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about
About the song:
I'd park my van in the shade underneath the ironwoods at Kalihiwai beach to play guitar and write with the water nearby. As always I started with the music, a groove on the guitar, a chord progression that keeps leading to the next chord , leading to somewhere. After a few weeks of messing around I felt like I had the chords and melody for the intro, verse, chorus and bridge sections, now it was time to find the words.
It's not news that the world seems on the verge of implosion at any moment from one of a plethora of reasons. Doom and gloom pervades the media and it gets hard to ignore or escape it's shrill sirens call. Still in the face of it all I am looking for a ray of hope. Regardless of anything, I need to believe there is a reason for hope, and that by some stroke of whatever you want to call it we will stay the course.
Within a week of wrapping up the writing of this song, I found myself in Wlicox hospital fighting for my very life. Indeed, the lyrics turned out having even more meaning for me after I wrote the thing.
About the recording:
Somewhere in the middle of the year and a half it took me to complete the whole record, I ran into Graham Nash. As always he asked how I was doing and what I was up to. I gave him the drift. He then said what I'd hoped he would, and asked if there was anything he could do on the new recording. Not wasting a nano-second I gave him the affirmative that yes I would be honored to have him sing on a track. Sometimes I have to kick myself for the amazing good fortune to have such great players on the record, and this was no exception.
Six or so months later I drove up to his home and played him Ray Of Hope. He listened intently but said he didn't hear a part for himself. I asked him to hit play one more time and got up the nerve to sing him some possible harmony parts over the vocal in both chorus and verse. Bobbing and weaving to the music in the usual Nash way he smiled and starting making up his own parts and agreed the song would work for him.
The next day Graham meets me at the Kilauea gas station and we begin the drive up to Ron Pendragon's studio. Every ten minutes or so Nash hits play on the pick-up's CD player and he rehearses his harmony parts with my lead vocal. Kind of mind blowing really when you hear your little creation begin to sprout wings.
Ron was totally prepared for us, having set up the tube Neumann U67, so we got right to work. Nash pretty much astonished both Ron and I with his near perfect pitch, great attitude and ease of effort. At one point I had a suggestion for a harmony part which Nash liked. He asked me to join him and sing it together, I started heading for the mic but stopped for a second and realized that as much as I wanted to sing and record with him, his groove might be in serious jeopardy if I were to slow down his workflow with flat notes or whatever, so I passed and just let him perform his magic, content to not have to sing or engineer, and just produce and enjoy the memorable session. The whole deal was over in an hour and fifteen minutes, and 'Ray Of Hope' had a new shine about it.
lyrics
RAY OF HOPE
words & music - Allan Thomas
AS LONG AS I’VE BEEN AROUND
NEVER SEEN SUCH TIMES AS THIS
EVERY OTHER MINUTE SOME KIND OF DISASTER
OR ANOTHER INSANE WAR
GOTTA MAINTAIN YOUR COOL
BE YOUR OWN ISLAND IN THE SUN
I’M DOING ALL I CAN JUST TO STAY AFLOAT
GET ACROSS THESE TURBULENT WATERS
LOOKING FOR A RAY OF HOPE
JUST A TINY RAY OF HOPE
GET UP IN THE MORNING FEELING
THANKFUL FOR THE LIGHT OF DAY
TRY TO OUTRUN WHATEVER BULLETS
OR MISFORTUNES COME MY WAY
MAINTAIN YOUR COOL
BE YOUR OWN ISLAND IN THE SUN
I’M DOING ALL I CAN JUST TO STAY AFLOAT
AND GET ACROSS THESE TURBULENT WATERS
LOOKING FOR A RAY OF HOPE
JUST A TINY RAY OF HOPE
NEED TO FIND IT IN TROUBLED TIMES LIKE THIS
NEED TO FIND IT HERE AT THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS
MAN WILL DO UNSPEAKABLE THINGS
IN THE NAME OF HIS RELIGION
IS IT A PHASE WE’RE GOING THROUGH AGAIN
OR THE WRATH OF A VENGEFUL GOD
WELL THAT’S REALLY UP TO YOU
TO MAINTAIN THE COOL
DON’T BE NOBODY’S FOOL
I’M DOING ALL IN MY POWER
TO REMAIN ON THE BOAT
GET ACROSS THESE TRECHEROUS WATERS
LOOKING FOR A RAY OF HOPE
JUST A TINY RAY OF HOPE
HELP ME MAKE IT UP THAT SLIPPERY SLOPE
SEND DOWN A LITTLE RAY OF HOPE
MIGHT BE AS SMALL AS AN ISOTOPE
SEND DOWN SEND DOWN A LITTLE RAY OF HOPE
WE NEED A RAY RAY OF HOPE
A RAY JUST A RAY OF HOPE
SOMEBODY SEND UP A PERISCOPE
SEE IF WE CAN SPOT US A LITLE RAY OF HOPE
DON’T LEAVE US IN THE DARK TO MOPE AND GROPE
SEND DOWN SEND DOWN A LITTLE RAY OF HOPE
WE NEED A RAY RAY OF HOPE
WE NEED A RAY JUST A RAY OF HOPE
from Making Up For Lost Time,
track released October 10, 2007
Allan Thomas - vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion
Graham Nash - backing vocals
Bryan Kessler - lead & ryhthm guitar
Michael Ruff - piano, accordion, wurlitzer
Jimmy Johnson - bass
Tris Imboden - drums
Aloha and welcome to my Bandcamp Music Store home page. Here you can listen to full-length samples of all seven Allan Thomas albums and three singles. Also to be found are credits, photos, stories and lyrics for all songs. Dig in...
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