I recorded this in 2004, immediately after the first CD began getting a lot of attention. By the time I had finished it I had a full-time working band and no-one in it liked it enough to want to learn it (or to be fair, they felt other material to be more in keeping with their idea of the band). I have always liked it though, especially how the theme returns in a new key at the end and the line "can you even remember, the things you said to me?" which is something I silently ask of a lot of people.
The first part ("Your Kitchen") was a piece I wrote in Toronto in 1991and was intended for a band I was in called Crazy in the City, but they didn't like it very much either. I always wanted to do it though and this seemed the perfect time. There is a little guitar phrase at the end of each lyric line in the verse that was quoted in NxNW quite a bit, giving some kind of continuity to this "3rd Wheel" release.
The Northern Fields part has some nice piano playing in it. I practiced piano a lot back then (and vibes when I actually owned some); I doubt I could play any of those parts now!
The McNalley's Rant part is another Toronto song, this time written for another band I was in called The Barbara Lynch Band. It wasn't much preferred either. It is about a homeless Nova Scotia native (I saw a lot of them in Toronto it seemed) and I thought it was a great combination of metal and jazz and also seemed to sum up a lot of the seedy side of my Toronto experiences. Of course "Whore's Breakfast" takes that examination several steps further.
The whole piece is long and changes gears often, but I am fond of it and happy it finally is seeing life outside the hard drive.
lyrics
Part1
Your Kitchen
Your kitchen could never stand up to the light of day.
Dismissed as just not worth it when your rules get in the way.
You know I'm only wondering if it's true or not,
but did you change the equation until you liked the sum you got?
Well my my my,
it doesn't really matter.
I've got problems of my own.
why why why
go up and down your ladder,
I've got ladders of my own.
Part 2
Northern Fields Part 1
Could never enter lightly,
into these plans you stage.
Can see my life contained upon your page.
Remember walking silent,
beneath these cold cold stars?
When all my life I've waited for your heart.
You can only hide your eyes, so many times.
And now the silent causes, from which this past is laid,
outweigh the promises that we have made.
My feet in quiet patterns,
across this snowy waste,
my breath in misty gasps, my senses take.
We can't always hide our eyes, this is all we have.
Part 3
McNalley's Rant
The sun goes down behind the ivory towers
where the money pours in by the hour.
A billion dollars changes hands each day,
ask for a dime, they got nothing to say.
I'm wasting my time, I'm wasting my mind
and its all I can do to say to you,
"Don't talk like that"
I miss the ocean, I miss my home,
I feel the tide turn in my bones.
With my shopping cart at Young and Bay,
I see the the tide turn twice a day.
I'm wasting my time, I'm wasting my mind
and its all I can do to say to you,
"Don't talk like that"
I'm wasting my time, I'm wasting my mind
and its all I can do to say to you,
"Don't talk like that"
Part 4
Interlude
Part 5
Northern Fields Part 2
And now the silences passes, from which our past is formed.
outlive the brighter days of this endless storm.
My feet in quiet patterns across this snowy field.
My breath in misty gasps, my senses reel.
We can't always hide our eyes, this is all we have.
Can you even remember the things you said to me?
The things that made us whole, the things you never see.
credits
from Third Wheel (The Songs That Didn't Fit),
released November 8, 2015
David Campbell-guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, vibes, percussion, drum programming.
