We've got a recent video up on YouTube edited by our good buddy and merch-guy extraordinaire Emerson Trimble. Shot with a GoPro out on the road in CT, MA and NY a couple weeks ago, pretty fun stuff.
"There Are No Rules In This Game" was recorded for our 4th album Lights Along the River up in Willamantic, Maine in the fall of 2014. This particular track was a ton of fun if I recall; we were listening to the work we'd be doing out in the guest-cabin control-room until about 1am one of the nights we were out there. We were just about to call it a night and we decided to try to crank out another tune instead. In the middle of the night on a gorgeous fall eve, stars shining bright, not another cabin light visible for miles on the lake, it was wicked cool. We cut the track mostly live, overdubbing just the vocals, Luke's harmonica (played through a green bullet microphone and a Silvertone amp from the 50's) and one guitar track played by young Matty. For Matt's guitar, we set up our '64 Fender Super Reverb on the front steps of the camp facing the water, set up a mic in front of the amp and another about 50 feet away down by the dock to catch the lake's natural reverb. We turned it up to ten, and you could hear the notes echoing for miles across the lake, down towards Bowerbank, Dover-Foxcroft and Sebec. We wondered if anybody was trying to sleep and waking up confused as all hell. I'm sure it happened.
Lyrics:
There is no one that you can blame
When you're out standin' in the rain
There is nobody who will remember your name
And there is no one that you can blame
There is nothin' that you can do
It's all been tried, it's all been true
You might see red, you might see blue
There is nothin' that you can do
But there are no rules in this game
You might get some treasure, you might get some rain
Might be a reason for you to carry on some flame
But there are no rules in this game
Well everything's good and everything's bad
And what would you do if this thing was the only thing that you had
Would it make you smile
Would it make you mad
Everything's good, everything's bad
And everything's precious and everyone's dead
That were livin' in the time of Alexander and Eric the Red
Only thing changing are the thoughts up in your head
Everything's precious and everyone's dead
But there are no rules in this game
Might get some pleasure, might get some pain
Might be a reason for you to carry on some flame
But there are no rules in this game
There are no rules in this game
Might get some treasure, might get some rain
Might be a reason for you to carry on some flame
But there are no rules in this game
Note: During the solo that is a "yut," which is what we say up in Maine as shorthand for "yessa buddy giva tha dinna!"
Another note: shout out to Marcus Aurelius. The "Meditations" provided a couple of the radical phrasings of concepts that wound up in the song, and the dichotomy of sticking some ancient Stoic philosophy into a full-blown loud rock and roll song was part of the motivation for cranking this tune out. Happy how our middle-of-the-night tune turned out and hope you all dig!
W
