Amystery
Place
Amystery is an album I recorded roughly between 1992 and 1994 although it drew on material I had written as far back as 1989. I’ve always thought of it as an analog project but I actually used a hybrid recording rig. I had an analog 8 track reel to reel tape recorder time code synched to a Mac SE running midi sequencing software. This gave me seven analog tracks(track 8 was striped with SEMPTE) for vocals and guitars plus 16+ tracks for synths and sampled drums. The album has a rough narrative structure that tells the story of a love affair from it’s beginning stages on to it’s ultimate dissolution. In 1994 I had finished the tracking stage on the album and was beginning rough mixes when the tape machine suffered a breakdown and the project was shelved. In 2000 I acquired another tape machine and transferred the whole project, including the digital tracks, to 24 tracks of digital ADAT tape and then I shelved it again. In 2014 I transferred the project once again into a computer DAW and worked on restoration and mixing in between other projects. In 2019, after 25 years, I released Amystery. Technically speaking the audio quality isn’t the best due to it’s primitive beginnings but I felt I wouldn’t be able to duplicate the emotional quality of the performances I gave when I was younger. In my mind a recording doesn’t simply capture sound. It captures a particular moment in time and space and renders it into a more permanent form. I felt that the moments in time from my life contained in those tapes was worth preserving and ultimately sharing.
1. Loves Shine
Dream away the fear. That you've had for these years.
Then you will be - A part of it
chorus
And every heart
Has a way to start
On the way to..
Loves Shine
Loves Shine
Try to see a way. To make the future here today.
Then you will be - A part of it
chorus(repeat)
Dream away the fear. That you've had for these years.
Then you will be - A part of me
chorus
When I see your love shine
When I see your love shine (repeat)
-
2.Antiphany
When I shine the light in the door. Look for reasons, hope that there’s more.
I can see such a long way.
There is time and time well spent. You never know when they’ll come for the rent.
Eternity contained moment. Away, Away
Go and lie down in the hall. Find the love in the cracks in the wall.
The world is more than what you can see.
It’s a dream you had as a child. When your thoughts were free and wild.
Everything was so beautiful. Away, Away
chorus
How many times have I been here?
Trying on the guilt and the fear.
One more thought, I let it slip
Away, Away
When I shine the light in the door. Look for reasons, hope that there’s more.
I can see such a long way.
Away, Away
chorus, repeat
3. Amystery
It seems like ordinary face. But the smiles a little bit restrained.
And her eyes are darker than the deepest pool.
She lives in her own world. And no one can really say what's inside
chorus
Dreams of lightning, face of stone
Eyes that could see through all
Dreams of love when she's all alone
And cries without tears
Amystery
Amystery
Only two years out of the nest. And she's still not in the real world.
There's so many things that I could tell her
But she will never hear me. Only the music in her head
chorus(repeat)
Amystery, Amystery....Amy
4. Give Me A Sign
Amy love give me time, today yeah
Amy gives me numbers. She never tells me what they're for
Try to talk for hours. Waiting outside the golden door
chorus
Amy give me a sign, don't tear me up
I've got too much to learn
Amy give me a sign, don't tear me up
I've got time to burn today yeah
Amy wears her flowers. Just to tease me, not that way.
Give up to the moment. Sunny smile, body sway.
chorus(repeat)
Amy love give me time
Amy love give me time....today
5. Souls Intertwine
Look into the sunny smile of a rainbow
While I run my hands down through your hair
Let me feel the love in your eyes of azure
chorus
We could be there
Where dreams are real
And souls Intertwine
Fall into the gentle arms of your soul mate
Listen to the songs I weave in the air
Earth and Moon won't count the time of my love girl
chorus
bridge
Graceful dreams of you and I
With flowers, tea, and our love....ah
We could be there
Where dreams are real
And souls Intertwine
We could be there
Where dreams are real...
6. Evermore
Sleep you easy love and I'll sing my song
The words need not an understanding
Your heart will hear a truth in metaphor
That there is a magic in your hands
Chorus
And like the winds that blow from Evermore
Like my dreams on a farther shore
Like your eyes asking me for more
The time is coming for you(us) to know(go)
Close your ocean eyes, I'll stroke your hair
And dream to the tides of my breathe
A crystal vision I will make for you
And salt your joy with my tears
Chorus
Give in to darkness and you find the light
Then learn to see it all with your mind
Truth lies in corners where we never go
And only your heart can be your guide
Chorus repeat
7. She Never Says a Word
Looking for the sunshine to open a window into your heart now
Waiting for the Karmic wheel to turn your head around
Living on false hope, dreams of you I never expected
I was alone and so were you
I'm a bit crazy but you are too
I have a friend she calls me
Sometimes on the phone
And she never says a word
No she never says a word
Look up the wall there. The words are large buy you can't read them
Shut your ears tight now. Still gonna sing your songs
Take me from the nightmare. Your heart is where I really belong to
I gave the truth and you told me lies
I played the fool and you just cried
I have a friend she calls me
Sometimes on the phone
And she never says a word
No she never says a word
( interlude)
It comes from the heart
Of another time and place
It comes from the mind
In an unreal space (repeat)
Looking for the sunshine to open a window into your heart now
Waiting for the Karmic wheel to turn your head around
Living on false hope, dreams of you I never expected
I'm still here and you won't care
You think I'm lost but your really nowhere
I have a friend she calls me
Sometimes on the phone
And she never says a word....
-
8.Try Every Heart
Try every heart but never try mine
Know from the start we’re two of a kind
Accusations, revelations, still on the way
True confession, two obsessions, loves just that way
Hidden glances, side ways dances, to other arms
Building fences, missing chances, resist every charm
chorus
Try to run from a following cloud (Tried to say)
Every time they’ll laugh out loud (Love to play)
Fate keeps trying to throw me your way (try to say)
Let me stay (Let me stay)
Silly reasons, changing seasons, still we’re apart
Conversations, with relations, of two broken hearts
Over shyness, mouthing dryness, when love tries to start
Say I’m dangerous, maybe contagious, and run from your heart
Chorus
Try every heart but never try mine
Know from the start we’re two of a kind
Voiceless calling, angel singing, which is your face
Fear of falling, age gap stalling, lose every race
Father figure, youthful vigor, why have to choose
Drink loves liquor, pull that trigger, there’s nothing left to lose
Chorus repeat
Try every heart but never try mine
Know from the start we’re two of a kind
9. The Time It Takes You
Listen to a story and hear the words well
The tale of an honest man with nothing to sell
But the truth
The shape of her heart that was broken in twain
No longer mine but I remember the pain
That she still feels...
(chorus)
The time that it takes you to heal the wound
Some of us take longer some let it go soon
The fear that you felt is merely transferred
It was never me, you fear love.....
The men in your life never seem to stay long
You drive them away then say you where wronged
It's safer
I know it's so hard to risk and let go
All you remember is the way he said no
And hurt you, inside...
(chorus)
(interlude)
All of these thoughts and these feelings
Cascading through your mind
Confusion, obsession, delusion
Where to draw the line
Listen to a story and hear the words well
The tale of an honest man with nothing to sell
But the truth
The shape of her heart that was broken in twain
No longer mine but I remember the pain
That she still feels...
(chorus)
Run from the love of a friend
Run from the love of a friend
10. Don't Walk Away
Don't Walk Away ah
Don't Walk Away ah
(why should I love you?)
Girl it's easy when you love the same things yeah
(why should I believe you?)
Oh I know it's hard but you gotta take a chance
Cause now your deep inside me
Inside my very soul so don't be afraid
Cause I'm waiting here
For you my dear
(chorus)
(Don't walk away)
And break my heart
Can't you see I need you now more than anyone
(Don't walk away)
From something special
Can't you see this thing it might not ever come again
(it's to soon to know)
Girl all we need is just a little time yeah
(I've been hurt before now)
Oh I know that pain, I couldn't ever do it to you
Now your deep inside me
Inside my very soul so don't be afraid
Cause I'm waiting here
For you my dear
(chorus) repeat
11. What She Let Pass
“It seems so far now. So much time has passed. I don’t know what to feel anymore.”
Amy you always seem so alone
With twenty friends there in the room
I only wish I could hold your hand
And always be true
(chorus)
She has the answers, she holds the cards
She’s blind to my love from looking too hard
Only a dream now, fading so fast
Will she remember what she let pass?
Look at the painting I made of your soul
Every brushstroke full of love
Nothing dark or ugly anywhere
Only light from above
(chorus)
“It’s still just too hard to take man. What on earth is she thinking?
Man, the girls crazy, just plain crazy.”
(chorus) repeat
12. Tumbled Down
Tumbled down and nose held high
Sometimes I almost thought that she could fly
In her eyes I saw a plea
Born of fear, divorce and sanctity
Hide within your eyes
Look for faith in kind
At the turning of an age
You will be there turning every page
Both the alpha and the O
Where I've gone you still have to go
Hide within your eyes
Look for faith in kind (repeat)
And after all is gone and done
You and I will always add to one (repeat)