something special. The bridge is a piece of music that I have been trying to put into something for about 3 years now and had never succeeded in fitting it into anything - it was originally a 4/4 riff - but it just worked here. And the solo at the end of this song is simply blazing.
Cry Tonight
Everything that we believe in is us taking a chance on something beautiful. Love is taking a chance that our lover will never leave us or forsake us; religion is taking a chance that the skeptics aren't correct and that God is real...really, life is about taking a chance on something beautiful. If the divine wasn't always just around the corner, then we would have nothing to live for. We never quite reach it, but we feel it, and we know its beauty.
I originally wrote this song for my wife 3 weeks after we met (she wasn't my wife yet). Back then it was a love song. We had never been able to find a place to record the song and I always thought it had the workings of a strong song. So, as we worked on this album, I decided to try to re-arrange and re-write the song. It ended up being a strong Brit-rock kind of track. The guitar hook on the choruses is a nice counterpoint to the vocals.
Hero
All of us are sick and hurting, not matter who we are or what we've done in life. We have a disease that requires healing. In life, we constantly look for heroes...we are fascinated with comic books, superhumans in television and movies, and the common heart desire is that we long for something bigger and better than us. We need a hero. We need a Savior.
I would put Closer, Somewhere and Hero in the same class I think, musically. All of them are just balls to the wall kind of rockers. They are somewhat self-indulgent (i.e., all have lengthy guitar solos), all of them are a little down and dirty, and all of them are easy audience sing-alongs when we play them live. With this one, we attempted to add in some more interesting elements but this one just needed to be plain and simple, down and dirty rock and roll. The drums provided the intersting thing here, I think, and Adam's solo is really great.
Convenience
The toughest thing about relationships is when the relationship becomes real. When a relationship is new and energetic, it's easy to become, for a short time, a better version of ourselves. Then, when the relationship becomes comfortable, when it becomes convenient, we find ourselves taking the easy way out. Easy come, easy go is all that we know in our relationships and it's hard to break down the walls that form over months and years...ultimately, comfort and convenience can be the wedge that drives us apart.
From a musical standpoint, this would my greatest homage to bands like Radiohead, Starsailor and Muse. It's wierd, rife with stange sound effects and white noise. It could also be an homage to the synth dance/rock stuff of the Killers or the Bravery. Melodically, the song soars into that falsetto on the chorus, and it seems to work. This is one of my favorites, also.
Waiting
Waiting sucks. Recently in my life I've had to do a lot of waiting, and it sucks. Sometimes it seems like Love takes its time on coming back to us. I don't want to be impatient, because love is well-worth the wait. But waiting sucks.
From a musical standpoint, the song is a simple pop song with some punk elements. We originally recorded this song for our debut album, but it never quite met my expectations...I always thought it could be a great rock song. When we started to record this album, I thought it would be cool to rework this one, so I took it up 4 keys and sped it up a great deal, then added the intro to it. Also, on the choruses, the drummer had the idea to go into half-time and it just opened the song up like crazy.
Tunnel Vision
The lyric is pretty simple. I've got tunnel vision for love. It's that simple.
This song was originally just a throw away song that I wrote to have enough demos to choose from. It's a simple chord progression, but it actually ended up being a favorite of fans live. So we added it to the album. The little Steely Dan guitar solo on the bridge was a last minute idea that is a lot of fun...it definitely takes the song to another place.
Gone
Sometimes, when I'm at my darkest, I feel very Ecclesiastical; I feel like everything is meaningless, everything is vanity, everything is just a soap bubble blown away with the wind. I ask myself, as I look around me, if this is the place that the human race - or more specifically where I - want to be.
I wrote the basic structure of this song (verse & chorus) and laid it down for Adam. I went out of town for a while and told Adam to make magic with the song. He took it and fleshed it out into an entire song, and it sounds pretty good, I think. His bridge/solo section is very nice, and the ending takes off and explodes. When we went into production, we knew we had to take the demo and step it up a little bit. So, Adam did that crazy guitar part on the 2nd chorus and I came up with the idea for a reverse piano on the verses.
How Long
I have this longing in me for the great beyond. I wake up every day with a longing for what's next. I daydream about it. I dream about it, and as I get older, I realize maybe every moment I get a little closer to Love. But I still ask "how long?"
Musically, this is the perfect conclusion to the album. It starts and ends low energy, and explodes in the middle. I love a song whose melody I can sing in a lower octave then take it up an octave. This is probably my favorite song on the album.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)