Release Date: August 4, 2023
Lyrics
Bound
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It's been a long time since I welcomed you in,
And buried your treasure map under my skin
And worshipped a face that was lit from within,
By loveAnd walking the streets holding on to your hand,
With the words pouring out like the hourglass sands
I'm riding a wave that I don't understand,
So fleetingSo tell me, tell me, tell me what I'm feeling
'Cause language will falter and fall from our grasp,
And the vacuum of space is a silence so vast
It's the distance that tells us that something has passed,
Between usOf all of the wonderful lessons I've learned
When a song has been sung it can not be unheard
And though I've forgotten those beautiful wordsI still remember, I still remember, I still remember,
What they meanAlan Williams © 2008 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)
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Well I set out in search of things too dumb to mention
But I lost my way, I lost my nerve
I didn't notice, wasn't paying much attention
Will my prodigal soul return?I set a match to everything that once had mattered
But some bridges can't be burned
I'll find my way back home by the wreckage I left scattered
When my prodigal soul returnsForgive me for the road I'm on
Forgive me where everything went wrong
Forgive me for being gone so longSo put an end to all the rumor and conjecture
I got what I deserved
Now after many one-too-many misadventures
Will my prodigal soul return?Yeah I, I will
ReturnAlan Williams © 2008 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)
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Tomorrow cannot come soon enough for me
Tonight I'm as sure as I will ever be
I waited for answers and the answers never came
I cast out my demons, now there's no one else to blameAnd nothing is ever good enough for me
The surface is never all there is to see
I reached out for something and I held it in my hand
But when I looked closer, I began to understandThat when I thought I'd found it
When I thought I'd found it
It was just wishful thinking
Wishful thinking
Wishful thinking of youThe night has opened its secrets up to me
In darkness, the stark relief of clarity
We slip into focus then we slowly drift apart
Lost in the depths of our unfathomable heartsAnd when I thought I knew her
When I thought I knew her
It was just wishful thinking
Wishful thinking
Wishful thinking of youDo all of us wonder just how long we can endure
While falling apart together, shaken and unsureThat when we say I love you
When we say I love you
Is it just wishful thinking
Wishful thinking
Am I in wishful thinking with you?Alan Williams © 2008 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)
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Lying with my eyes to the sky
Watching stars and satellites go by
Lonesome as a song, lonesome as a song
On the radioLying with my ear to the ground
Waiting that engine to come round
Making make-believe, making make-believe
I don't have to goBut oh, flowers in my head
Roses for my bed
In summer
Hanging by a thread
Something good she said
Is coming, coming soonI'll make believe I'll leave it all behind
An emptiness, never hard to find
Promises and lies, promises and lies
And the drifting snow
Staring at the shadows on the wall
Waiting for the icicles to fall
Only killing time, only killing time
Til it's time to goBut oh, flowers in my head
Roses for my bed
In summerHanging by a thread
Something good she said
Is coming, coming trueAlan Williams © 2008 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)
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Taken in by her unspoken words
Singing as she tries not to be heard
Conjuring a world out of thin air
A terrifying burden she must bearBroken silences will echo in the deepest dark
Broken silences will guide me to her heartHow can so much sadness be so sweet
And all of the joy so incomplete
Searching for a reason not to cry
The beauty of the moments passing byReaching for a dream she can embrace
That love is enough to fill the spaceReaching for a dream she can embrace
That love is enough
Could be enough
Might be enough to say
That love is enough todayAlan Williams © 2008 Under a Metal Sky Music (BMI)
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Sorry, these lyrics are not ours to share.
Deborah Harry and Chris Stein © 1979
Credits
Alan Williams: lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonium, percussion, string arrangements
Darleen Wilson: acoustic and electric guitar, harmony vocals
Greg Porter: bass, harmony vocals
Ben Wittman: drums, percussion
Marissa Licata: first violin
Maximillian Haft: second violin
Rose Wollman: viola
Catherine Bent: cello
Produced by Alan Williams
Photography by Julia Margaret Cameron
About The Music
Bound | Birdsong At Morning
Bound
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Ah, beginnings. This song is based on a recollection of my first "date" with Darleen, the exhilarating rush of discovering someone as we walked through the streets of Boston, talking non-stop. More than three decades later, the feeling remains.
This song is also important for Birdsong as it was one of the first that we recorded, and one that defined the template for our sound when the sound of strings would not leave my brain, demanding that we try to record a string arrangement. It could have gone so many ways wrong, but as soon as the players began to read through the chart, we caught a glimpse of the future.
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About a character who has followed a path into the deep dark woods, and now desperately wants to make his way back home, though much of this journey might have only occurred "in his heart" (to paraphrase Jimmy Carter).
Not exactly biographical, but who hasn't ever exclaimed, "What was I thinking?" At least internally.
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An uncomfortable acknowledgement of the doubt that creeps into many relationships. But to raise the question doesn't render a foregone conclusion. This recorded performance has been modified slightly from its initial release.
One line of the lyric was changed, corrected really, as I mis-sang it on the first version. We also employed technology to give a little more rhythmic push to the arrangement. Hey, it was our first time out.
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This is the song that led to forming the band. After a long, long dry spell, Roses emerged from experiments with altered guitar tunings, in this case a standard Hawaiian slack key system. Conceived (appropriately enough) while in Hawaii, the second verse came to me upon our return to a sub-zero New England winter, as I was literally staring out the window at the massive icicles, longing for the lush tropical breezes.
During one of the 'living room' sessions that we periodically organized with a loose affiliation of musician friends, only Darleen, Greg, and myself showed up. I hesitantly played them my new song, and they spontaneously created the harmonies on the chorus. That sound told us we might be on to something, and it's a joy for me to hear their voices whenever we perform this song.
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About the unbearable tension between having something to say, and being terrified that someone might hear. Anyone who has ever embarked on a creative endeavor will know the feeling of anxiety associated with a first hearing/viewing/reading of a new work. And yet, so many of us are compelled against our natures to share.
This song is meant as a little nudge of encouragement. I was proud of the guitar part as it required that I move my left-hand fingers up and down the neck while maintaining a very specific finger pattern in the right hand. A considerable challenge for a guitar-playing pianist. Never too late to try something new.
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Several years ago, a group of my students at UMass Lowell initiated a concert to celebrate women in popular music. After being stunned by the quality of the performances at the first show, I wheedled my way onto the bill the following year, selecting this Blondie song as my contribution. This event was significant for me as it was my first public performance in many years, and solo at that.
The positive response from the audience was an enormous boost to my confidence, and gave further fire to the notion of forming a band. Cover songs have always loomed large in my musical world. My senior recital at New England Conservatory was composed completely of radically altered arrangements of pop songs. When I played this song to Greg, he immediately pushed for its inclusion in our repertoire. Good call Greg.