Tag: Songs Written by Ric Albano

Sister Josephine

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Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:32
Listen to the Song: Purchase the MP3:
[audio:SisterJosephine.mp3]
Lyrics
As I walk down the road
With my head and my soul in my arms again
I start to seriously wonder if I’ll ever be able to get back again
It perplexes my heart that I can’t remember the start or even why I began
So I circle once more, search for the parallel door and try to understand
Why my memory has holes in particular those of the pleasurable
Have I become so inept that my very next step seems so immeasurable?
Then I silently shout; “What’s this crisis about?
And why can’t I just be satisfied with the rich & wonderful life I’ve seen?”
I try to get up once more but instead fall through the floor
Through the cracks in between
Oh, noone knows the trouble that I have seen
Please help me, Sister Josephine

A change in the tempo to find where to begin
The rhythm of life is coming back again
A little more action, a little less shame
A little more passion that the song remains the same

A change in the temple that’s the place to begin
The theory of life will be coming back again
A little more passion, a little less pain
Of fortune and glory that song we’ll rearrange

And if I ever become human again and worthy of friends
Could I? Should I? Would I ever get to see you again?

Composition © 2008 Ric Albano
Publication © 2009, 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Composed on August 8, 2008
Recorded starting on August 10, 2009
at Saturation Acres (II), DuPont, PA
Produced by Ric Albano
Engineered by Bret Alexander
Mixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave Studios
Released: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano, Keyboards, Bass, Vocals
Ron Simasek
Drums
Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This would be a great song except for the weak (and weird) keyboard lead in the middle. It starts with a long rap-like funk through its first verse but soon morphs into a calmer, more reflective style for the duration.

Song Trivia
Sister Josephine was Ric Albano’s first grade teach at catholic school in the mid 1970s.

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Crimson, White, & Indigo

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Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:13
Listen to the Song: Purchase the MP3:
[audio:CrimsonWhiteIndigo.mp3]
Lyrics
Need I be a hero man to admire what true heroes have done?
With deepest valor they put it on the line in their fight for freedom

They’re bred in ordinary towns, yet take their posts along the fringes
Of the wilderness so that the city may thrive in peace

An extraordinary leap of faith that something better is yet to come
All things equal, I think that I would rather be glazed upon with colors…

Colors that encapsulate the future (Colors that captivate)
Let the person determine it himself
The colors that evoke both hope and envy (Colors initiate)
From that person left on the world’s shelf

Across the sea are sown the seeds of a brave new world
Where history turns to stroll along a blazed new path
And the window opens, lets a fresh breeze blow
That loosens up the knots, that animates the cloth
Donned crimson, white, and indigo

Need I be a righteous man to appreciate what the founders had done
Self preservation bowed to principle when it came to freedom

From palaces of enlightenment, the doctrines of self determined
Citizens, colonists no more, for sure they were never going back…

Back to the stale feudal system (Back to the feudal lord)
Overlords dictating terms of self
Nor back to colonial old world missions (Back to the whipping board)
Native peoples subjects of someone else

East of east, you’ll find the western fringe of western thought
A magic link that binds the world together as one
One of innovation, democratization, prosperous and fulfilling long lives

Crimson, white, and indigo
That’s where I’ll go, that’s what I’ll show, what my wind will blow

Composition © 2006 Ric Albano
Publication © 2006, 2009, 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Composed on February 3, 2006
Recorded starting on October 5, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PA
Produced by Ric Albano
Engineered by Bret Alexander
Mixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave Studios
Original Release: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Performers
Ric Albano
Keyboards, Bass, Lead & Backing Vocals
Janet Rains
Lead & Backing Vocals
Ron Simasek
Drums and Percussion
“The Freedom Singers”
Backing Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: The riff is simple and catchy. The verses are a bit rough vocally but give way to a much more melodic feel due to the vocals of Janet Rains. There is some awkwardness towards the ending, as well as muffed lyrics.

Song Trivia
The song is obviously written about the U.S.A. The title comes from Grateful Dead song called “Standing On the Moon” with the lyric – “old glory standing stiffly, Crimson, White, & Indigo”. THe Grateful Dead later (after the release of Imaginary Lines 33 released a live compilation with this same title.
“Crimson, White, & Indigo” was to be the first song on the now-defunct Imaginary Lines III.

Please offer your own analysis of Crimson, White, & Indigo by leaving a comment in the box below.

Believe (Live)

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Bonus Track  By  Animal Society

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 4:04
Listen to the Song:
[audio:AS/AS-Believe.mp3]		 2009
Lyrics
So what’s the point of quiet charity if it won’t get you the gig?
They don’t forgive irregularities just because your heart is big
And why leave home with an atlas stone when a flask of pebbles might do?
This quite excessive sense of diligence
Offends my reasoned confidence in you

I do my best to view the world from deep behind these eyes
I draw my energy from sources not simply surmised

But what’s the point of simple clarity in such a complex universe?
Should we not strive towards more parity,
By ripping out the contents of your purse?

I steer my ship by ancient stars and hold the wind with poise
I grasp at every passing wave in a quest to find pure joys

Believe, believe
Believe, believe

So what’s the point of quiet charity if you don’t bag some esteem?
Complied reduction of this narrowly sliced time just seems obscene
And who would roam with an atlas stone…
When there are so many sights to see?
What’s the point of true contention,
When the scientific evidence has been decreed?

I beat my path with head held high and wisdom at my heels
I don’t pretend to know that this is how we all should feel

Believe, believe
Believe, believe

In a pinch and you’re on the run, will ye come undone?
If it’s a cinch just to follow the sun,
Why then fear of this unusual one?

Composition © 2006 Ric Albano
Publication © 2012 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced by Ric Albano
Composed September 12, 2006
Recorded Live April 4, 2009
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano, Vocals
Erik Trabert
Drums

Imaginary Lines version of “Believe”

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Rubicon (Live)

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Bonus Track by 

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 2:42
Listen to the Song: Purchase the MP3:
[audio:RubiconLive.mp3] Currently Not Available for Purchase
Instrumental

Composition © 2009 Ric Albano
Publication © 2009, 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Listen to the Album Version

Song Info
Composed on March 1, 2009
Recorded on March 6, 2009
at Cygnus Wave Studios
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Previously Unreleased

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano
Erik Trabert
Guitar

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: Live rehearsal shortly after the song was composed.

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Song for Diane (Don’t Give Up)

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Bonus Track by 

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 3:28
Listen to the Song: Purchase the MP3:
[audio:SongForDiane.mp3] Currently Not Available for Purchase
Lyrics
Some tried to write your swan song, so quickly to surcease
So hastily forsaken, so suddenly released
Don’t give up, there are more songs left to sing

Some “experts” started chanting, stoic “realities”
Dug deep down for the valiance, those words they had to eat
You don’t give up, when at stake is everything

Everywhere see the future And ever-remembered pasts
And never forsake every step that you’ll take
To every lot that you shall cast
And everyday make it happen, and everyday chase the dream
And everyday shout at every neigh and every doubt
When the train appears to run out of steam

This morning you discovered a perplexing travesty
Woodpecker is in your garden and with the Snake infests the tree
But don’t give up, this movie has got some more scenes

And everyone knows the future while everyone pans the past
And everyone cries for everyone who dies
They sure thought life would last
And everything is a challenge, and everything takes so long
And everything shouts “there is no easy way out”
What won’t kill us sure makes us strong

Tomorrow is a new day, another chance to be
Another move towards freedom and opportunity
The new girl, she’s waiting in the wings
She won’t give up while there’s still more songs to sing

Composition © 2008 Ric Albano
Publication © 2008, 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

 Song Info
Composed on May 13, 2008
Recorded May 2008
at Cygnus Wave Studios
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Previously Unreleased

Performers
Ric Albano
Piano, Keyboards, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: Recorded for a special Dollars for Diane benefit show.

An updated version was recorded in 2009 by P.J. Heckman and released on the Dollars for Diane Compilation CD.

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