This was initially the core of the collection and the first song laid out, instrumentally at least, as a complete piece. All of the songs were going to be based around a very ‘rock band’ sound featuring electric instruments and were all demoed in that format – some to a very polished degree. In fact, the first electric guitar solo here is pretty much a note for note repeat of the solo I improvised on that electric demo.

I might even use those tracks to record another alternative version of this one of these days.

The guitar part of No Goodnights was written on a Danelectro 12 string and that formed the spine of the demo. Since that sound was still in my head when I play the part on an acoustic, I decided to feature the 12 string as color on this recording. My beloved Larrivee D-3R dreadnought (the only guitar I played live for over a decade) also makes an appearance here on the strum parts in the first verse.

Early on in the lyric process, the word “train” forced it’s way into my head and, oddly, stubbornly, just would not leave. That train became the through line for the story of the original collection and is still the core of these last three songs.

I suppose, just looking at the lyrics, that the song could seem to be about depression and disconnection. And I suppose that it is, in its way. I learned long ago that, when you have a song with a dark real world narrative that can also be taken as a metaphor for more general, relatable aspects of life, it is best to not confirm that the real world narrative is really, well, the narrative.

So maybe it is a song about disconnection – just with a train in there, too. I mean, there are a load of trains in the neighborhood, yeah? 

No Goodnights and No Goodbyes

And you wonder do they care?
Know you’re in the darkness
Know you’re even there?
And the smoke stings in your eyes
Can’t find the breath to even beg or cry 

And you wonder was it worth
The hours and a lifetime
The movements of the earth
As you follow them down
Searching for the way back into town

You can’t believe the solitude 
You can’t believe the pain
Can’t believe there’s no one there to ever know your name.
You’ll never understand it
And never know quite why
There were no goodnights and no goodbyes.

If you could you scream out, what would you cry
Bodies of the fallen 
Tangled up inside
Here just waiting by the train
The moisture from the walls sounds like rain

You can’t believe this silence
You can’t accept this weight
Can’t believe the dark rich earth has sealed you to this fate
And you’ll never understand it
But it will never feel quite right
There were no goodnights and no goodbyes