#mayneverbeforgotten

[whoiswillsims]

The Story Behind 'Will You Remember?'

Lyrics:

V1: My soul is aching, my spirits breaking, my head is thinking, my heart it is beating,

My soul is aching, my spirits breaking, my head is thinking, my heart it is beating,

Chorus: Will you remember the things that I said to you? Will you remember the things that I did for you? Will you remember what I said to you? Will you remember that I love you?

and I want to know, if you ever loved me too...

V2: Your eyes are shining, your soul is showing, your lips are moving, but I am not listening,

Your eyes are shining, your soul is showing, your lips are moving, but I am not listening,

Chorus 2: Will you remember the times I was there for you? Will you remember the look you gave me too? Will you remember what it's like to be wanted? Will you remember you're all I ever wanted?

and I want to know, did you ever want me too...

Outro: I want to let go, I want to let go, I want to forgive and forget, I want to let go, I want to let go, Will we ever move on I want to let go, I want to let go, It may never be forgotten I want to let go, I want to let go,

The Story

When I first started writing this song it was around 2009/2010. It was, and always has been, a very personal song to me. I wrote it about someone I had very strong feelings for. She was someone I had known a long time, we could have been good friends but for most of that time I felt the way I did and I always knew in my heart that nothing would ever become of it. I did eventually tell her, and she reacted exactly the way I thought she would. I have very rarely felt the way about another person as I've felt about her.

The song is was about how it felt when I knew we wouldn't really see each other again, we were on separate paths in life. There was a little bit of bad blood between us, mostly because of things that I did. I wondered if anything good that we experienced together really meant anything at all. It was the time I first realized how a break up must feel (even though it wasn't really a break up), knowing that everything you had experienced with each other was just going to be a memory as opposed to something you were holding on to together.

Originally, I brought the song to the band I was in at the time called 'Far From Sundown' and we worked out a version of it that included acoustic guitar and piano. I always knew the song would call for that arrangement. It was important to me that the song captured some of the feeling of loss but also hope that the experiences we share with someone aren't meaningless if you aren't together anymore.

Recording

The first and last song recorded on 'May Never Be Forgotten' went through a lot of iterations. The version from the Far From Sundown era had the basic idea of the song there, though we only played it live once in 2010. It didn't resurface again until 2013/2014 when I went to Sheffield Institute for Recording arts to do some songs for what would become my first solo album. Joe Ruggiero, Eric Robinson, Joey Underwood, and John Davis all took part in the live recording session.

Probably a year or two after that I finally took the songs to Tony Correlli at The Deep End Studio to try and make something of these recordings. It was there that he wrote what I think may be one of the best piano riffs ever over the chorus. It's what really gave it the emotional feel that I was going for. While the song in general came out sounding great, I thought maybe there was a better version of the song I could put out there for the world to hear.

We ended up re-recording it to give it more of a hopeful vibe instead of the somber feel of the original. The new version featured Jeff Gardner on Drums andf became the first song on the album and had a music video filmed for it. At the time of writing this I am also working on a stripped down acoustic version of the song, closer to the way it was originally written.

It hasn't been played much live due to the level production but hopefully it will make it's way into our regular set soon.

[whoiswillsims]

The Story Behind 'Unwind'

Lyrics

V1: Cool Room, dim dim light, Couldn't tell if I heard you right, Pretty sure, But I won't lie, I really don't care,

Another sip, slow slow down, The way I see you hanging around, You seem to know how to get down, and I think it's only fair,

Chorus: Let me tell you a story, of a girl who never tries, Girl this might sound corny, But I'd like to make you mine, So when I say I'd like to know you, it means I'm not afraid to try, but first, you gotta take a leap of faith, and I promise it'll all unwind,

V2: Tell me now, is it oh so clear, Be honest, I won't shed a tear, I can tell you I don't have a fear, I'd be classier if I could, A cool room, with dim dim light, Suddenly I don't feel so bright, But I know I just can't lie, I'd really like to blow your mind,

Chorus 2: Let me tell you a story, of a girl who never tries, and this might sound a little mean, but girl you got to be blind, so when I say I'd like to know you, It means I'm not afraid to try, But first you gotta take a leap of faith, And I promise it will all unwind,

The Story

I wrote this song in 2011. I first started performing it at Open Mic Nights around town. It always had a reggae type vibe to it. I can't remember exactly what it was that inspired me to go with that sound for this song, but I wanted to see if it was something I could pull off.

Lyrically, I was writing about how I felt being a performer at that time, being in a dark room with lights on you, trying to impress everyone with what you hoped was the best representation of yourself. It's also romanticizing the idea of being a performer, that when you are on stage you feel like someone else, in another world even. You feel like you can do or say anything and the whole world is listening.

I hope that listeners hear it as a cool party tune about cutting loose and having a good time whenever possible. As we get older we have less time for fun so you have to make your time count.

Recording

When I decided I wanted to record this song, I booked a student session at The Sheffield Institute for Recording Arts. I pulled a band together the week before we recorded. The group consisted of Jeff Gardner on Drums, Ben Kolakowski on Guitar, and Nik Kosmas on Bass. I knew most of these guys from jamming with them in one form or another and knew they were all expert musicians who could find the groove and the melodies when I had nothing for the song.

They helped shape the songs arrangement which really took it from a cool idea to a fun song. Once we had tracked everyone I really felt like it had potential. I showed the song to my friend Joe, he recommended that I change the chorus melody to flow a little better which really helped the chorus sound as big as it does.

Sometime after tracking at Sheffield, I took the song to Tony Correlli at The Deep End Studio, where he mixed the song, added the Organ playing and did some additional tracking. When all was said in done, the song came out sounding killer, and knew I wanted it to be one of my singles. When I listen to the song now, I think of how it started out as such an experiment in writing then evolved into one of my favorite songs to play live.