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Long Dark Night

from Piece Of Your Ghost 2021 by Robert James

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about

Long Dark Night. “Here is a key that won’t unlock the door.” The spark that set off the war. My Franz Ferdinand. There really is a key. A big brass one. I’ve had it for years. We used to laugh around the television envisioning a gangsta rapper wearing it around his neck. It sits on a shelf in the GuitarsWerk workshop. I picked up the ’63 Fender Jaguar and started absently playing a chord progression I had been working on. Nothing too serious. The first line in the new song ended being about the key. I’m funny that way. I can look at something and take it somewhere else. Maybe strange ideas make the best bed fellows. Bed fellows. I’ve always had trouble sleeping. I find it hard to shut down. Song ideas. Sound ideas. Novels. Stories. But I’m thankful. I can only draw stick men. A blessing in disguise. CandyLand doesn’t need to be dolled up like the Sistine Chapel and I’m grateful for the few extra hours rest. It’s only fitting then, that a radio should be interrupting my much sought after rest. Slumber. Not to be. By the end of the song we find that we’re in a time loop. There’s that radio again. The original demo featured the intro minus the effects. There was talk amongst the group of ditching the intro. So I decided to mess about with it on my own. Very happy with the end result. Took a few long dark nights. Long Dark Night. If you can relate in terms of a tarot reading, it’s a dark night of the soul. Look at me. Getting all Capricornia and Saturnian at the same time. This was one of the first songs we recorded for this album. Probably the third one in. So I’ve had plenty of time to live with this song. And funny. I thought this song was so ready but something kept nagging at me. I was aware of what was on my shopping list. List completed. But still. And then it hit me. Astrid. She had done a fab job on RADIO CITY. And that, my friends, was that little bit of icing the song needed. Of course there was mucho clean-up aisle three needed. That bed of nails is gone. Along with that toaster. Hail hail rockroll … xoRJ

lyrics

Radio plays: Sleep tight
Don’t let the bedbugs bite

(Long dark night)

This bed of nails
Keeps me up all night
I toss and turn all the time
Is this the end
Catch and release
Weight of my world crushing me

What I wanted never heard me calling
So down the road I go
To a long dark night for my soul

A long dark night
(don’t let the bedbugs bite)

Here is a key
That won’t unlock the door
Caught in the middle of a war
More than a trace
Of something in my glass
Warring factions start to clash

Nobody’s gonna see my white flag
Lamp burns too low
It’ll be a long dark night for my soul

A long dark night … yeah yeah
A long dark night -

What I wanted never heard me calling
So down the road I go
To a long dark night -

Nobody ever saw my white flag
So nobody needs to know
Just a long dark night for my soul

A long dark night - long dark night
Long dark night - long dark night

Radio plays: Sleep tight
Don’t let the bedbugs bite

Lyrics & Music(c)2020 Robert James
Angry Lion Publishing SOCAN/ASCAP
A division of Horace Media 2021

credits

from Piece Of Your Ghost 2021, released June 18, 2021
RJ: Lead Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Astrid Ash: Bass Guitar
Rhett Black: Drums & Percussion
Beaverdell Humes: Keyboards & Tambourine
Backing Vocals courtesy of CandyLand Glee:
(RJ, Astrid, Beaverdell & Rhett) Handclaps were
optional ... all attended ...

Cakes, cookies, sweets & treats: SugarMountain Confectionary
Coffees and Teas: Tiff’s Teaze & Coffee
Rhett Black & Beaverdell Humes appear courtesy of
Meet The Blacks and HOH Records.
A division of Horace Media 2021
Special Thanks to Hollis Kinglan and HOH Records
Art Direction and Cover Design: Hirografix
Special Thanks to Mark, Don & Mel @Hirografix

Recorded & Mixed @CandyLand Recorders. Wetaskiwin, Canada
Produced by Robert James for HOH Records
A division of Horace Media 2021
Lyrics reprinted by permission. Angry Lion Publishing.

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Robert James Wetaskiwin, Alberta

As 2024 rolls along we hope to leave you a few more single releases xoRJ

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