Tag: Songs Written by Ric Albano

MCMXC

  By

Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 1:45
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/38-MCMXC.mp3]		 1990
Lyrics
Never before has a year brought me so much joy and pain
And laughter and shame
Never before has a year been so cruel yet so kind
So enlightened, so blind

But I’m not complaining
No, I’m just refraining on what has come to be
It’s just a shame that I have to depart
With such a bittersweet taste in me

Never before has the time swept by so quickly
Yet drug on so slowly
I’ll try to explain it next

Composition © 1990 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on December 12, 1990
Recorded December 1990
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
12-string Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A short, intro song written about the year 1990, which contains some backwards-masked 12-string chrords, strummed in reverse to match the finger-picked melody line.

Please offer your own analysis of MCMXC (1990) by leaving a comment in the box below.

And So It Goes

  By

Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 2:16
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/36-AndSoItGoes.mp3]		 1990
Lyrics
And so it goes, good and bad
Sometimes happy, sometimes sad
Making love and making war, always looking for something more
Some are born to rule the world and some won’t get half that far
But so it goes

Do you believe in love the way I do?
Do you believe that there’s a place for you in Heaven?

And so it goes, wrong and right
Some are peaceful and some must fight
Some are lost and some are saved
Some take vendettas right to the grave
Few too many people stop and take a look at where they are
But so it goes

Do you believe in love the way I do?
Do you believe that there’s a place for you in Heaven?

Composition © 1990 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on November 27, 1990
Recorded November-December 1990
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

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

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A fun, upbeat country song with a rapid drum beat and good-time melody, all beneathe some depply philosophical lyrics.

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When It All Falls Down

  By

Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 3:19
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/34-WhenItAllFallsDown.mp3]		 1990
Lyrics
When it all falls down will you still be mine?
Will you stay be my side when all is not fine?
Would you take a chance on me one time,
If it all fell down?

If the sky gets stained with a touch of gray
And if lady luck won’t smile my way
Will you still be mine on those darkest days,
When it all falls down?

Now the king of kings has his wrath on me
For some long lost fueds that were never meant to be
Things have not gone my way lately but there’ll be better days
And now you must prove your worth to me
Believe in me and stay, when it all falls down

If the sky gets stained with a touch of gray
And if lady luck won’t smile my way
Will you take my hand on those darkest days,
When it all falls down?
Would you take a chance on me one time,
If it all fell down?

Now the king of kings has his wrath on me
For some long lost fueds that were never meant to be
Things have not gone my way lately but there’ll be better days
And now you must prove your worth to me
Believe in me and stay, when it all falls down

Composition © 1990 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on September 3, 1990
Recorded September 1990
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic Guitars, All Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: A pure and excellent folk song with a simple message atop a simple acoustic riff. The recording suffers slightly from some high-end dithering, but the song itself is a gem begging to be re-done.

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Mrs. McCleary’s Farm

  By

Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 3:42
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/32-MrsMcCleary’sFarm.mp3]		 1990
Lyrics
There’s a place in the meadow, just around the bend
A place all the locals know well
Where, on Saturday night the men all come around
Their pockets are full of dollar bills
You see, it’s Judy McCleary that they’ve come to see
To forget all their problems for a while
She makes them remember what good lovin’ can be
With a jump and a hump and a smile

It’s been three long years since ole’ Bill McCleary
Married young, sweet Judy Brown
And one would be amazed that he doesn’t know
She does the most business in town
Even Deputy Parker is a customer now
He pays her a visit every week
They all live in fright, afraid to their wives
That someday their secrets may leak

But who’s to say what she does is wrong?
It helps to pay the bills
She knows she must write her life’s long song
A little heaven on the edge of hell

But Judy doesn’t mind bearing all her parts untanned
It is more like a daily routine
It’s kind of amazing, when you think of it
How many she has actually seen
As for her husband Bill, she just figures, well
What he doesn’t know can’t do him harm
While the rest of the men talk of gathering again on Mrs. McCleary’s farm

But who’s to say what she does is wrong?
It helps to pay the bills
She knows she must write her life’s long song
A little heaven on the edge of hell

Composition © 1990 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on August 3, 1990
Recorded August 1990
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

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

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: Lyrically, this is a follow-up to an earlier song called “Sweet Judy Brown”, with the same central character. Musically, the song borrows heavily from early era Rush, especially when it comes to the guitar tone and chord arrangements.

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Olive Hill

  By

Bonus Track By  Wahray and Soul

Written by Ric Albano Song Length: 2:04
Listen to the Song:
[audio:WAS/29-OliveHill.mp3]		 1990
Lyrics
Six long months and six long days
Since I lost seen my baby go away
It started out as a cool yet sunny day
It was November 3rd, it was her birthday
It seems so long, yes it seems so long

Although I know I’ve changed so much since then
Yet I know that I will see her again
But I don’t when, no I don’t know when

Though we were so very far apart
There is a part of her that I held in heart
Which I took and buried in this place far away
I’ll go back down and reclaim it someday

There’s a place with mountains and trees
And narrow, winding roads in north Kentucky
It’s heaven by day and hell by night
A perfect reflection of me and Jane’s short life
Called Olive Hill

Although it seems so long since I sang this song
For the first time, for the last time on Olive Hill
Bluegrass shacks and wells

There’s a place with mountains and trees
And narrow, winding roads in north Kentucky
It’s heaven by day and hell by night
A perfect reflection of me and Jane’s short life
Called Olive Hill

Composition © 1990 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Song Info
Produced & Engineered by Ric Albano
Composed on May 9, 1990
Recorded May 1990
at Rathole Studios, Hazleton, PA
Mixed in 2003 & Mastered in 2011
at Cygnus Wave Studios

Performers
Ric Albano
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: After an extended hiatus to attend school and re-record some older songs, I got back into writing and recording in late spring 1990. Armed with new knowledge and a different approach, the songs of the 90s varied much from the songs of the 80s, especially in this earliest period of the decade when I concentrated much on simpler, acoustic folk songs, such as this.

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