Carry On
.
This was not a Shatter’d song. This was an acoustic piece, written by one of our good friends Paul Burke. Paul would roadie for our guitarist Rick on occasion. We never really had roadies though. We had friends that came, and hung with us when we played.
Paul is an extremely talented guitarist in his own right. He came by the house one day and laid this down on an old 4-Track recorder. Did it in one take for reference for me. He’d asked if I could write lyrics for him. I was honored, and told him absolutely. I asked what the song was about.
Paul told me he’d written it just after a breakup. He & the girl had parted amicably, and he wanted the song to be about friends…Reflecting on their time together, and wishing each other well. He had said there was no hurry, and laid it down once…glitches and all. It’s as raw as it gets.
I listened a few times but the words didn’t come to me immediately…until I awoke one night during a huge thunderstorm, and packed the 4-track into a paper bag and walked it to our rehearsal studio. I had the song in my head. I knew what I wanted it to be, and plugged in to the PA, and dropped down two takes of vocals. The only vocal effects are a bit of reverb, and some EQ.
I only did the vocals as a reference, and would love to someday hook up with Paul, and do a proper version of this track. There are obvious vocal flaws here. But, I think the spirit of the song was captured on the tape, and didn’t want to overdo it, and lose what we had.
A lot of people liked it when they listened. I think at one time, we planned to do the song formally. But…it never came to be. If anyone knows Paul Burke, tell him to get in touch, and let’s do this thing right. WE… could be the NEXT American…oh shut up!
