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Trail of Life - George McAnthony |
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credits of the album TRAIL OF LIFE (2006)
After writing all the music and lyrics it took us six more months for recording, overdubbing, editing and mixing, What a long and hard work! Now as the album is completed 15 new “creatures” are ready to roam and touch your heart.
Once again I’m very grateful to Sonja for all her support throughout the whole workflow, giving many precious inputs on lyrics, compositions and graphics. She always keeps advising me not to get lost in technical stuff and continually reminds me that the main focus in my music has to be the energy I have to transmit with my songs.
Credits:
Produced by George McAnthony
Executive producer: Francesco Mattuzzi
Recorded by Wolfgang Moser and Armin Rainer at AG-SOUNDLIGHTS Studios in Brixen - Italy
Mixed by Francesco Mattuzzi at ROTFARB Recording Studios in Zurich – Switzerland
Mixing assistant Martin Kohler
Mastered by Christoph Stickel at MSM-Mastering Studios München – Germany
Cover photography: Gregor Khuen, Photo XENON
Graphics: George McAnthony
Italian translations: Sonja Paolini
English revisions by Sr. Winifred Doherty (Ethiopia) and Frances & George Richardson (USA).
Musicians:
Rino Cavalli: drums / Berni Stauder: percussions / Alex Bosio: bass / Werner Bauhofer: guitars & dobro / Manfred Kilian: banjo & mandoline / Thomas Vinatzer: pedal steel guitar / Gianrico Righele: fiddle / Helmuth Pircher: Irish whistle / Robi Weger: accordion / George McAnthony: vocals, harmonica, piano, hammond / Backgroundvocals: Annika Borsetto, Alex Pallaoro and Klaus Delueg
Children Choir: Simon Ebner, Felicitas Settili, Luca Albrigo, Felix Mair, Veronika Zelger, Stefanie Endrizzi, Ulrike Deluggi, Jana Lintner, Julia Planötscher (coached by teacher Hanno Deluggi, elementary school St. Michael-Eppan, Italy)
LYRICS:
NEVER GIVE UP (George McAnthony)
She's getting used to hearing she's a loser / but that doesn't mean she ain't feeling hurt / someone told me long ago we don't have to be perfect at all / if life’s appearing worthless now listen to the distant call
You never give up, as long as we will see you through / you never give up, take your time to rise up once again / you should never give up, I’m here to comfort you / so don’t you ever give up, never give up, never give up
He was doing well until he lost his job / his self-esteem was about to fade / I was afraid of losing him, but thank God he is still around / he said a brand new vision took him off the ground
You’ve got the blues and keep waiting in the darkness / please don’t forget, so many feel the way you feel
La la la la lai, I need you to see me through / la la la lai, take my time to rise up once again / la la la la lai, as long as hope runs through our veins I know we never do give up
You never give up, no more hiding, no more fear / you never give up, keep looking for that shimmer in the dark / you should never give up, what is now ain’t what will be / so don’t you ever give up, never give up, never give up
SOME NEVER WILL (George McAnthony)
On a desert road at the break of dawn / I’m halfway through, still have to travel / all my dreams are living still, some are worth it, some never will
I watch the globe from a lonesome star / see people run, living far too busy / still not enough to pay the bills / some break the chain, some never will
Life is a poem, it comes with a rhyme / and its pattern comes with a reason / life’s a circle, that’s never standing still / some catch the rhythm, some never will
The best to do is to forgive, the best to have is to be forgiven / careless thinking can make us ill, some know the secret, some never will
Until today it ain’t clear to me, should I battle or endure injustice / like that man who preached on the hill, some turn the other cheek, some never will
What we see might be unreal, some see beyond, some never will
WALKING WITH ANGELS (George McAnthony)
“What a boring and colourless life this would be without the certainty that there are angels out there just waiting for our call to walk with us down that trail of life.”
Good day, hello sun, shine on me / good morning, guardian angel, don’t leave / in gratitude I look behind me, it seems that I was never alone
So tell me, angels, how do you do, my faithful friends / I’ve heard you talk, I’ve seen you smilenow and then / you grant me that sense of humor, of peace and serenity
I’m walking with angels at my side / they will be around when I call their name / knowing that there is no space and no time, so what can trouble my peace of mind / I know that on my own I can’t make it right / can’t make it all alone through the midnight hour / angels guard me from the day I was born till I’m gone, so long, so long.
Good night, hello moon, let us dream / about some far places, wide open spaces, a world we‘ve never seen / meanwhile the globe keeps turning, and angels work overtime
TRAPPER JACKET JOE’S FAMILY (George McAnthony)
Do you still remember Trapper Jacket Joe, the way he fell in love around eleven years ago? His pretty maid was known as “Hat Marie”, they were going to start a family
In 1997 they married in a barn, Jimmy boy was born and raised on the farm / what a time of true romancing, down in the jamboree they keep on dancing
If people say that they are silly, think that they are freaks / they don’t care about but keep walking proud / little son Jimmy and mama Hat Marie / that’s Trapper Jacket Joe’s family
Little Jimmy baby, he’s such a lovely boy, animals and music fill his heart with joy / within one year he could play harmonica, at twenty months the overdrive guitar
What a time of true romancing, down in the jamboree they keep on dancing
You may ask me what about “Pepperoni Bill”, he never found a girl, I guess he never will / the reason ain’t his “Pepperoni nose”, just money is the thing he likes the most, poor Bill
They were moving from the city over to the farm / in the open space, in the fields of maize / little son Jimmy and mama Hat Marie / that’s Trapper Jacket Joe’s family
STREETS OF GOLD (George McAnthony)
No need of walking streets of gold, I prefer the stony byway, I know that’ll satisfy me
One thing’s one my mind, a reason is hard to find / what’s needed is conceded most of the time / but don’t let money arrive to the very forefront of life / desire is like a fire, it cuts like a knife
No need of walking streets of gold, no need to rush let time unfold / no need of brainwash on TV, for that‘ll never satisfy me / I gotta turn it from the inside out, there ‘s much more in me, ain’t no doubt / go the long way back and be just like we used to be
I need little for myself, don’t wanna be a slave of wealth / I only get lonely, that’s what I can tell / some things are worth living through, few are worth dying for / you choose it, you loose it, stop looking for more
No need of walking streets of gold, no need to rush let time unfold / no need of brainwash on TV, for that‘ll never satisfy me / if you got silver on your left and gold on your right, then worry makes you stay awake all night / remember Johnny used to be the only “Cash” we needed / whatever doesn’t set me free ain’t gonna satisfy me
UNKNOWN HEROES (George McAnthony)
See the woman dressed in brown, walking up to shantytown / the homeless and the outcast are calling her name / she would never let them feel the shame
Jenny K. the circus clown was a queen without a crown / she could make you laugh, was a joking kind / a gift to this world throughout her lifetime
I bow my head to the great unknown heroes / who change the world, ready to share what they own / I wanna bow my head to the ones who endure in silence / to the ones who keep striving all alone, they stay unknown
She was born in Africa, her man won’t return from war / seven children need all her commitment / time is hard but she does not lament
Bonnie lived against the grain / spoke the truth, did not refrain / some did not approve what she was ready to defend / but still she was able to forgive them
Everyone in shantytown knows she won’t back down in her fight against isolation / she is praying on her knees, spreading out energies, who can realize her contribution
TRAIL OF LIFE (George McAnthony)
At the station, by the railroad track, I’ll be passing on my “life train” / if you wanna join the journey, then you gotta be there in time today / I will be watching out the window, what did you decide? Have you got the same ticket for this life-long ride?
On the trail of life I’m traveling on / to the rhythm of the wheels I’m singing my song / some leave the wagon, some stay inside / we only got a ticket for a one-way ride
I’m conductor and passenger, I gotta choose the destination / sometimes I don’t know how to get there, how long will I be allowed to ride / the train is creeping through the lowland, the valley of blues / get the speed again to reach the highland too
The rhythm of the train wheels is my measure of time / to show you that I’m easy, I’ll blow my train horn one more time
SEED OF CHANGE (George McAnthony)
Standing on a mountain where the earth can touch the sky / on the horizon a warning sign appears / it’s muddled by the haze of the sun, looks like the change is getting near
Death will be forgotten, ain’t got no power anymore / hey, Prince of Darkness, go to resign / the living and the dead all the same will reconcile in the Grand Design
The seed of change is gonna grow in anyone, it can’t be undone / so if you’re praying for a wonder, that’s when He’s doing it once again, think about
God is not a legend somebody wrote about in a book / our friend and father feels left alone / His power and His love are real but His heartache is unknown
So, now, break the chain, let love and hope rise again / the rich of heart respect it, the egos will reject it / don’t blow it, let’s finally grow it / before time and space get out of range you’ll see the change
LUCKY DOG (George McAnthony)
“Lucky was only two months old when I took him home with
me from a breeding in Vienna in January 1991.
We passed 15 wonderful years together, I miss him.”
You were looking for a puppy, as your heart got stuck on me / on the way back home from Vienna I fell asleep on your knees
I sat beside you when we traveled ‘cross the land, the front seat was my favorite place / we were meant to stay together, forever, could not imagine better days
I have been your Lucky Dog, life was such a happy walk / I’d do almost anything to keep you satisfied / and you have been my lucky man, couldn’t have no better friend / there is nothing greater than running at your side
Goodbye George, I won’t forget you, have all those good times to recall / it wasn’t hard to understand you, I’d say, we’re not so different after all
When you composed a tune in your smoky room, my nose would strum those strings, let your guitar ring / to keep in memory you wrote this song for me, it will let me live eternally
GONNA BE MINE (George McAnthony)
Every single day I should tell my girl that I love her / then nothing can go wrong, nothing can go wrong
Every single night I should hold her tight and adore her / but I’m a foolish boy, I’m a foolish young cowboy / ‘cause I didn’t say those three words she’d really enjoy
She is gonna be mine if I finally tell her she’s my baby / she is my lady but I really gotta let her know / to be loved by a girl like her has hit my heart like an arrow / it would break her heart if I never ever told her so
Too many good thoughts never get to destination if they stay unsaid, if they stay unsaid
What is quite evident to me may need declaration / I gotta tell my girl, I gotta tell my sweet girl / that she’s the only one for me in the whole wide world
… it should be all right but I really gotta let her know
THANKFUL (George McAnthony)
I woke up today and realized years are rushing by / I’ve seen day-by-day time slipping away, just as if it would fly / I think it all over and ask myself did I waste the chance / sometimes it seems that I’m in between wisdom and ignorance
I’m thankful for the days of sun, for pleasure and fun, for the powerful light in my eyes / but also for all my doubts and the frightening clouds that appear in my blue sky
Sometimes I am not quite satisfied, of what I’ve done, of what I’ve become, it ain’t looking bright / in forty rivers I have been swimming against the stream / I wanna sing out loud I’m thankful about, it’s the life I’m living in
I’m grateful for my Indian heart, it’s beating still / I’m thankful for the gift of my free will
FOR ANY CHILD (George McAnthony)
Some of them are born but stay unwanted, some are not welcome to live in this world / say where have all the unborn gone?
A baby’s part of the universal love, not human property / so how can we, decide about their destiny
For any child around the globe, in need of love they wait in hope / I’m wishing peace and hearts of joy, to every girl and boy / I wish you peace and joy
Children need a vision for tomorrow, a little more confidence / that they’re not a mistake, but fruit of love and providence
A baby boy is born in Hiroshima, his mother holds him tight / and makes him feel everything will be alright
I hope you don’t surrender, let troubles pass you by / don’t you lose your peace of mind, and your pretty little smile
Like any child around the globe, in need of love we wait in hope / we’re missing peace we’re missing joy, for every girl and every boy
QUO VADIS USA (George McAnthony)
You have been our idol, a model for a better world / but your values disappeared in broad daylight / in restless competition, you could not really hide that your hunger for more and more is never satisfied
What you do is never really what you say / always claim to be right, never care about the other side / some of you are living the truth, while your leaders stumble in vain / what has led you astray? Quo Vadis USA?
You better pay attention, listen up to what your poets teach, to what your singers sing, to what your preachers preach / I always liked your movies, and sure I care about your songs, but some contradictions are hard to overcome
… someone’s gotta disobey, Quo Vadis USA? Where are you going?
No need of world patrol, no need of thought control, we don’t need no hypocrite or a pale cliché / modesty must prevail, because this world is not for sale / keep the promise that you gave, do what you say
ANY GIVEN DAY (George McAnthony)
“This song popped into my head when the rest of the
songs were already recorded.
Probably observing the musicians who worked on this project inspired me.”
On a summer Sunday morning he’s driving in the van / the last night was a long one, he’s a singer in a band / he believes in music as something he should live for / if you ever see him can you tell him we are thrilled forevermore
When the concert is all over and the lights are fading out / the guys are enthusiastic about the ardor of the crowd / this is for the singers and the writers and the pickers / for everybody who’s playing his music to give the best he can
He’s picking that guitar like no one in the world / he’d never talk about it, can communicate without any word / you are on his mind when he’s about to play / his music’s gonna make you feel alright, any given day
Mama always told him not to be a rambling man / but daddy bought that guitar and showed him how to jam / this is for the skilled ones, the beginners and gurus / for everybody who’s sharing his passion like the troubadour
… you are on his mind when he’s about to play / don’t forget to show him that you care, any given day
HEALED BY A SONG (George McAnthony)
“From ancient times music was known to have the power of
healing mind, soul and body. In our modern civilisation this has been forgotten.”
Outback Australia, see the sun go down / some aborigines make an unknown sound / one plays the skin drums, one the didgeridoo / what a wonder, a wounded boy can live anew, out of the blue
Being healed by a song, being healed by a song / been released by a pure, generous mind / it arrives from up above, and it grows by the power of love / carry on once that you have been healed by a song
In the heart of India, feel the burning heat / one outcast family is living on the street / when the children are ailing the father is playing sitar / can you see it, a pale blue light reaches their heart, from afar
Hear the healing tunes vibrating through the night, let music come along to bring delight, alright
Being healed by a song, being healed by a song / been released by a pure, generous mind / it arrives from up above, and it grows by the power of love / carry on once that you have been healed by a song
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