The Man Who Left The Band

THE MAN WHO LEFT THE BAND written and recorded on June 27, 2014 Some say he left for home but his family waited and he never showed. He hadn’t tired of the touring cuz after he quit he hit the road. He wasn’t seeking solitude or anything like that cuz he took his cat. “I’ll never get back in that van with a smile,” swore the man who left the band. The band replaced him with two guys who together were barely half his size. They doubled up the sound but they weren’t nearly half as fun to have around. Puzzled and cynical at first, soon the fans would accept and understand. But behind the scenes things would never be the same without the man who left the band. He clambered up the eastern seaboard, tumbled down the mountains way out west. Never spoke his destination, forever rambling, never stopped to rest. He roasted in the desert and when he came to the coast he swam. A ghost from the past seemed to be chasing the man who left the band. The two new guys came and went. They drank and fought their way out of the group. Too many cooks in the kitchen rarely results in better soup. The band folded their tent, went back home, got day jobs and sold the van. It could never be the same anyway without the man who left the band. He walked into a diner, ordered pie and coffee from a pony tail. Turning around all she saw was a man who’d been too long out on the trail. Under his coat his heart was racing like a line drive headed for the stands. He hoped to make amends for what he broke the day he left to join the band. As the coffee cooled, the waitress warmed up, started talkin’ bout her troublesome two boys. “Too much like their long gone deadbeat daddy but it’s not like they ever had a choice. I work so hard to provide for them most days I barely have the strength to stand. Hey now mister I didn’t mean to make you cry,” she said to the man who left the band. “When I tell you who I am,” he said, “You might not care to hear another word from me. But if I live to be a million your face is like no other sight I’ll see. I never cried when your mother died and if you knew her you would understand. Your daddy’s here begging your forgiveness,” said the man who left the band. Those troubled boys made a beautiful noise when they got their first drum kit and a bass. A lightbulb flickered on just above the devilish grin on Grandpa’s face. Mama’s left arm tan a testament to her role as driver of the van. As Grandpa fills the tank whistling a song about the man who left the band. As Grandpa fills the tank whistling a song about the man who left the band. Late in my father’s life I had written and recorded a batch of new songs and this tune was his clear favorite among them. I woke up one morning in June 2014 and for some reason I was thinking about Yonder Mountain String Band and mandolin player Jeff Austin who had just left the group. As Michelle left for work that morning around 7:30 I started to jot down some lyrics and strum my guitar. By 9:30am I was sitting in front of a microphone recording the track you see attached below. Songs almost never come to me that quickly but the music and lyrics sprung forth fully formed that morning, almost as if the song was hiding inside the guitar all along, just waiting for me to get out of bed and set it free. This song is not about Jeff Austin or Yonder Mountain String Band. I just got the story concept of “The Man Who Left The Band” stuck in my head that morning and ended up writing a short piece of fiction set to music. Though the lyrics are a work of fiction, I have come to see them as a fractured mirror reflection of my father’s life, containing as they do references to the life of a working musician, a broken home, the passage of time and travel, silent reflection, regrets, and eventual redemption. Everything in the lyrics is a figment of my imagination. None of this stuff ever actually happened. But something about it really struck a chord with my Dad, who called it his favorite song that I had ever written. Dad’s been gone eight years now. During his last days he and I spent a lot of time together, strengthening a bond that we shared throughout my entire life. With a CD player at his hospital bedside he often requested to hear this song played over and over. Among my proudest moments was when my father complimented me on this song. No praise, prize, accolade, amount of fame or fortune will ever mean as much to me as when my Dad said, “Great lyrics, son.” Below you will see a link to stream and/or download the song for free. Please share with anyone you think might like it. -rh https://richickeyarchive.bandcamp.com/track/the-man-who-left-the-band