For the group's first album, Adam and David added bassist Matt Malley, multi-instrument talent Charlie Gillingham, and drummer Steve Bowman. David Immergluck served as the second guitarist on the first album, but he did not officially join the band until 1999. Guitarist Dan Vickery was added just as the band set out on their first tour. As stated before, 'August and Everything After' provided the band with a surprise yet very welcome success, garnering them critical praise. Released on September 14, 1993 through Geffen Records, the album hit #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, showing that their tunes had tapped into something.
Counting Crows, with their intimate and confessional yet smooth, often catchy musical approach, achieved a large fan base among melodic rock fans over the years. Their 90s acclaim reflected that a significant music scene looked for something different from the raging guitars of the Seattle-based grunge movement as well as from either boilerplate pop music or the budding electronic music subgenres. The group kept on releasing new songs into the new millennium.
The band's more recent successes include the 2004 hit song "Accidentally In Love", which was featured on the Shrek 2 soundtrack (that has sold over 1,000,000 copies). That song has also garnered nominations for a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. That same year, the band released their first ever best of set, which they titled 'Films about Ghosts'. That album features songs from every phase of the Counting Crows' recording career. To date, the band has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.
The group made the news when 'Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings' was released on March 25th, 2008. In addition, on January 16, 2008, the band released a digital EP as a free download on their official web site, consisting of the songs "1492" and "When I Dream Of Michelangelo". The lead single from the album was "You Can't Count On Me", which was released for radio play on February 4, 2008.
The album itself is thematically and stylistically divided into two parts: the first, more rock-influenced Saturday Nights, and the second, more country-influenced Sunday Mornings. Theme changes along with style; in the Sunday Mornings portion of the album, songs become more reflective. The iTunes release contains several bonus tracks, including a track-by-track interview with Duritz.
Members of the band:
Adam Duritz - lead vocals, piano, wurlitzer, tamborine
David Bryson - guitars, dobro, vocals
Charles Gillingham - piano, organ, accordion, mellotron, vocals
Dan Vickery - guitars, sitar, banjo, vocals
David Immergluck - guitars, bass, electric sitar, mandolin, vocals
Jim Bogios - drums, percussion loops, vocals
Millard Powers - bass guitar, upright bass, piano, vocals
Ex-members of the band:
Matt Malley - guitars, double bass, vocals
Ben Mize - drums, percussion, tambourine, bulbs, vocals
Steve Bowman - drums, vocals
Ben Ulrich - drums
Marty Jones - bass guitar
Lydia Holly - keyboards
Toby Hawkins - drums
Albums
August And Everything After - (September 14, 1993)
Recovering The Satellites - (October 14, 1996)
Across a Wire - Live in New York City - (1998)
This Desert Life - (November 1, 1999)
Hard Candy - (July 8, 2002)
Films About Ghosts: The Best Of - (November 25, 2003)
*New Amsterdam: Live At Heineken Music Hall - (June 19, 2006)
August And Everything After, Deluxe Edition - (Fall 2007)
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - (March 25, 2008)
Somewhere Under Wonderland - (September 2, 2014)
Four Days
Counting Crows Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It gets harder every time
She is leaving here tonight
Take a breath
Take your time
Spread your wings and rise
Make a mark upon the wall
Close your eyes and she ascends
Hold your breath and ease your mind
Forty Thousand times
Time fades into the night
They descend and then they climb
Feathers falling through the night
Have you seen Ohio rise?
It has been four days and nights
All I want is something fine
It gets harder every time
She is sleeping far away
Take a breath
Take your time
Spread your wings and rise
Rise into the black Ohio skies
The lyrics of "Four Days" by Counting Crows are about moving on from a relationship and the difficulty of doing so. The singer wants something good, but he acknowledges that it's becoming increasingly challenging to find that something. He mentions a woman leaving, and encourages listeners to take their time and spread their wings to rise above the situation.
The next stanza describes someone making marks on a wall and painting their face as a way of passing the time and dealing with their emotions. The imagery shifts to feathers falling through the night as the singer asks if the listener has seen Ohio rise. The repeated phrase "four days and nights" suggests that he's been struggling with this breakup for that amount of time.
The final stanza has a similar sentiment to the first. The singer wants something fine, and acknowledges that it's gotten harder with time. He mentions that the woman in question is now sleeping far away, but encourages listeners to once again take a breath and spread their wings to rise above the situation.
Overall, "Four Days" is a melancholy song about the difficulty of moving on, but it also contains a message of resilience and persistence.
Line by Line Meaning
All I want is something good
The singer desires a positive outcome or experience from a certain situation.
It gets harder every time
With each repeated attempt, the difficulty level increases.
She is leaving here tonight
A female is departing from the current location, implying sadness or longing.
Take a breath
To pause and relax, or to calm oneself before continuing forward.
Take your time
To not rush or hurry, to move at a comfortable pace.
Spread your wings and rise
A metaphor for reaching one's full potential by embracing freedom and taking flight.
Make a mark upon the wall
To signify achievements or progress by leaving a permanent impression on a surface.
Paint your face and pass the time
To entertain oneself, perhaps through artistic expression or socializing.
Close your eyes and she ascends
A woman, possibly the same one from earlier, is elevated or elevated in one's thoughts.
Hold your breath and ease your mind
To momentarily pause one's thoughts and let go of worries or stress.
Forty Thousand times
Repeated instances of an action or event, which may suggest fatigue or monotony.
Time fades into the night
Time passes and blends into the obscurity of nighttime, where one's sense of time may become distorted.
They descend and then they climb
Referring to a group or object that moves up and down, either literally or metaphorically.
Feathers falling through the night
A visual image of feathers floating down in darkness, possibly symbolizing loss or decay.
Have you seen Ohio rise?
A rhetorical question, asking if anyone has witnessed an impressive or unexpected event in Ohio.
It has been four days and nights
A certain amount of time has passed, possibly marked by the absence of someone or significant event.
All I want is something fine
The artist desires something of high quality or value.
She is sleeping far away
A woman is currently resting at a distant location, evoking feelings of separation and longing.
Rise into the black Ohio skies
Similar to earlier lines, encouraging the listener to rise up and reach their true potential, while also emphasizing the color and unique features of the Ohio skyline.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DANIEL VICKREY, MATTHEW MALLEY, CHARLES GILLINGHAM, BEN MIZE, ADAM DURITZ, DAVID BRYSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind