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Go I

(Words and music by Eric G. & Bob D.)

 

This song was inspired by some writing that Bobby D. had done when we met for the first time to play together. He had a few years kleen and we decided to meet and see if there was any chemistry in playing together. We clicked right away and began writing together. I had the chord structure that I had stole from an old Keith Otte song. I always loved the way that Em moving to the 9th worked with Cmaj7. Those two chords are just made for each other. So Bob had the skeleton of this song about seeing other addicts relapsing and dying. He gave me the few stanzas he had put together and asked me to work with them. I wrote the first and second verse and some of the chorus and we met back a week later. We spent a couple of hours organizing the structure of this song and then it was done. This song has changed very little since that day in 2005 when we first worked on it.

 

Go I, since its inception, has been an anthem that showcases Bob’s guitar skills. When we do this song live there is often a 3-4 minute intro solo and a 5+ minute solo between V2 – V3. With those two chords, it just builds and builds to a frenzy by the end of the song. We usually close with this song at live gigs because it is such a supercharged celebration of recovery. The outro is the mantra of a prayer from a 12 Step fellowship that has been central to my recovery program for 25 years.

 

It was not intentional but it is interesting the way the order of the songs have shaken out for KLEEN 2013. The first song, Crawling, begins with the word “I”. The last song, Go I, ends with the word “God.” From I to God. How cool is that? Just like recovery…from the “I” of Step One to the anonymity and service and spirit of the Step Twelve.

 

The recording of Go I in Nashville was fun. – Shane Keister shows why he is one of the world most recorded musicians in this track (Shane is old-school—he toured with Elvis. Really!). He starts the song with those wonderful syncopated, asynchronous sustained chords. They give the song an off-balance start that gets organized, finally, around the beat by the chorus. It would have been very cool to have been able to use just the chords without the beat track. However, the click track in Shane’s headphones bled into the mic of the grand piano he was using so Ace had to cover it with the beats. But they are asynchronous as well, keeping that intro off balanced. It is cool that the song ends with those same haunting chords and makes for a perfect end of the album.

 

Another cool feature of this song is Dow playing the fretless Jazz Bass. You can really hear it warbling in the last verse. It gives a very nice texture throughout the song. I also like how Ace, in the production, features my vocals out front in the first chorus (since I am singing the first verse) and Lisa’s in the second chorus. It’s like seeing the same object from two different vantage points. Then, in the third it is a perfect blend.

 

I like JT’s interpretation of the riff for this song at the end of the first chorus. I LOVE JT’s slide version of the same riff at the end of the second chorus. Those little touches just make, for me, the album so listenable and allows me to discover new things almost every time I listen.

 

If there was anything on the album I could redo it would be the outro on this song. It never quite gelled to the level that I hoped that it would rock out. We did not quite get the mix right with the instruments (there is a lot of rocking out underneath what is currently there that does not make it to the sound palate). We ended up losing some of the vocal tracks that alternated every other line with the root and the 5th—where now both Lisa and I sing the same repeated lines in the outro. Every time I listen to Go I, I am invited again to surrender and be grateful for what I do have instead of pining for what might have been. It’s still a great song.

 

LYRICS

 

He comes into the room for the 21st time

Beaten, battered, and bruised

He’s sick and tired of being sick and tired.

He says its gonna be different

He’s had enough this time

He’s as gray as the smoke from his cigarette

He’s as empty as the night

 

I didn’t plan for this kind of life

It just took me on that wild ride

How did I get here and what made me decide

I just nod my head and wonder why

 

But for the Grace of God go I

 

She can’t sit still for one more minute

She cannot look you in your eye

She shares from the heart

With a gathering strength

A shaking hand clutches a white key tag

As she clears her throat to say

 

I didn’t plan for this kind of life

It just took me on that wild ride

How did I get here and what made me decide

I just nod my head and wonder why

 

But for the Grace of God go I

 

Things are looking better now

He’s put together some time

And with his newfound strength

He decides to give it – One last try

The call comes at 3am

And the funeral’s on Wednesday

I can’t sleep for the rest of the night

(For the rest of my life)

 

He didn’t plan for this way to die

It just took him on that dead end ride

How did he get there?

What made him decide?

I just shake my head

And shudder why?

 

But for the Grace of God go I.

 

God, take my will and my life

Guide me in my recover and show me how to live

(There go I)

 

God.

 

 

 

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