rocket in waiting

Lyrics
When I see such a far away look in your eyes
I wish so much that I could take you there
And if I buy a ticket to the visions that you see
The destination should be worth the fare

When you look to the sea are you sometimes upon it?
When you look at a bus do you wish you were on it?
There’s always a driver to take you away
The taxi will go anywhere that you say
There’s a rocket in waiting a boat in the bay
So batten your hatches and fasten your bonnet
No rocket is leaving unless you are on it.

If I know that your thoughts wander far from you home
I wish so much that I could take you there
And if I spend my visions chasing yours across the sky
Will they ever be as beautiful as you?

When I see mellow oceans and islands of green
I wish I knew if these are what you see
And if I become dependent on the travels of my dreams
It wouldn’t be such a lonely place to be

Click here to hear the song:  Rocket in Waiting

Notes by the Author:

I wrote this during my senior year in high school.  That was an important year for me.  I traveled to San Francisco with my advanced English class, I took part in more drama and musical productions than I ever had before, and I was writing more poetic and musically complex songs.  This is among the best of those poetic and complex songs.

On the guitar I was trying to use more of the fretboard, playing chords in unusual positions and experimenting with different tempos.  This song is either in 3/4 or 6/8 time, I’m not sure which.  But it was enough to befuddle the drum machine, and that kept us from recording it for a long time.  I was thrilled when Jon learned how to program a waltz tempo for this song.

The electric guitar was not something I’d ever contemplated for this song.  I’m not convinced that this is the best recording possible of this song, but I like the electric guitar idea I’m reaching for here, and wouldn’t delete it.  Jon’s keyboard adds a lot to this song, a sort of carnival quality that is good for the song.

There was no particular story behind this song.  That was another feature of the songs I wrote that year—no heartbreak or romantic insult inspired them.  In that sense they’re more creative.

Notes by the Other Guy:

There is a whining electric guitar part here that I originally mixed up REALLY loudly, but which Bill made me turn down.  His instict was probably better than mine, but I really like the way it blends in with the rest of the song.  I think it really makes it work.  As an important trivia note, this is one of only 2 songs we do in three-quarter time.  The percussion seems to work brilliantly on the verses, but to this day I have no idea what is going on with the time signature in the chorus.  Bill seemed equally surprised that he was able to play along with it, and all I did in the re-recording was to follow his guitar and ignore the drums.  Now that I have a chance to listen to it, the drums, keyboard, and guitar all seem to match reasonably well in the chorus.

If the Steve Miller band re-made a Kingston Trio song, it would sound exactly like this.  Bill's early-70's influences are very apparent here, and I really like the final product.  Probably more than Bill does.  At any rate, I think the first 30 seconds of this song really pull you in to listening to the rest of it.  I notice that I'm not playing during any portion of that segment.