Waiting For You - Liner Notes

Todd Royce - Waiting For You - Liner Notes Supplement - 2005

LINER NOTES (February 2005):

This recording would not have come to be without the help of JJ Street, who spent countless afternoons building the studio (literally putting saw-blade to pine and hammer to nail), and an equal number of too humid days getting the drums sub-mixed to two tracks (my recording equipment was minimal for this project… an obstacle I think we overcame), and then performing. He also put up with some frustrating technical blunders and a super annoying metronome click for a few tunes. He's one of the most generous people I know and a joy to play music with.

Another unprecedented contribution came from Collin Tilton, who has now helped me mix two entire CD projects without ever being paid on time or complaining once. He did a terrific job working with our submixed drums. I'm sure it was a bit of a concession considering there are more microphones and available recording tracks in his state of the art studio than would be needed to record Neil Peart in surround sound.

Additional thanks go to Rick Bernard for being a part of the live band over the last few years, and for adding his style to one of the songs on this CD. Originally I had intended for him and Doug [Morton] to play more of the CD, but scheduling proved difficult and the further along I got playing the bass parts myself, the more I wanted to be a quasi multi-instrumentalist. They’ll be back.

Thanks to Adam Fagelson who spent way too much time trying to mix two tunes that I ultimately decided had to be completely re-recorded. Note to self: never record when you’ve been up six nights in a row with an infant.

Thanks once again to Simon Kono for supplying the artwork. Visit www.simonkono.com for one of the best digital artists working today.

These songs were recorded between May of 2003 and February of 2005, except "Insomnia", recorded in the winter of 1997/1998. During that time a studio was born, a child was born, a father was created, gigs were played, battles raged, home renovations were carried out, people moved, Atkins took over, seasons came and went, songs were recorded and then omitted from the project, and new songs for the next CD were hatched. The sessions for “Waiting for you” went smoothly and quickly enough, but the weeks and sometimes months that lapsed between each one were as challenging as they were numerous. This just happened to be a CD recorded during a time of great transition. Thanks for waiting.

All songs Copyright Todd Royce Morton/Mortone Records 2005

WAITING FOR YOU

There's a true confession on the tip of my tongue
There's a revelation under my thumb
There's a victory dance in my shoe
But I count the days waiting for you

I'm waiting for you
I'm waiting for you
As long as I breathe
I'm waiting for you

I can feel my heart beat under my skin
I can feel the moon over my head
I can see the mountains; I can see the trees
I can lie on the cold ground
I can swim in the sea
But I can't see me. I'm out of view
So it all means nothing
I'm waiting for you

I'm waiting for you
I'm waiting for you
As long as I breathe
I'm waiting for you

WONDERING

she has a way with words
she has a need to be heard
she's wondering if she can find the right words to start

he has the allegory
he has a meaningful story
he's wondering if he can find the right words to impart

don't waste your time chasing a rhyme

she has a family
her fears are monetary
she's wondering if her life imitates her art

he has a family too
his debt is all coming due
he's wondering if his life will break apart

don't waste your time chasing a dime

time passes by like water in a stream
faster than the memory of somebody else's dream
a familiar metaphor for a distant lullabye:
the things you pass along are the things that never die
underneath the mystery is the tiny burning ember =
the thing you seak to know or the thing you can't remember
you'll never find the answer, no matter how you try
and your life is passing by as you hang your head and cry

i have a struggling faith
i keep it in a little red vase
wondering if the world is falling apart

we have an unspoken hope
tied to an invisible rope
wondering if the truth is in the heart

don't waste your time chasing a mime

don't waste your time

FEELING GOOD

Desperation, it's not pretty
I'm no stranger to your pity
Jealousy has come to get me
Envy is bringing me down

It's not like me, this kind of fear
gratitude has all but disappeared
It's a situation of my own making
I'm a prisoner of my own taking

But as the sun shines down to the earth
It sees me, and it frees me
And as the sun goes down for the day
It leaves me feeling good

Feeling good
Feeling good... good... so damn good

In the darkness your heart can rust
And make a memory of your trust
Everybody has felt the sting
Well it seems some people have everything

So it’s through the doorway, back to the cage
It was reconstructed page by page
You know the soul is aching to feel the sun
Well the remedy is a solar one

And as the sun shines down to the earth
It finds me, and reminds me
And as the sun goes down for the day
It leaves me feeling good

Feeling good
Feeling good... good... so damn good

THIS WAY

I can't believe you're leaving after all the things I've done for you
I can't believe you're treating me this way

I can't believe I'm breathing after all the things you've done to me
I can't believe you're leaving me this way

You say it's been a long time coming
And you say "so long"
I say "just how long, baby?"
And you say, "too long"

I can't believe you're leaving after all the time I spent with you
I can't believe you're treating me this way

Solo

This is your last chance, honey
To change your messed up mind
I will hit the cold ground running
If you wave goodbye

I can't believe you're leaving after all the things I've done for you
I can't believe you're treating me this way

I can't believe I'm breathing after all the things you've done to me
I can't believe you're leaving me this way

You say you've got a new friend, honey
You say "we're through"
I say, "you can bet your money
I'll find one, too!"
Nothing like you!

I can't believe you're leaving after all the time I spent with you
But you won't catch me bereaving over you

UPSCALE GYPSY

There must be a hundred ways
To build a wall
There must be a hundred more
To make it fall
Looking out at the harbor
I might swim across
I'm talking to your daughter
She seems a little lost There must be a thousand ways
To get off track
There must be a thousand more
To find the way back
I've been to the edge of the earth
To the bottom of the ocean
One thing I've come to believe
You've got to stay in motion

Walking barefoot in my shoes
I'm an upscale Gypsy
Walking barefoot in my shoes
200 miles from Poughkeepsie

There must be a million ways
To pay your dues
There must be a million more
To exorcise your blues
I lost a dear, dear friend too soon
My little world was shattered
Something I've come to understand
Love is all that matters
Love is all that matters

There must be a billion ways
To make it to the end
There must be a billion more
To come back again
The moon is over the horizon
Across the globe it's dawn
I'm starting to see the bigger picture
Nobody's ever gone (they just move on)

Walking barefoot in my shoes
I'm an upscale Gypsy
Walking barefoot in my shoes
200 miles from Poughkeepsie

DIM SUM (instrumental)

CAGE

White lightning strikes across the top of my head
Nobody can see it but me
Blue fire is flowing down the roads in my body
Nobody can feel it but me

And the walls are closing in
As the walls are coming down
And everyone is the same
Born inside of a cage

The day will come when these fires burn free
Right through the breath the tears and the sand
And this thing that you think of as a penitentiary
Will melt away right where you stand

And the walls are closing in
As the walls are coming down
And everyone is the same
Born inside of a cage

WRONG TURN

There is a place that I remember
Out in the evergreen
Where I climbed through the window of your heart
And when I go there now the air still tastes the same
And the shadows still speak your name
The frozen ground a cruel effigy

It was a cold and clear September
And we were still in between
The high ground of love and the lowland of hate
There were no reasons yet to feel the kind of pain
That a house feels in a hurricane
With the blink of an eye the seasons change

Under a mystic sky
You took a wrong turn
Into the mistress eyes
Where the rain can burn like fire

The river that washed away the timbers
Is flowing right in front of me
Vultures are circling beneath the clouds
But all I have to do to save myself from drowning
Is turn my heels and walk away
It’s time to lay my burden down
I’ll set it in the rushing water

Under a mystic sky
You took a wrong turn
Into the mistress eyes
Where the rain can burn like fire

And I’ve spent all my life just searching for your face
I was waiting for the day to dawn
When thoughts of you could lift me to a state of grace
Everything I knew was wrong
In this sleeping
See me weep

There was a time I would surrender
To the whimsy of the ancient water
Deliver myself to the birds of prey
From where the sun stands right now I will show no fear
And it will all disappear
Though I hold the memory of that place
Deep in the riverbed

Under a mystic sky
You took a wrong turn
Into the mistress eyes
Where the rain can burn like fire

But I’m free now
I am free
Yes I’m free
Free

FOOL'S GOLD

Fool's gold is what I came for
This I know, at this I wonder
You stopped my motorcade
With a word, in and under
And sold my shallow grave
Down the river, to the thunder
Turned it into falling rain
And washed the dirt away

Sometimes I need to be drawn and quartered
Just to see if I can stand it
Sometimes I need to meet with an accident
Just as long as it's you who planned it
Sometimes I need to be bound and fettered
Don't let me take anything for granted
Sometimes I need you to knock me down
And take my breath away

Truth told, uncomplicated
Through the wheelhouse, to the mirror
I tried to look away
Fallen angels, all around me
You laid my burden down
Took the reigns and felled the silver
Melted into starry shapes
Which keep the fear away

There's a shadow reaching out across broken fences
There's a bridge taking on a flame
But in your hands pain and love are the same

Sometimes I need to be drawn and quartered
Just to prove that I can stand it
Sometimes I need to meet with an accident
Just as long as it's you who planned it
Sometimes I need to be bound and fettered
Don't let me take anything for granted
Sometimes I need you to knock me down
And take my breath away , etc.

NOBODY KNOWS

I don't wanna feel the things I feel
I don't wanna dream the things I dream
I don't wanna know the things I know
I don't wanna see the things I’ve seen

Nobody knows what I go through
Nobody know what I’ve been through

I don’t wanna watch the bright sunrise
I don't wanna see the red harvest moon
I don't wanna see the white snowfall
I don't wanna wait for the flowers to bloom

Nobody knows what I go through
Nobody know what I’ve been through

Well I don't want to be here when you're gone
I don't want to watch you walk away
I don't want to hear you say goodbye
The only thing I want is to be with you everyday

Nobody knows what I go through
Nobody knows what I've been through

Nobody knows what I've been through
Nobody knows except for you

SHE BRINGS ME BACK

Sometimes I get lost
I drift away
I don't know where I'm going
And I don't know where I started

But she brings me back
She puts me back in place
She brings me back
She brings me back to me

Sometimes my mind races
It gets away from me
'till I don't know if I'm living
and I don't know if I'm dying

But she brings me back
She puts me back in place
She brings me back
She brings me back to me

BRIDGE/SOLO

But she brings me back
She puts me back in place
She brings me back
She brings me back to me

Sometimes I get lost
I drift away
I don't know where I'm going
I couldn't tell you where I started

INSOMNIA (instrumental - recorded in winter 1997 at my mother's house in Putney, Vermont using an Epiphone PR-5E Guitar into a Shure SM58 and recorded on a Fostex DMT-8. At 1:00AM.)

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PHOTOS:

Todd & JJ build Mortone Studio, March 2003

JJ checks playback of our drum mix during session #1. (for gear heads: the recorder was a ZOOM 1044 and the mixer was a 16 channel Soundcraft. Mics were a Beta 52A kick drum mic, a C100S on the snare, an OM2, two SM58's, and some other big ugly thing we borrowed that looked like it belonged in a radio station in 1950).

It was hot during those drum sessions. But the breeze was nice.

JJ street, TRM, Rick Bernard

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