Yet another lapse in publishing... largely due to traveling here and there (mostly there) for some wonderful Odyssey performances.
It's not every month you find yourself in Rochester, New York, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, on successive weekends, to perform a folk opera. Isn't there an old proverb about that? Also, has anyone ever started a Kansas cover band called Arkansas? Probably.
On to the next song on In the Morning...
Dry.
There's actually not much to say about this one.
Lyrically, it is what I like to call a "promise song." It had been a long long while since I was able to write about the future, and I took this opportunity to try and say everything I could to my then girlfriend, soon-to-be-fiancee, now-wife.
I recorded an acoustic version of this song as a wedding present and we played it at our ceremony.
And it was the first song we recorded for the In the Morning sessions... the live arrangement was frighteningly simple and we got a good take pretty quickly. I wound up redo-ing the guitar part with a wonderful tone on my old Gibson... and I played with my fingers rather than a pick, which seemed to be one of those small recording decisions which made a huge difference.
We brought in a guy named Brian Wilkie to record some pedal steel and he knocked it out of the park. Did like 3 takes, any of which we could have used almost wholesale. Really beautiful playing.
I did the vocals very quickly without thinking. The best way to do vocals.
And we got a really pleasant sounding mix.
I really love this song for its simplicity.... there are a couple little personal references... to old songs, to specific things between Andrea and me... and I guess writing this song made me realize that there's a subtle dark undercurrent to every shining love song... namely that when you consider staying with someone for the rest of your life, you also have to consider mortality...
But that's a little bit heavy for today.
So... here are the lyrics.
DRY
I'll take away all your sorrow
I'll take away all your pain
Before today becomes tomorrow
I'll say the things I couldn't say
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will try and change the season
As summer fades and embers smoke
If the fight destroys the reason
I'll write the song I never wrote
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will cry when you are grieving
I will smile when you are true
When the time has come for leaving
I'll fly with you into the blue
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
jbg
I recorded an acoustic version of this song as a wedding present and we played it at our ceremony.
And it was the first song we recorded for the In the Morning sessions... the live arrangement was frighteningly simple and we got a good take pretty quickly. I wound up redo-ing the guitar part with a wonderful tone on my old Gibson... and I played with my fingers rather than a pick, which seemed to be one of those small recording decisions which made a huge difference.
We brought in a guy named Brian Wilkie to record some pedal steel and he knocked it out of the park. Did like 3 takes, any of which we could have used almost wholesale. Really beautiful playing.
I did the vocals very quickly without thinking. The best way to do vocals.
And we got a really pleasant sounding mix.
I really love this song for its simplicity.... there are a couple little personal references... to old songs, to specific things between Andrea and me... and I guess writing this song made me realize that there's a subtle dark undercurrent to every shining love song... namely that when you consider staying with someone for the rest of your life, you also have to consider mortality...
But that's a little bit heavy for today.
So... here are the lyrics.
DRY
I'll take away all your sorrow
I'll take away all your pain
Before today becomes tomorrow
I'll say the things I couldn't say
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will try and change the season
As summer fades and embers smoke
If the fight destroys the reason
I'll write the song I never wrote
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will cry when you are grieving
I will smile when you are true
When the time has come for leaving
I'll fly with you into the blue
'Cause time won't wait for us
The sky might open up
But I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
I will keep you dry
Until we're gone
jbg
