1. |
My Bride To Be
03:41
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My Bride To Be Words & Music Tad Wise
You know when something's collared you...and it won't let go.
It's like when someone's following you...
But they won't show themselves--not yet, no.
Well, for me it was worse.
The walls were closing in.
I'd already run.
I was just about...done in.
And I'd almost stopped believing in myself .
I thought I must have mistaken me for someone else.
Almost let my enemy deny
All that was still left of me.
I scraped up the last bet.
He said, "Pot's shy."
Til the cavalry kickin' up a duststorm appeared on the horizon
Just in time.
And that was you...my baby.
That was you--bringer of twin destiny.
That was you...my darling.
That was you. My Bride To Be.
When a set of eyes are burning you alive
And you're not even sure whose head they burn from.
You're not safe alone.
But you shouldn't really leave home.
Yet around friends you're poison.
For me it was worse.
The walls were closing in.
I'd already run.
I was just about...done in.
And I'd almost stopped believing in what had been foretold.
I almost stopped believing in the oracle of old.
Almost let my enemy deny...
What little was left of me.
He said I was deluded before my family--
There I draw the line.
But I couldn't fight back yet 'cuz I didn't yet have my...true ally.
And that was you...my baby.
That was you--bringer of twin destiny.
That was you...my darling.
That was you. My Bride To Be.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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2. |
The Soul Never Knows
02:33
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The Soul Never Knows Words & Music by Tad Wise
The Soul never knows how
...but it shows up somehow.
Flows up from down south--
From way down...somehow.
But once it shows up
It just won't shut up.
Plays quite the cut-up.
Non-stop. Bebopalooba!
But don't you take it for granted.
Gather some gold against the frantic
Day clouds come your way
And the panic'd heart
Begs for some magic.
The Soul forgets it lives
As the moon forgets the sun is...
The source of its gorgeousness--
Shining thru the darkness.
So we live double lives.
Profound and contrived--
Buzzing like busy bees in the hive
overlooking the honey.
If it weren't so sad it be funny!
So when the sun finally shines...
No don't you take it for granted.
Gather some gold against the frantic.
Yes be prepared for life's sorrow--
Some of this brimming cup borrow.
And if you think that it's too late...
A prayer on your knees wouldn't hurt, babe,
Ask for the strength to hold on...
How do you think I was given this
--Don't forget it was a---Song!
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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3. |
Maps
03:26
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Maps Words and Music by Tad Wise
There's a map of the stars in the night sky.
And a map of our scars milky way of wondering why...
Why did I fall and not die?
Why did I glimpse it all only to crawl away and cry?
"Not your time yet, child."
"I'm no child."
"To your Mother you're a child--
Forever...meek and mild."
There's a map of our screams in our throats.
And a map of our dreams in the ripped out lining of our coats.
Wondering: Why can I swim but not fly?
Why did I fall and not die?
"Not your time yet child...
You think you're wild...
To your Mother forever a...
Meek & mild child."
Solo
There's a map of your life in your palm.
But don't go lookin' there unless prepared
To sing your own book of Psalms--
Of your beginning and your end.
And the between--
"Oh, you mean right here, right now, friend?"
"You're not my friend."
"Every teacher is a friend.
Though some play the contrarian...
'Til at the last Truth overwhelms them!"
Second Solo and Star Trek Close
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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4. |
All The Rage
04:48
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All The Rage Words and Music by Tad Wise
You're repellant and irresistible.
How'd you manage that?
You Mephisto you...
Taunting contradiction in the dark...
How is it you tenderize my heart?
Why I should ask this I can't explain.
Because it is and is not a game.
And why it should be...all that remains.
Of my life on the stage--all the rage.
All The Rage.
You can't sell it but you're irreplaceable.
No one can tell you why.
At least not to your face, no sir.
Haunting contradiction in the dark...
And still you have tenderized this heart.
Why I confess this I can't explain
Because it is and is not a game.
And why it should be...all that remains
Of my life on the stage--all the rage.
All The Rage.
Solo
You're the last tentacle of the octopus.
Eight arms once held me fast--
Escape quite impossible.
Courting contradiction in the dark...
Don't you ever tire of the part?!
Why I should ask this is finally plain.
Because it is and is not a game.
And so it must be...all that remains
Of us charging 'round youth's stage--
All the vain pain.
All The Rage.
("Two, Three, And...")
All the rage... All the rage.
Do you remember when, remember when
We were all the rage, babe?
All the rage! All the--all the--all the rage.
'Feeling, we were feeling. We were feeling...
All The Rage.
We were feeling, we were feeling. We were feeling...
ALL THE RAGE!
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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5. |
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How It Was [For Tina Turner] Words & Music by Tad Wise
She tells us how it is
When a woman is enslaved
And her slave driver becomes her master.
She pulls no punches
‘Cuz in this tightlipped biz
Who knows after the show what goes down…
In the Shadow of Disaster?
She tells us how it is.
She reveals her scars.
We can feel her bruises
She tells us why because…
She told us How It Was.
She coulda’ done herself in…like her nearest of kin.
But once the sobbing was over—really?
Who’d have been the wiser?
Instead she risked it all…
Hurrying on down the hall
With pocket change and a gas card clipped…
From Ike’s Caddie’s visor.
She tells us how it is.
She reveals her scars.
We can feel her bruises
She tells us why because…
She told us How It Was.
She gave the desk clerk her name—
Tears flowin’ down like hard summer rain.
This star is eclipsed…
A legend desperate…beyond pain.
Chanting on her breath
Those syllables saving her from a living death,
She clawed her way up and out of misery-city.
But how many still haunt its streets
Beaten if they miss their cue on the beat
Reduced to a piece of sizzling meat in a satin negligee?
She tells us how it is.
She reveals her scars.
We can feel her bruises
She tells us why because…
She told us How It Was.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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6. |
Christ vs The Vampire
03:25
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Christ vs The Vampire Words & Music: Tad Wise
with apologies to W B Yeats
Finally Christ rose to challenge the god of blood.
But no, it was not the other way 'round.
The occasion was The Last Supper on Earth
When The Nazarine finally stole that long-coveted crown.
For when Christ said: "This is my flesh-- Eat of it.
And drink of my blood for thine own soul's immortal sake!"--
He defied, mocked, and defiled ancient ritual...
That theft of human blood to quench a thirst none would ever slake!
And so when Christ and The Vampire went to war that night--
A war which has raged in secret ever since--
Except that it has finally broken free of such secrecy:
The blood-guzzler freely feeding on the ignorant.
What rude beast his hour come round at last
Slouches rich, feasting fat on the unborn...?
What tide of blood does he ride and to which side,
Exactly what hinge has he ripped from what door?
Yes and but The Vampire no longer hunts the living
For they slice their own throats and kneel for his suck.
Nothing they possess is not gladly given.
And they would kill any who dare call their lord..."Corrupt!"
And so The Vampire finally emerges from those entertainments
Thru which for centuries he's slept in coffins and bared fangs.
None of that is necessary anymore
For the guards who today guard his door
Are among the best-trained agents of this Earth's most powerful land!
What rude beast his hour come round at last
Slouches rich, feasting fat on the unborn...?
What tide of blood does he ride and to what side,
Exactly what hinge has he ripped from what ancient door?
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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7. |
Into Your Heart
03:23
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Into Your Heart Words and Music by Tad Wise
It's so sad but I feel so glad...
Don't know exactly where to start.
All those years I wrote alone in my room
'Til at last one tune it
Found it's way into your heart.
Into Your Heart. Into Your Heart.
But was I proud?
Oh, for crying out loud...
This king without a crown was playing a part, pretending--
It meant nothing to me if my lady didn't see me clearly
'Til at last one melody found its way into your heart.
Into Your Heart. Into Your Heart.
Into Your Heart. Into Your Heart.
Then the world it caved in.
Oh but I did not.
Because I was reigned in.
When "we" replaced "me" that's what I got.
But I knew it was my last shot.
Solo
Into Your Heart. Into Your Heart.
Into Your...Into Your Heart.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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8. |
Niagara Falls
04:19
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Niagara Falls Words and Music by Tad Wise
The worse it gets out there
The better I love it
Alone in this one room with you.
I send in my words
Obeying commands to
Abandon my own point of view.
But it perseveres
When you dream of it too...
Niagara Falls...
Why not us too?
The thunder under
Love's tender tune.
The vaulted halls...
The velvet walls...
The roaring calling of...
Niagara Falls.
The honeymoon...
At last is here.
The wrenching joy of...
mist-mingling tears.
Niagara calls...
It's vaulted halls...
The velvet walls of...
Niagara Falls.
At last I'm ready to take the plunge.
Never been scared or so thrilled
Never had such fun.
Solo
Niagara Falls...
Why not us too?
The thunder under
Love's tender tune.
The vaulted halls...
The velvet walls...
The roaring calling of it all...
Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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9. |
Triumphant
05:36
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Triumphant Words and Music by Tad Wise
Finally came home.
You’ve been gone so long.
Course, I began anew without you.
Here where you said: I’m done.
But we began here 40 years ago…
Stumbling on a shared obsession.
You to make these six strings sing.
Me to shape them into a--a chorded confession.
We found me an electric.
From Leo Fender’s second company.
You said I never learned to respect it. (And you were right.)
But your advice back then was Greek to me.
I wrote ten songs to your one.
Downed seven drinks to your six.
Became prisoner of my own band.
And living proof of my own doomed lyrics…
And poof! We were done.
But what we had will never come again.
Tho I’m better now then I ever was then.
Still I’ll never hear your gentle charging in
As when you finally break thru and lead us…to the end.
Solo
You’ve got a wife and kids and a band they say... over in Ireland.
‘N you too gave up the drink—hooray!
Something like that path is where I stand today.
But it’s never quite like what they think or say.
As ever I change every…five minutes.
Yet it seems I never really change at all.
Songs-pour out oc me yet—the bull still kicking down its stall.
But what we had will never come again.
Tho I’m better now then I ever was then.
Still I’ll never hear your gentle charging in
As when you final-lee break thru and lead us…to the end—
Triumphant.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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10. |
His Young Life's Song
05:18
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His Young Life's Song Words and Music by Tad Wise
Barrel-chested even as a kid.
His head bigger still with the college cap his Dad put on it.
Apple of his eye 'til little brother came along.
Adding the first strain of dissonance
To His Young Life's Song.
Made man of the house at twelve, the day his Daddy died.
More father than brother, now Terry showed his sweetest side.
Role model, daring Tim to sneak back what he stole.
And how famously they got along, singing
Their Young Life's--
Singing Their Young Life's Song.
Both had luck and pluck,
Terry with his movie-star good looks.
Yet Tim pulled out ahead
'Til to the bottle he was the first hooked.
Their mother sold Christmas cards door to door.
Neither of her boys could ever do wrong.
Especially while they were singing their,
Their young lives'...
While singing their young lives' song.
The rest of the story you won't hear here.
I'll set it to a different melody but will I hold it as dear?
I'm the only one left to sing it now--
The older bother's first born son.
And I'm almost done telling you about
HIs young life's...Terry and Tim Wise...
Their young life's song.
Song.
His Young Life's Song.
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11. |
The TakeAway
04:05
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The TakeAway Words & Music by Tad Wise
Finally found that love to stay
To brighten my darkest day
Too bad that's what's 'round the corner.
Can't be put off any longer.
That's The TakeAway.
Devastation had a plan,
Awaited my ring on her hand but
At last here's this tender mercy
Against pain too intense to name
Save in "The TakeAway."
It's The TakeAway, ah The TakeAway.
As if it weren't enough to be
Caught up in one tragedy,
Whoever does the comforting
Must soon be robbed of the same dearest thing.
That's The TakeAway.
Finally we have found each other
Just in time to each lose our mother.
That's The TakeAway. The TakeAway.
Years roll by slowly surely
Steeped in vows we'd taken early
Profound joy and wrenching grief
Married us on that shipwrecked beach called
The TakeAway. That's The TakeAway.
That's The TakeAway.
Please take away The TakeAway.
Grand Adventure Music
BMI 2023
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Tad Wise Woodstock, New York
Tad Wise started writing songs at ten, while raking Bob Dylan’s leaves. He was discovered by John Hall in 2000 who promptly
produced Wise’s first CD. Twenty years later Wise returned. First with "For The Record," with Tony Levin & Jerry Marotta. Then with "Mind's Eye." In 2023 he'll release
"The TakeAway," starting with the title track...right now.
... more
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