Don't Go

This song sprung out of nowhere when I was messing around with Garageband. The spontaneity probably accounts for the generic pop song feel, but personally I'm just really proud of the thing. Sure, it's wide-ranging, it could mean a lot of things, but isn't that was a good pop song's about?

Besides, this is the first song I actually physically demoed, so I can post a link. I think that this sound is slightly where All These Lost Pictures is going, but is also a bit of a step in what'll be my writings over the next year. Meaningful and special, but with this infectious pop vibe. I'll just have to see. In the meantime, we could consider this a bit of a hidden track, despite its five minutes running time.

I guess the story behind "Don't Go" is simply that I wrote the song while thinking about every girl I've ever loved, and the song chronicles the attraction, the flirtatious stage as well as that lingering thought of never wanting her to leave. It's generic, it's pop, and while the demo doesn't sound great right now, at least it's something, right?

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b64a965f98523863d0d290dca69ceb5ce04e75f6e8ebb871 (Original Demo, without lyric/duration change)

Don't Go (Also known as Oh Dear, Silly Bear (Don't You Think There's Something There?))

And I will fall for you
Just one more time.
Just one more time.
Dear God, pull me through
Just one last time.
Just one last time.

And you’ve got me spinning
Round and round
And round and round again.
Yeah, you've got me spinning.

And oh, oh, oh,
What’ve you got to say to that?
Oh, oh, oh,
There’s something in the wind tonight.
And oh, oh, oh,
I can't live without you now
So please don’t go.
So please don’t go.

Sitting here bathed in starlight,
There's something special about how
I’m thinking of you tonight.
Tell the rain who cares
Because it's only more romantic:
Just the two of us,
Just the two of us.

There’s something in here
I know it’s true
So don't lie to me, oh,
Don't lie to me, oh.

And oh, oh, oh,
What’ve you got to say to that?
Oh, oh, oh,
There’s something in the wind tonight.
And oh, oh, oh,
I can't live without you now
So please don’t go.
So please don’t go.

There’s something I’ve gotta say to you
But I don’t know how.
In this mess you pull me through,
So thank you for that.

And oh, oh, oh,
What’ve you got to say to that?
Oh, oh, oh,
There’s something in the wind tonight.
And oh, oh, oh,
I can't live without you now
So please don’t go.
So please don’t go.

Acknowledgements

I always thought the whole acknowledgements thing for liner notes was a slightly trivial process, yet here I am penning a page after four months of hard work. First and foremost, this thing wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Andrew McMahon and, in turn, Jack’s Mannequin and their latest record “The Glass Passenger.” That album was the basis for the project as it stands today, and wouldn’t exist otherwise.

While we’re on the music, huge thank you’s to Ben Folds, Something Corporate, MGMT, The Killers, The Academy Is..., Hey Monday, Coldplay and The Fray among others for the huge amount of lyrical and musical inspiration I drew from them which often led to me sitting down and going “I’m gonna write like this artist today.” Music has always been a big part of my life, and it’s thanks to them I constantly strive to write music that helps get people through whatever it is they’re going through.

And so came the time to thank everyone around me: Alyssa, Amie and Anti for always reading my lyrics and giving me feedback; Saskia, Sofi and Azille for putting up with my constant whining about my music some nights and supporting me through it all; My family, of course, for providing so much material I ended up writing about and my friends Calvin, Luke, Adrian and Ryan, in particular, for giving me hope musically to get this thing done.

Last but not least to the girl I call Annie, for being my muse, best friend and everything I needed to get me through the downtime when I felt like maybe this thing wouldn’t even get finished. Without her I’m not sure I’d even be here right now, so this one’s for her.

Lastly, to everybody reading this and everybody who followed the album’s progress: Your feedback kept me going as much as everybody else I’ve thanked, so this one’s for you, too.

Changes

This song ate at me for a couple of weeks before I finally found the inspiration to finish it, and I'm still not too sure where that inspiration came from. Either way, it came to me and I finished the 20th draft and final song of All These Lost Pictures, but more on finishing the project later. This song is really just dealing about loss; that journey towards a moment of transcendence and finally being okay with everything. Big ups, personally, to one of my favourite movies of all time, Bridge to Terabithia, my old friend Megan, who I lost "just when things got interesting" back in 2006, and everybody else I've personally lost over the years. This one's for you guys.

(Otherwise known as Life Without The "F")

The night went quiet
Five seconds ago.
She was buried under this life
And six feet of snow;
She was right, and she was just;
She was young, just like us.
So why did the day come
And break her away?

There's a fire somewhere,
Burn it down, burn it down.
I can feel the light shifting in me.
What can I say?
I miss you, I miss you,
But now you can't hear me.

The flame went out,
Just so you know.
It was buried underwater
With an everlasting glow;
It felt right, and it seemed just;
But it was young, just like us.
So the Spring came
And washed it away.

There's a fire somewhere,
Burn it down, burn it down.
I can feel the light shifting in me.
What can I say?
I miss you, I miss you,
But now you can't hear me.

Your plane touched down
In the middle of the night.
You were buried under promises
And an ever-shifting light.
You were just, but you were lost
In New York's winter frost.
So the oceans called
And you flew away.

There's a fire somewhere,
Burn it down, burn it down.
I can feel the light shifting in me.
What can I say?
I miss you, I miss you,
But now you can't hear me.

And when it rains here,
Every word of every song I hear
Reminds me of you.
The night went quiet,
I can hear every drop,
But I'll pull through,
Yeah, I'll pull through.

There's a fire somewhere,
Burn it down, burn it down.
I can feel the light shifting in me.
What can I say?
I miss you, I miss you,
But now you can't hear me.

The night went quiet,
I can hear every drop,
But I'll pull through,
Yeah, I'll pull through.