When I was in high school we had a band down the street that wrote original music. They were called Free Food. To say each one of those people were an influence on me is huge understatement. I fell so in love with them and playing guitar during that time, that my parents got me one for my 17th birthday, which I immediately began writing songs on. Where those songs came from is a place I still love and cherish today. Because it has nothing to do with me, I knew little about Guitar or songwriting at the time.
Of course by now I’m getting better at that part! As time went by, me and my friends stayed in touch through hell and high water, through marriage, divorce, and all things in between. When I got my ranch in 1998 and set up a recording studio, we made plans to have a musical reunion here. That was in 2000. In 2005 we had another one, this song is a result of that reunion. (Our last time together was in 2012).
Fred had written a poem on a piece of cardboard and left it at the studio, and some months later I flipped it over and wrote my poem. That was in 2005. In 2018 when we got together, I showed Fred the poem that he had written, and he asked me to find some (3) chords and he’d make a song out of the lyrics. He rejected my cursory chord idea, so I flipped that cardboard over and made something out of the dribblings that I had written. And thus we have THE NEAREST NEIGHBORS were a (Mile Away.) This is my song to my friends, thank you guys for helping me, inspiring me, teaching me and making great music yourselves. God is good. I miss you guys and I hope we meet up again someday. It’s gonna have to be up yonder I’m sure, since some of us have gone on ahead. The story of us pulls out of sight.
Love you always, me.
I don’t know how
Things happened so late, I couldn’t wait, I had to go.
You’d do the same too if you was me, if I was you.
Oh yeh you would baby..
Fast, fast-fast as you can,
the story of us pulls out of sight.
The nearest neighbors were a mile away
they couldn’t hear us rock,
they couldn’t hear us say
how, how, how, how.
I remember now how it could it could be,
you’re on my mind
you’d do the same too if you were me.
Fast, fast, fast, fast
the story of us pulls out of sight
Oh baby please don’t leave me now
the nearest neighbors were a mile away
they couldn’t hear rock
they couldn’t hear us say
how how how how.
I remember now how it could it could be
you’re inside me, in my head.
how how how how.
The nearest neighbors were a mile away.
Fast, fast, fast, fast that’s how you pull,
the story of us pulls out of sight
The nearest neighbors were a mile away.
Ooooooo wow wow wow..
Driving down the highway, I’m out of the door I’m looking for adventure while I go to explore….yeh yeh now I don’t know how. They couldn’t hear us rock. How How.
credits
from AFTER THE FLOOD,
track released April 29, 2019
SONG BY JERIALICE, ALL PARTS BY JA
ENGINEERED, MIXED @ RIVEROUNDS BY JA
MASTERED @ TERRA NOVA BY JERRY TUBB
EARS DAVIS BLANCHARD
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2021
The Ohio songwriter navigates gender, queerness, class, and privilege through a powerful mix of country rock, folk ballads, and bluegrass. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 14, 2021
Thin Lear's sophisticated rock music is tempered with soaring chamber pop accents and an undeniable gift for melody. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 30, 2020
The NYC trio push their blown-out garage-blues sound into new territory, on both reinterpreted classics and originals. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 5, 2019
Erudite chamber pop that hearkens back to the elegant and experimental production of the 1960s, swinging from melancholia to playfulness. Bandcamp New & Notable May 13, 2016
