When the Morning Comes
I decided, after much deliberation and fretting and sweating and stress, that the first single from our recording session should come out. This even though we're still in the process of rehearsing and recording the rest of my record.
Why?
Because I . . . and frankly all the musicians in the Ain't Got No time (Rock and Blues) Band were moved by the results. That's not something happens all the time. The mixture of the acoustic guitar along with the beautiful vocals that Matt Retz and Eric Rosander arranged for the tune were so stirring I felt that the time was right to release it.
When the Morning Comes will be the first single, released April 22nd in iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio, whatever the hell that thing Jay-Z and Beyonce have is called . . . hell I'll beam it to Pluto so the aliens can broadcast it to the computer chip in your fillings if you want.
So let me regale you with the background of this song, if you will.
I came up with two lines in the very beginning, and that was some time ago, not long after losing my wife, Andrea. She passed away on March 26th, 2011.
I'm broken and bent, beat down 'cause I spent my time fighting my battles of the heart.
I also had the chorus:
I see the moon...rising in the midnight sky, I see your headlights as you pass me by.
Though I wait here for you you've left me behind
Some years later the aching and pain started to fade and were replaced with some yearning. Not for who I lost but for wanting to find someone else. When that came I realized that meeting, seeing, hearing someone new was just as exciting and lovely as what I had. So the last line of the chorus just fell into place:
And she'll be here when the morning comes
The song is about loss, about love, and about the drive and enjoyment of moving ahead. Sometimes you lose and you never recover. Sometimes . . . life catches you by surprise.
This project...it's just such a personal one, and as a musician that's what you want, I suppose. You grab deep into your soul, find themes that are universal, and bring them to the fore. You don't have to lose someone . . . we all have had breakups, arguments, divorce, loss takes all forms and faces. I feel like this song could apply in so many ways.
My colleagues and fellow musicians say they can hear so many of my influences, from the Allman Brothers Band (particularly in the guitar solo) to The Black Crowes to The Eagles (particularly in the harmonies). In the end, though, that combination of all of those makes this uniquely our own creation.
April 22nd the song drops. I hope you are touched by it as much as we were.