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Where We Lost the Wheels

from Violins by Brady O'Keefe

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about

"Where We Lost the Wheels" was the first song I wrote after dropping out of college, and it echoes my rationale surrounding that decision. I was about to enter my third year as a student, when I experienced a major turning point in my view of my future. I had already known there was nothing that would give me the bliss and sense of purpose that creating music gave me, and that any further pursuit of the degree I was stumbling after would seal for me a fate which I could not accept. These thoughts would creep into my head as a college student, but I would always bat them away, and tell myself that I would find time in the future to explore my secretive songwriting. But, as I watched three of my older friends receive their diplomas, I was struck with the realization that I needed to end my charade as a student and follow my own path, because it suddenly was "now or never". Somehow, I found the courage inside myself to choose "now".
This song is a testament to the sacrifice an individual must make in the pursuit of happiness, and the battle between the truths we are told and the truths we must find on our own. "Where We Lost the Wheels" symbolizes the often-hidden opportunity a young person is given to either take a leap of faith, or to play it safe. In the second verse, I outline how my decision to leave school effected my skeptical view of a higher power, and how this shift in mindset allowed me to turn my own inner-fears into empowering courage, which I had never before known.
This song will always resonate with me, and I now hope for it to inspire others to seek a purpose all their own, and to "reap the benefits of wandering". I sacrificed a lot in the two years it took me to write, record, mix and master this album, and despite any personal losses I endured, "Where We Lost the Wheels" is my small reminder of one leap of faith that may have saved my life.

Recording the bass track was one of the most enjoyable recording experiences I had on the record, for whatever reason. This one gave me relatively few troubles when mixing, and I like the way it turned out.

lyrics

If I hijack the train I’ve been sleeping on,
would you follow me & reap the benefits of wandering?
Because I know something is bound to break;
My legs or my chains?
I’ve got to get the hell off of this train I’m on because, for too long, these tracks have been bending wrong & they’ll be burning coal until its gone.

So, what now that the clock has thrown out his arm?
The shut down life of the party,
but somehow, I’m tardy to get to bed last night again.

But, all I need to take from life is my own precious time. I watched those first two decades pass me by, surprised I’m still alive.
But hey, at least I’ll try.
Still, every day, the light inside me grows
a little but less bright.


Today on the news they told me Jesus is dead.
Is it blasphemy to buy his book & never make the time to read it? I want to be good but I don't want to die young.
But gone, the days of criminals hung.
Today I went to church and found it burning down.
So, God’s gotta buy a new house
& heaven’s got no angels around
with pearly gates as black as the clouds.

So, what now, that the clock has thrown out his arm?
The burnout boy with his dropout joy won’t last.

But this is not my easiest way out.
This is where we lost the wheels I found.

Too young then to leave my home, too old now to cry.
But every day the sunlight leaves these eyes
a little bit less blind.
So why, oh why...
Why would I waste all my brightest nine to fives?

credits

from Violins, released March 19, 2018
All instrumentation performed & produced by Brady O'Keefe.
Music & lyrics by Brady O'Keefe.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Brady O'Keefe.

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Brady O'Keefe image

Brady O'Keefe Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Producer
• Singer-Songwriter • Mix & Mastering Engineer

Located in Boston, Massachusetts. Available for freelance work in any or all of the areas of expertise listed above.
Feel free to contact me through the button below with any inquiries, work propositions or miscellaneous hate mail. ... more

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