Category: Wahray and Soul Album Tracks

Don’t Look Back

  By

Track 34  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 5:55
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/61-Don’tLookBack.mp3]		 1993
Lyrics
Danger lurks in every corner, everyone is warned to beware
Something sparks inside her eyes as though she doesn’t really care
Fearless, she walks through the room

Songs echo the endless night, songs of bitter hard despair
She fights off the evil plight, strong revenge upon the dare
All alone, she conquers the gloom
Now it’s gone, yes it’s gone

A definite beginning, an uncertain end
The song of life goes on and on
A runaway train going around the bend
A purple-ish tomato and a shield of Tron
Sadly, they all exit the room

The obstacles of freedom no longer exist
Constructed by myself, with her help torn down
Shining days of glory, like sand in a the fist
The tighter that we squeeze, the faster it falls down
Madly, love has formed is cocoon
It goes on, on and on

Finally, no longer a memory
We two know, it is here for all plain to see
We’ve escaped the rude, the old, and the cold
Now we know the warm, the young, and the bold

Shacked up in a cottage way up in the hills
We exist, no longer slaves to commonplace
No longer do we worry about what we may have missed
Tearless, we live for today
Don’t look back, don’t look back

Don’t ya, don’t ya, don’t ever look back
Resist temptation, give history a smack
Make it a point to don’t ever look back
Don’t endear that sensation, it wasn’t that great in the past

Composition © 1993 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on February 22, 1993
Recorded February/March/November 1993
on location & at Rathole Studios, Hazleton
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano, Keyboards, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This song is a rarity of several fronts. It was my first and only attempt to make a recording outside the confines of “Rathole” studios, as I brought my equipment to an apartment where I lived to record much of this (it was later finished at Rathole). Also, it is the only record made during a 20 month stretch from March 1992 until November 1993. Musically, it breaks through with all electronic instruments for the first, something that will be more widely adopted towards the end of Wahray and Soul.

Please offer your own analysis of Don’t Look Back by leaving a comment in the box below.

Run

  By

Track 33  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 3:31
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/57-Run.mp3]		 1992
Lyrics
I came across you just the other day and said “hi”
But you just acted like you’re deaf in the ears and passed by
It’s me. not you, who should be the one who is made
Won’t take the blame for what you’ve done
It’s too bad, I don’t care anymore

Everytime you have a problem you run
You finally found out that life is not always fun
It’s hard, sometimes happiness ain’t the only thing in the cards
But when things just aren’t going your way
You can’t pick up and run away
You’ve got to step up to the challenge of everyday

I came across you on a fair, warm night in the street
You looked much better, alright and back on your feet
But then the rain started pouring down and you ran
You probably ran to a warm and dry desert land
I don’t care anymore

Everytime you have a problem you run
You finally found out that life is not always fun
It’s hard, sometimes happiness ain’t the only thing in the cards
But when things just aren’t going your way
You can’t pick up and run away
you’ve got to step up to the challenge of everyday

Everytime you have a problem you run
I don’t care anymore

Composition © 1992, 1993, 2003 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on January 6, 1992
Recorded January 1992 / November 1993
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A cool pop/rock song with a nice guitar riff, this song harkens back to a forgotten past of Wahray and Soul, as sort of a guitar-driven island in a sea of piano and synths. There’s even a brief “middle section” where just about everything was improvised before returning to the well structured main theme. A new synth backing track was added in 1993 as well as new lyrics written but never used.

Please offer your own analysis of Run by leaving a comment in the box below.

Everything I Forgot

  By

Track 32  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:19
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/56-EverythingIForgot.mp3]		 1991
Lyrics
I used to believe in sentiment but that just hurt my mind
So now the things I think of are of futuristic kind
I used to believe magic places where no true time exists
But all those childhood fantasies are things I’ll truly miss

Can you imagine a simple place where noone knows your name?
Your face, your color, your size, your age,
Play no importance in gain
And do you believe in the magic thing that makes the world go ’round?
If it’s not of the materialistic state, I hope someday it’s found

Someone should’ve listened long ago to that crackpot fool on the hill
He told us this would happen if we didn’t practice goodwill faster
Now it is not that I have a grudge with time
But time is a lethal thing
It crawls up from behind and it consumes peasants and kings

Can you remember a special time when men were really men?
And noone worried about how they looked or when they’d eat again
My motto now is “live while you can, make the best of what you’ve got”
In order to move on, I must stop and remember everything I forgot

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, na, na, na, na, nah
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, na, na, na, na, nah
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, na, na, na, na, nah
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, na, na, na, na, nah

Composition © 1991, 1993 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on December 26, 1991
Recorded December 1991 / November 1993
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Harpsichord, Keyboards, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This was at the time, and remains to this day, one of the finest Wahray and Soul songs ever recorded. It strikes a perfect balance between the past and future of the project with the dusting off of the old harpsichord for the main riff and the new synth for the overtones. The title also plays into this “retro” feel, while the drum sound is probably the best I ever captured on tape.

Please offer your own analysis of Everything I Forgot by leaving a comment in the box below.

A Shock To the System

  By

Track 31  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 2:57
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/53-AShockToTheSystem.mp3]		 1991
Lyrics
I’m please to see you’re back in town
And I’m pleased to see you’re looking good again
It has been five years since I’ve seen your face
And you’re such a sweet surprise
I’ve haven’t felt this good since I can’t remember when

Time is our only enemy
Let’s fight it until at last our souls are free, you and me

A shock to the system which bound and gagged
The life we’d believed in our hearts that we’d obtain
All the system could provide was a lonely world, we fought it and won
And now we never have to face that challenge in this world again

Now life has such the magical touch
The gloom has been set free, yes indeed

I’m please to see you’re back around
In the kind of shape I’ve always hoped you would be in
The shock to the system hasn’t aged you much
You’re still beautiful as can be
It is time for forever to begin

Composition © 1991 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on October 9, 1991
Recorded October 1991
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Keyboards, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A very mood-centric song, based strongly on the repeating, diminshed piano chords which give it that weird vibe. The song may have come up a little short from its potential, due to the basic arrangement with no bass and the less-than-dynamic vocals.

Please offer your own analysis of A Shock To the System by leaving a comment in the box below.

Wild Child

  By

Track 30  On  The Evolution of Noise  By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 5:11
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/52-WildChild.mp3]		 1991
Lyrics
I want to tell you a little story about a Hampshire man
His name was Johnny Joe
He lived in a run-down White Mountain shack
And he kept a pet black crow
He used to hunt bear in the cool Maine woods
With his friend ole’ Bob McGee
But Johnny was wildest of all the Hampshire men
When it came to shootin’ bear he was cool, yes indeed

Wild, wild child

Now, Johnny had a girl named a-Nanci Lynn
She was cute in her own way
But she was about as faithful as an ole’ rattlesnake
When she didn’t get her own way
Johnny came home from work early one day
And found sweet Nanci and ole’ Bob rolling in bed
The sight of his girl and his best friend there
Made Johnny Joe lose his head

Wild child, wild child

Johnny pulled his gun down off the rack
And he gave ole’ Bob three seconds to run
Bob stood there and tried to reason with his friend
But Johnny didn’t want to hear it and he shot the gun
Bob fell to the floor like an ole’ Grizzly Bear
Nanci went to the phone and she called Sheriff Sam
And Johnny ran, he ran

Sheriff Sam charged Johnny with “murder one”
And immediately out out an A.P.B.

Johnny took off to the woods of Maine
Where he used to hunt the bear, so he knew the terrain
Sheriff Sam took with him fifty men
To capture Johnny Joe and be elected again
Now the hunter was the hunted in the cold Maine woods
He wished he’d made amends with those bears he used to shoot
If Johnny could, he would

Sheriff Sam found Johnny dead in the woods on a cold December day
It seemed a grizzly bear was trying to hibernate
And Johnny invaded his terrain
So, as it turns out, Sheriff Sam has got his re-election
And the bears have their revenge
And everybody’s happy but an-ole’ Johnny Joe
Because he’ll never go a-huntin’ again

Wild child, wild child

Composition © 1991 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on October 5, 1991
Recorded October 1991
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic Guitars, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This was originally intended to be a mocking song about a man named “Johhny Rowe” who was trying to pick up my one day girl by bragging how he hunted bear up in Maine. However, it turned into a bit of a memorial song after my cousin, Johnny Joe, died of a heart attack on October 3rd, 1991. The music is simple and the lyrics are story-telling with some effects added to the vocals during the 2003 mixdown.

Please offer your own analysis of Wild Child by leaving a comment in the box below.