 Friends Long Absent...(2005)
1. Five Years Have Come and Gone This one's done. Of course, as usual, the quality is nothing special and you'll be able to hear my parakeets in the background on most of them. These songs were invented between October and December 2004, with the exception of "Five Years...", invented in April of 2004.
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Thoughts behind Friends Long Absent... all notes by tonyLkollman This album sprung up quite quickly. In 1999, not long after Liza left town and my heart was deflated, I got a fortune in a cookie which read, "Friends long absent are coming back to you." I stuck it next the power switch on my computer monitor where it remains today. Of course I took it to mean that Liza would come back someday and be my friend. I couldn't have imagined what would happen when she finally did return. For a period of five years I lived my life, moved on, found new loves and lost them... In the spring of 2004, Liza knocked on my door. We spoke and became friends again and opened a much-needed dialogue. Over the course of the summer, she tried and tried to make US happen. But I didn't give in. I couldn't. Finally, in late October of 2004, I saw her face again and any bit of resolve I still had crumbled. We had both changed favorably - we had both grown up. We were together again, after five years. A friend long absent came back to me. And the ideas for songs began flowing. Liza is single biggest inspiration for my music, and she keeps doing it. At the time of this writing, I've got roughly 20 songs inspired by her (some to appear on the next album) and a number of little references here and there in other songs as well. No other single subject has pulled so much out of me. So this album happened quickly, once she became part of my life again. Please excuse the poor quality. As you likely know, I am a poor person recording in my apartment with cheap equipment. Also, you'll often hear my parakeets in the background. I tend to forget to move them when I record. They get excited when they hear music. Five Years Have Come and Gone Written in April 2004 after my first visit with Liza in a long time. I had written a couple songs in the past about waiting for her. Before she left the first time, I wrote "I'll Wait"... then there was "Still Waiting"... and after that visit it seemed that we were in completely different places and that we had changed too much. On that visit, she wasn't trying to get me. I wasn't infatuated with her. But this song was a sort of realization at the time - that maybe there was no sense in waiting. Perhaps I spoke too soon. This song contains elements of the previous songs about waiting.
Resurrected This song was written in October 2004 when I broke free of my hermitage and began having a life again. I was trying desperately to break free of bad habits and from things keeping me from achieving my potential. Certain things were bringing out the worst in me and it was time to revive myself. So I began seeing my friends and drinking a beer if I wanted one. I started realizing that I am an adult capable of making my own decisions and recognizing the benefits and consequences of those decisions. It really was a life-changing time.
Futile Written in early October 2004. At that point when I was realizing I was a free adult. I had a silly little novel schoolboy crush on a girl that I knew would never pan out. It was something I never persued, because I knew it was childish. But it was new and different and exciting, and it made a good subject for a song. And when I look closely at it, most of the lyrics hint that I was subconsciously writing about Liza. Strange how those things happen, eh?
Sunday Morning The morning after the cast party for NSU's production of The Rocky Horror Show was the Sunday Morning. Liza ushered for the show and I invited her to the cast party, where we spent some time and caught up a little bit. Things just clicked into place and you could say that was the night we got back together. When I wrote this one, I looked back on the song "Five Years..." and realized that yes, I spoke too soon last time. It wasn't too late for us. When we woke up in the morning, things just seemed nearly perfect. It was one of those exciting times when you don't know what's going to happen next...and you wonder why you've been missing out on this for so long. It was one of those times in which it's completely logical to ask, "Where have you been all my life?"
Liza's Mine Pretty explanatory, really. After that Sunday Morning, we decided we wanted to belong to each other. This song is a celebration and an exclamation of the fact that waiting for five years paid off. This version of it isn't the best. It sounds much better with the band; coach reverend. It's a rock song at heart and not really meant for solo acoustic guitar, but there you go.
Lullaby Pretty generic title, but that's what it is to me - a lullaby. I was in Minneapolis at Liza's apartment for a week. One night in particular, I just couldn't sleep. I laid there for a couple hours... got up and had a shave. And then I started writing this song in my head and on paper. When I got back from the City, I finished it. As of this writing, the last time I played it was for her in Minneapolis about a month later. She was tucked into bed, pajamas on, eyes closed... it was her lullaby. And I stayed with her all night and covered her and kept her safe.
The City's Calling After spending that first week in Minneapolis with Liza, I began to realize that perhaps I'm not really cut out for small-town South Dakota life. I've lived in the Dakotas all 26 of my years, and I've been fine. No complaints, save for the biting cold in winter. But I've always sort of known that for a period in my life, I'd live the story of a "starving artist". Now, in Aberdeen, a person can starve easily. It's a little hard to do your art. We've got very few venues and the music scene has really dwindled. In Minneapolis, it's easier to play music and to act on stage (which is a direction I may end up taking sometime in life). It's not just the opportunities that draw me toward the City. It's the whole place. The feel, the sounds, the smells, the people, the hustle and bustle. I made the decision to move to Minneapolis in a little over a year - and not just because of a girl. Liza made me realize that at this point in my life, I belong in the City, regardless of whether or not she's there. This song is written from the point of view of being in the City, talking to everyone back in Aberdeen.
Family This song was written after Thanksgiving. I couldn't make it back to Jamestown because of car troubles. Luckily, Liza's family (who live in Aberdeen) invited me to their house. I fell in love with them. Other than that, it's pretty easy to figure out. I want to be a part of Liza's family, plain and simple.
A First Time for Everything - This song was written in early December 2004. It's kind of abstract. Though all of it has meaning, I'm not going to elaborate right now. It was fun, that's all I can really say.
Stupid Questions Sometimes there are things people don't want to know, but they ask anyway because they think they have to know. It's so stupid. It really is. I've subjected myself to that kind of thing on a few occasions and this was one of them. I'm a little regretful at times, but what's done is done and nothing can be done. I really tried to end it on a postive note, because really, a person's got to get past this kind of garbage.
Friends Long Absent... The title track... so reading the description of the album will give you some insight on this one. It was written in anticipation of Liza's trip to France. After the first time she went away five years ago, it took her a long time to come back. So before she left this time, she got us promise rings as a reminder that I'd be waiting for her when she got back and that she'd come home to me. And this time it won't take five years. Friends long absent are coming back to me.
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