Chris began playing guitar at the age of 11, but some of his earliest memories include performing The Beatles song Help! for a show and tell in kindergarten. His favourite bands growing up included The Beatles, KISS, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rush among others. He has cited guitarists such as Ted Nugent, Rik Emmett, Ace Frehley, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker as influences through out the years as well.
After only 13 months, Chris grew bored with guitar lessons and decided to teach himself. He was part of a band called "Blitzkreig" in middle school and played a few shows, the first of which was at a bar in Ridgewood, New Jersey when Chris was only 13. At the age of 14, Chris and his brother formed a band called "Anti". While searching for a bass player, Chris found Darryl Sage, who remains one of his best friends and ended up co-owning Chris's house in Ridgewood. Anti eventually found a singer named Blaze, and whilst in High School, Chris opened for bands like Mountain, Overkill, Steppenwolf, Blackfoot and Metallica. Chris graduated from High School at the age of 16 and went straight into being a professional musician, teaching students during the day and playing shows in the night.
Anti did fairly well, but always had trouble with vocalists. Chris recorded his first demo tape at age 14 and his second at 17, which got him his first national gig. Chris was in New York City one night, hanging around in a club in the middle of Times Square, when he met the lead singer of a band called Heaven named Allan Fryar. They were looking for a guitarist and Chris asked if he could give Allan a tape. A week later and Fryar called, and it turned out that the band also needed a drummer, so Chris's brother Phil joined. The band was managed by David Krebs and a certain Paul O'Neill, who Chris would maintain close ties for most of his career.
Heaven were in-between leaving labels, and Chris did shows with them at the end of a tour and they recorded a new demo. Fryar sung on tapes of some Anti songs and it inspired the band to get the producers in the studio. Opening for Heaven were Skid Row (minus Sebastian Bach) on the East Coast (Chris turned down the opportunity to join the band) and on the West Coast, Warrant.
Paul O'Neill was later introduced to the Oliva brothers, Jon and Criss of Savatage by an Atlantic Records rep and O'Neill left Heaven to work with Savatage. Eventually, Paul invited Chris to New York, where they recorded the CD and introduced Chris to the band. Heaven did was not working with O'Neill and Krebs any more, but wanted a vocalist. Ironically, the band considered asking Sebastian Bach to join them, but they could not catch him in New York. But, Chris soon learned that a second guitarist may be needed in Savatage, so he learned all of the Savatage songs he could in time for Savatage's 1987-1988 tour with Dio and Megadeth. Savatage hired someone else, which left Chris very upset and he flew himself down to the audition. Chris was given the opportunity to perform, played 2 songs before the band stopped and hired him on the spot. The band went on tour, but Chris was kept on the side of the stage, hidden from the audience. Chris was only 20 years old and playing arenas and was happy, but miserable. He left Savatage after the arena tour.
Chris bounced between bands, such as Big Mouth for a couple of years until he came into contact with the Oliva brothers once more. They asked Chris to join them just as the 'Gutter Ballet' CD was finished. He gladly accepted, but the road took it's toll on all of the members and it was around this time that Jon Oliva began his drug and alcohol addiction. Under pressure from his brother to find a singer for their band, Chris quit Savatage at the end of the tour and formed Witchdoctor, with his brother Phil on drums, Hal Patino of King Diamond on bass, and TSO West member Doug Kistner on keyboards. The band played all over Europe, but the brothers were not clicking musicially and the band disbanded. Criss was contacted to perform on Savatage's Streets tour, but issues meant this did not happen. Chris soon learned that Jon Oliva had left Savatage. Chris called Jon, who invited him to Florida, and over "10 bottles of Jack Daniels", their project Doctor Butcher was born.
Zachary Stevens replaced Jon in Savatage, but Jon continued to work with his brother Criss on the record. Chris was again asked to re-join the band, but, he stayed loyal to Jon and Butcher. Some initial demos were recorded with Hal Patino and Gene Barnett for Butcher, but bad press over Jon's health lead Atlantic Records to make a decision - Doctor Butcher or Savatage? Atlantic chose Savatage. Chris was left disheartened. He went to work with friend Ray Gillen of Badlands fame, but he died shortly after the project began. Around this time, Criss Oliva was killed in a car accident. Chris was asked for the fourth time to join Savatage, but Atlantic Records suggested Alex Skolnick join the band instead. Chris would later work with Alex on the TSO East touring company. Butcher was signed in Europe and their debut was recorded in 1994. Jon Oliva left to do the Handful of Rain tour with Savatage so Butcher never toured. Chris, this time, inquired about joining Savatage on a more permanent basis with Jon Oliva, as a close friend and student of Criss Oliva he felt he could pay respect to Criss "spiritually" on stage. Jon agreed, and Chris was joined by Al Pitrelli, a good friend of his from New York. The two formed a steady partnership for almost 6 years, recording both 1995's Dead Winter Dead and 1998's The Wake of Magellan together.
During this time, Chris recorded with Joe Lynn Turner, TM Stevens, as well as produced and recorded for Metalium. Chris was featured on Tribute CD's for Guns N' Roses, Accept and Iron Maiden. The Maiden CD was with Jeff Plate and his long time and newly re acquainted best friend, John West. Savatage was stalled a bit in the recording of a follow up to The Wake of Magellan, due to the tremendous success of the then "Side Project", Trans Siberian Orchestra. Caffery considers himself the "ring leader" of TSO East when they tour, and he enjoys performing live with the ensemble.
Al Pitrelli left Savatage in 2000 when he accepted an invitation to replace Marty Friedman in Megadeth. Zak Stevens left shortly after, citing family reasons. Chris was left as the only guitarist in Savatage and Jon Oliva took up lead vocal duties for the first time in ten years. Chris played the lead parts with Jack Frost (who replaced him in Metalium) playing the rhythm parts on a short tour with Fates Warning and Judas Priest in support of 2001's Poets and Madmen. After Megadeth "disbanded" (it later reformed in 2004) in 2002, Al Pitrelli was invited to re-join the band since "he never left the family anyway".
Since the release of Savatage's most recent CD, Chris has appeared on records of Savatage alumni, including Zak Stevens's Circle II Circle and on Jon Oliva's Pain records. Chris himself released solo EPs and albums in 2004 and 2005, with a follow-up full-length album due for release in 2006.
Solo Discogs
The Mold EP - 2004
Music Man EP - 2004
Faces - 2005
W.A.R.P.E.D - 2005
Pins And Needles - 2007
House Of Insanity - 2009
Your Heaven Is Real - 2015
The Jester's Court - 2018
Madonna
Chris Caffery Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The lights in the space
Around me
It's bitter and cold
On the banks of the stream
True love, it seems
Takes the course
That never runs smooth
To fight the art
So will be
I believe that destiny
Replaces the wall of sadness
Your love is all I need
It's caught in a web
That surrounds me
Did you ever see Madonna?
My heart is lost without her
Each day apart we breathe
Is taking the life from me
As I try to sleep
(Oh Madonna)
The dark of the night
Surrounds me
What's missing in life
I'll try to find in my dreams
When I wake, I see
(Oh Madonna)
The empty space that
Lies beside me
It's bitter and cold
(Bitter and cold)
Where the warmth used to be
I believe that destiny
Replaces the wall of sadness
Your love is all I need
It's caught in a web
That surrounds me
Oh yeah yeah
Did you ever see Madonna?
My heart is lost without her
Each day apart we breathe
Is taking the life from me
And every day that I'm alone
My bleeding heart
It turns to stone
Deep inside I must believe
In the end you'll be with me
Oh life's too short for pain
How can I start to live again?
-Solo-
I believe that destiny
Replaces the wall of sadness
Your love is all I need
It's caught in the web
That surrounds me
Did you ever see Madonna?
My heart is lost without her
Each day apart we breathe
Is taking the life from me
And every day that I'm alone
My bleeding heart
It turns to stone
Deep inside I must believe
In the end you'll be with me
-Solo-
{Under solo}
Yeah
Each day away
I takes my life away
The lyrics of Chris Caffery's "Madonna" describe the feelings of a person who is deeply in love with someone but feels lost without them. The singer talks about how bitter and cold life feels without their loved one, and how true love is a difficult journey that is worth fighting for. The song talks about the belief in destiny replacing the wall of sadness and emphasizes the importance of love in life. The singer expresses their longing to be with their loved one and how, in their absence, every day feels like it is sucking the life out of them. The lyrics of the song are emotional and poignant, reflecting the intense desire to be with the one you love.
Overall, the song "Madonna" is about the power of love and how it can shape our lives. The singer uses dark and somber imagery to convey the loneliness and emptiness they feel when their loved one is not with them. However, they also express hope and faith in destiny, suggesting that love can conquer all obstacles. The lyrics of the song are beautifully written and deeply moving, making "Madonna" a powerful and emotional ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
As it falls, I see
While watching something fall, I take in my surroundings
The lights in the space
I see the lights shining in the surrounding space
Around me
I am amidst all of this and taking it all in
It's bitter and cold
The present situation is unpleasantly cold and bitter
On the banks of the stream
In the vicinity of a stream, river or other water body
True love, it seems
Authentic love, as it seems
Takes the course
It moves naturally according to the circumstances
That never runs smooth
Although true love is authentic, it is seldom easy
But it's worth it to me
Despite its difficulties, true love is valuable to me
To fight the art
To resist or struggle against the scenarios brought by life
So will be
The situation will be as it is meant to be
I believe that destiny
My trust lies in destiny's control
Replaces the wall of sadness
The sadness that I am feeling will be replaced by my destiny
Your love is all I need
All I need is the love from the person I love
It's caught in a web
The love I share with this person is caught and trapped within a circumstance
That surrounds me
It encircles me and is omnipresent in my life
Did you ever see Madonna?
Did you ever witness the essence of true beauty and purity?
My heart is lost without her
I am inconsolable in life without it
Each day apart we breathe
Every moment spent away is like breathing without oxygen
Is taking the life from me
This distance is killing me from inside
As I try to sleep
While trying to sleep
(Oh Madonna)
Reference to the new line of thought started in the previous stanza
The dark of the night
The gloom of the night
Surrounds me
Encloses me
What's missing in life
What I yearn for in life
I'll try to find in my dreams
I will try to chase these yearnings through my dreams
When I wake, I see
After I wake up
(Oh Madonna)
Reference to the new line of thought started in the previous stanza
The empty space that lies beside me
The emptiness next to me that needs to be filled
Where the warmth used to be
The space that used to be filled with love and warmth
Oh yeah yeah
A miscellaneous addition in lyrics to maintain the rhyme
Oh life's too short for pain
I aim not to emotionally suffer through my short lifespan
How can I start to live again?
How can I bring about a positive change in my life?
-Solo-
A reference to emphasize a musical interlude
Each day away
Each day spent apart
I takes my life away
It drains the life out of me
Contributed by Aiden J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.