Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded December 22 and 27, 2016. Mixed December 27, 2016.
Genesis: I wrote the music in November 2001 and was intrigued with the chord structure. I wrote the lyrics on November 16, 2001 and revised them on September 2, 2002.
This is a song about a lost soul, struggling to get back to the safety of some type of home. I was battling depression at the time and looking back I can see how bleak things looked for me. The imagery of a dried creek bed, a shipwreck, and dead broke rivers confirms this impression.However, things can get better. Hopefully, the lost soul will eventually find his way home.
I have recorded numerous versions of this song. I have gone back and forth between rock and folk arrangements. For this week, I settled on a hard rock version. If I were to record it next week, you would probably hear a banjo and a fiddle….
Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Organ, Drums, and a Drum Loop.
Lyrics
Almost Made it Home Last Night
First a left turn
Then a right turn
Then a rough patch of corduroy road
Through the darkness
Past the creek bed
Where the waters of spring once had flowed
It was quiet
Oh so quiet
But the silence didn’t suit me right
I almost
I almost
I almost made it home last night
From a shipwreck
Into dry dock
Missing persons in the shipping news
All these arrivals
And departures
Wholesale feelings retail blues
Shadow memories
Shadow boxing
Split decisions in the candlelight
I almost
I almost
I almost made it home last night
Dead broke rivers
Bare-boned bridges
Blackened hills meet an oatmeal sky
Out of nowhere
Into nothing
What might have beens chasing alibis
On a long lane
That has no turning
I stumble in the failing light
I almost
I almost
I almost made it home last night.
Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved
52 tracks blog 
It’s finally over and I’m glad you chose a rock format for this final song. The guitars on either side of the mix spectrum complimented each other and the lead guitar style was a great choice for this song. And don’t worry – it is over and you did make it home last night!
Now I’m wishing I hadn’t jumped the gun last week and created my top 10 list for this blog. Guess I need to add this song and make it a top 11.
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Thanks for your support this year. You helped keep me going.
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Perfect song and arrangement, Fred.
Fine lyrics.
You are right, they would work in many styles – can also hear it as a slow barrooom blues with dobro and a smoky sax.
Congratulations! A wealth of excellent songs this year!
No fade-outs for me, but that´s a personal opinion not shared by many.
Anyway – in an annus horribilis, to Quote QE 2, Thursdays brought no weak songs at all.
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Thanks, Jan. It was quite an experience.
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Fred,
Congratulations on reaching the end of this project. I’ve enjoyed these posts immensely. This last one immediately reminded me of Bob Seger. I’m sure he’d do a great vocal on this. One of the lasting odservations from watching the Kennedy Center show on TV a few nights ago is that Bob got himself a new set of “chompers”. Happy New Year to you, Theresa and all the little Grittners.
Joe
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Thanks, Joe!
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I am sorry to see this project end, Fred. It has been more fun for me than I can describe. This is indeed a fitting finish, however. “What might have been chasing alibis.” Sheer genius in the phrasing.
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Thanks, Henry. I have appreciated your comments this year.
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*beens, not been. Damned autocorrect, or damned fingers, I’m not sure which.
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