One more song written during the January 2009 working vacation in Orillia. I was pondering the unpleasant notion of getting older and the possibility of deteriorating mental and physical abilities. A friend suffered a major stroke a few years back, and while he was blessed to survive the stroke, it has been devastating for him to come to terms with his new life. Previously an avid outdoorsman, he no longer has the mobility or the endurance he used to enjoy. Add to that the mental effects of the stroke, and he has lost the ability to continue working at the career he loved as a financial accountant.
This friend became the basis for the character in "Still Wild", for whom the past and present are filled with confusion, where reality and fiction have intertwined. He often realizes the extent of what he has lost, but other times remembers the past as he thinks it was, which may not be as it really was.
Another song for which the piano arrangement was created in the studio in New Jersey, and the piano track in the final mix is the original part recorded at The Barber Shop Studios.
lyrics
Still Wild
There’s a day he recalls from so long ago, he was running from the law down in Mexico
For something he did to impress a pretty girl
Now his legs don’t work like they use to do, so he dreams he’s running with his bad boy crew
Like back in the day he became a man of the world
Time, wasn’t good to him
So he holds on tight to the man that’s locked inside
CHORUS:
He’s an old man, resting on a front porch swing
His mind still racing like a bird on the wing
Proud of the holy terror he was as a child
Now the years can’t take what he never gave up
Like Jim Beam and Pepsi in a paper cup
And dancing with girls in skirts lined up single file
Oh, inside his mind, he’s Still Wild
Well his woman looks out through a dusty pane; wonders if today he knows her name
She watches him gaze to the South with a wicked smile
She thinks back to the boy that she met at fifteen, his head always buried in a magazine
Filled with stories of men who walked the crooked mile
Time, it wasn’t good to him
But she loves him deep for the man that’s lost inside
CHORUS
There are days when the lights come on
When he sees what he’s become
A shell of the man he was
Hanging on to a losing cause
That’s gone in the blink of an eye
He’s an old man resting on a front porch swing
His mind can’t be sure of anything
Sometimes he’s as lost as a little child
Well, the years have gone and left him all mixed up
As he sips on Pepsi in a paper cup
He dreams of girls in skirts lined up single file
Oh, inside his mind…
CHORUS
Copyright 2009 Allister Bradley.
All rights reserved.
credits
from Never Came Down,
released July 15, 2011
Written and arranged by Allister Bradley (SOCAN)
Produced by Allister Bradley
Drums and Percussion, Bass Guitar and Piano Recorded by Jason Corsaro with Dante Portella at The Barber Shop Studios, Hopatcong, New Jersey
Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Organ and Vocals Recorded by Allister Bradley at Left Side Studio, Kitchener, Ontario
Mixed by Allister Bradley at Left Side Studio, Kitchener, Ontario
Mastered by Peter Letros at Wreckhouse Mastering, Toronto, Ontario
Photos by Brian O'Brien
Illustrations by Paul Montgomery
Art Design by Allister Bradley
Drums and Percussion: Adam Bowman
Bass Guitar: Matthew Lima
Electric and Acoustic Guitar: Dave Thompson
Lead and Backing Vocals: Allister Bradley
Piano, Organ: Allister Bradley
Singer/Songwriter/Pianist/Producer/Engineer and many more things to many more people, Allister still can't decide what he
wants to be when he grows up. His music can perhaps be described as modern folk, since it contains rich storytelling and imagery, but it might be mistaken for Smooth Jazz, Roots or AC. You decide.
Any way you describe it, Allister's music will reach deep within and satisfy...more
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 15, 2024
Michelle Stodart’s folk music captures hope in melancholy, addressing the transformational aspects of the most challenging times. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 3, 2023
Folk artist Josienne Clarke revisits music from her back catalog, infusing these lonesome songs with a new luminosity and drive. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 18, 2023