Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded June 3, 2014, August 10, 2014, June 30, 2016, November 17 and 22, 2016. Mixed November 22, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote this song on April 7, 2010. I revised the lyrics on May 25, 2015. The song was inspired by a dream. The first verse describes how I dreamed that I was walking an endless hallway, looking for a number I could never find. The hopelessness of the cause permeates the other verses. The last verse clearly is based on my last few years of employment.

The chorus is built on the concept of time, always a favorite with writers. The title comes from a phrase that the German author Gunter Grass wrote in his 2008 memoir, Peeling the Onion. The phrase suggests the elasticity of time and the possibility that some of our actions are preordained.

Leonard Cohen died last week. The mordant lyrics, melancholy music, and lush arrangement point back to the master.

 Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Piano, Organ, String Quartet, Tenor Sax, and Drums.

 Lyrics

After is Always Before

I’ve been down this hallway before

Looking for a number on a door

Never found it, though I’ve tried

Someone tricked me someone lied

 

But I’ll try try try once again

In my book perseverance is no sin

Though the outcome’s not in doubt

I’ll take these cards and play them out

 

CHORUS:

Time is gold

Time is lead

Time is what you love

And what you dread

Time at peace

Time at war

After

Is always before

 

I squint hard to place that face

Fighting words in a very quiet place

Turn your back they soon will leave

The hardest part unweave the weave

CHORUS

 

I walk this hall with a broken key

No longer care what they think of me

I’m a lost cause go write me off

I’m out of touch I’ve gone soft

CHORUS

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved