No More Walks in the Wood

[DonFan]

From a review about the new album in the online paper, The Statesman:

Witness No More Walks in the Wood, a harmony-rich, part-a cappella showcase with words adapted from a work by the US poet and Professor Emeritus at Yale, John Hollander. Henley came across the poem (then entitled An Old-Fashioned Song) while perusing The Oxford Dictionary of American Poetry. Having set it to music and made a demo on which he sang all four harmonies himself, he asked Hollander, now in his seventies, for his blessing. “He sent back a very cordial note saying that we could do the song. I said, ‘Great! Go and get yourself a good lawyer, because this is the music business!’"

[Freypower]

That tends to indicate that Joe does appear on the song. I hope so. This should replace Seven Bridges Road in the setlist. Not necessarily at the start of the show but maybe before the acoustic set.

[sodascouts]

Since they were practicing it for live performance, perhaps they had the same thought - although the fact it didn't make the Nokia shows doesn't bode well.

While the song's harmonies are beautiful, it's not my favorite melodically. It reminds me of some of the doxology-type songs we would sing in church, where we would try to make Bible verses that weren't intended to be sung into songs and it got a bit awkward with the melody.

[EasyFeeling]

Like Soda I really enjoy the harmonies, they sound wonderful but I'm not a big fan of the melody.

[Freypower]

I am afraid I don't understand these criticisms of the melody. What do you think it should have sounded like? The emphasis is on the accapella vocals. An elaborate, sweeping melody a) would have detracted from the vocals; b) would probably have been too hard to sync the word to and then to sing.

[sodascouts]

Ideally, the melody would have a more satisfying structure that sounds more cohesive and less meandering. For an example of the ideal, see "Seven Bridges Road." That has a terrific melody that doesn't detract from the vocals in any way.

NMWITW is a good song, don't get me wrong - just not the strongest on the album.

[DonFan]

Well, I love NMWITW, and I sincerely hope it makes it to the new set list.

However, the main reason I posted that little writeup was for Don's comment to the esteemed professor to "hire a good lawyer--this is the music business!"

[Freypower]

Ideally, the melody would have a more satisfying structure that sounds more cohesive and less meandering. For an example of the ideal, see "Seven Bridges Road." That has a terrific melody that doesn't detract from the vocals in any way.

NMWITW is a good song, don't get me wrong - just not the strongest on the album.

Not being a musician, I don't think I'm qualified to state whether the melody is either 'cohesive' or 'meandering'. But if it is 'meandering' it fits the lyrical theme of people 'wandering home' and the sens of loss. This is a sad song, not an uplifting one like Seven Bridges Road.

[scottside]

I think I understand what Soda means in her post. In "Seven Bridges Road" the vocals just jump out and grab you. It's not the same with NMWITW because the melody is not as linear and memorable. The first time I heard the song I was really disappointed that they chose a song like this to really feature their ensemble singing. It has since grown on me a lot because I've played it over and over again to being real familiar with the structure of it.

On the subject of harmonies, does anyone here beside me think that Glenn is frequently buried in the vocal mix when he sings harmonies on this album? I can't hear him at all in WITW and on a number of other songs sung by others (Do Something and the title song are also examples), I can't place his voice in the mix at all. Don does his own harmonies on the title song in the verses, which struck me as being odd.

[Freypower]

You can hear Glenn clearly in the lines in LROOE before the chorus. When Don is singing 'silent stars blinking in the blackness of an endless sky/cold silver satellites, ghostly caravans passing by' etc and on each similar part except for 'back home I was so certain'.... it's Glenn singing with him.

He's easily audible in Do Something. He is harder to hear in Waiting In The Weeds. Listen for later in the song when you get to 'the tide's eternal tune' and then you will hear him.