I Close My Eyes and I See

[StephenM]

Story Telling Festival... I wrote this over the last few days and the mix really kicked my butt to here and back...but I kept at it...amongst other household projects...
This song is about my love affair with the song by Boston called "More Than A Feeling" and the details of my life at the time I heard this song and band for the very first time and the imEpact it had on my life.  It's amazing how certain pieces of music etch memories along with the song... I would say this is my all time favorite song...and so the song has a bit of musical flavor that way along with Tonic's "Open Up Your Eyes"....
attached are the lyrics as well...
I should mention that I did things a bit different with the guitar... I used the Les Paul but on all the tracks except the lead I used a special pickup that is added right where the neck meets the body.  You would never know it was there.  I will try and add pictures later.  This was an add by Epiphone to give the guitar a more acoustic guitar sounding option (controls are on the back in a cutout)...they also made a separate 1//4 inch output for just the humbuckers or the one with the hums and the other pickup.  Epiphone also included a connection for USB and included software that you can connect the guitar to the computer and get all sorts of patches etc...to be honest, even though I have had the guitar about 6 years I haven't tried it yet...but I will and report on it...

Years ago in high school I was in 11th grade.  I was listening to a tiny radio near my grandpa's grave.  This song I'd never heard before began to play, a voice from heaven sang "I see MaryAnn walking away.  I see Mary Ann walking away."
Now the years have past, I'm getting old and gray.  Sometimes I wonder if I'll make through today.  When I'm weak I close my eyes I see Brad Delp say, I see MaryAnn walking away.
It's more than a feeling.  I close my eyes and hear. 
When I'm feeling extra tired, I run to my radio.  It's there I sometimes find solace to hide from life's control.  I close my eyes and see I drift away.  I hear em sing "I see MaryAnn walking away.  I see my MaryAnn walking away, I see my MaryAnn walking away."
It's like manna coming down from heaven feeding my soul.  I close my eyes and I see.
 

[guitarron]

This is really good Steve. You really captured the Boston vibe. I remember how huge that song was in high school. The whole album for that matter. It brings me back in time too.  Terrific job. Glad you stuck with it

[thetworegs]

you definatly caught that Boston Groove well worth the effort

[godinqc]

Great Boston vibe song, I was also in High School when this album came out .. (it shows our age  ) , what a great album ..
Really good playing , vocals and lyrics ..

[tonyc]

you got that boston feel , great tune ....cheers tony cee

[Nelson]

Yes Yes Yes
What brilliant musicianship and outstanding mix/production.
All the grueling work surely paid off.

The vocal performance is pure perfection and fits wonderfully here.

[Greeny]

The familiarity of the guitar riff and style is very comforting, and really draws the listener in. Really like how it seems to open up and fly at about 1:20. Superb guitar tones and playing and the vocal is really well handled. Love that last hanging chord too. Excellent!

[Farrell Jackson]

The opening, familiar Boston guitar chording/picking sets the perfect stage for your vox and lyrics! I agree it was a killer song from the very first listen. Great playing and a cool story song concept. Nicely done Stephen.

[StephenM]

in the first photo you see the shadow mag pickup and the second are the controls on the back of the Les Paul.  Epiphone offered a very pretty Les Paul model called the Ultra III that had this special pickup that makes it sound more like an acoustic guitar...and it does a wonderful job...I used this pick up on all but the lead for this song.



In this photo you can see the add on tuner that Epiphone also installed on this model.'..and what you can't see is along with dual 1/4 jack outputs (one for just the humbuckers, the other for hum and mag pickup (either of which can be turned down).  Also they added a USB connection for direct connection to computer with available software

[Bluesberry]

Brilliant Steve...lovely song, and very enjoyable...transported me back all those years ago to when I first heard that Boston song...those guys have had a huge impact on folks from our generation.....