The band includes Dylan Shrader on lead guitar, Casey Toll on upright bass, and Drew Smith on percussion. Both Shrader and Smith hail from the Asheville area, while Toll comes from Wilmington, NC. Shrader's training in bluegrass, combined with Smith and Toll's formal jazz education, creates uniquely soulful music with hints of rock, jazz and blues. Layered against Lizzy's powerful voice and the folky textures of the songs themselves, the band's musical style is intelligent, danceable, and unique.
Traces
Lizzy Ross Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know you thought that we were through,
But I can't leave behind those nights,
The river in the dying light.
Who knows what one more try will do?
Every time I close my eyes,
Like mist across the water, visions rise.
Holding my breath and jumping in,
Our bodies finally collide.
All these traces lead me back to you.
And all these places, I'm just passing through.
All these faces, none of them are yours.
I don't know what I left you for,
I just know I can't live like this anymore.
I left you dreaming in the sun,
Sprawled out on the rocks, your heart undone.
I loved you then, but didn't know,
I only knew I had to go.
A love like that can make you run.
And when I finally came around,
I went back to that old river town.
I looked for you, but you weren't there,
The locals said a love affair
Had broken up and brought you down.
All these traces lead me back to you.
And all these places, I'm just passing through.
All these faces, none of them are yours.
I don't know what I left you for,
I just know I can't live like this anymore.
I'm on your front porch, got your paper in my hand
I've been waiting for you, lord, well I've got it all planned.
Give me one more chance and I'll explain,
Through every single thing I've seen,
I only wished that I could be with you again.
All these traces lead me back to you.
And all these places, I'm just passing through.
All these faces, none of them are yours.
I don't know what I left you for,
I just know I can't live like this anymore.
In Lizzy Ross's song "Traces", the singer expresses the feelings of regret and loss as she tries to find her way back to a former lover. The song opens with the singer racing through the night in an attempt to reconnect with her former lover. She expresses that she cannot leave behind the memories of their past, in particular "those nights, the river in the dying light." While she acknowledges that her former lover believed their relationship to be over, the singer believes that one more try could make a difference.
The middle section of the song describes memories that the singer cannot escape. She sees visions of her former lover in her mind's eye, as if the memories are mist rising off the water. She remembers the feel of raindrops sliding off skin, and how their bodies collided when they were together. The vividness of these memories highlights the depth of the singer's feelings.
The last section of the song reveals the reason for the split between the singer and her former lover. The singer left her lover when they were happy together, not because she wanted to, but because she felt she had to. When she came back to look for her lover, she found that they had been broken by their love affair. The singer now recognizes how much she has lost and pleads for one more chance to make amends.
Line by Line Meaning
Racing the night to get to you.
I'm in a hurry to reach you before it's too late and I'm willing to push myself beyond my limits to do so.
I know you thought that we were through,
You had given up on us, but I haven't.
But I can't leave behind those nights,
I can't forget about the experiences we shared together.
The river in the dying light.
The river we used to frequent that looked so beautiful in the evening light, but now with an uncertain future since we parted ways.
Who knows what one more try will do?
There is no way of knowing if things will work out, but there's no harm in trying again.
Every time I close my eyes,
Whenever I try to concentrate or think about something, memories of you surface in my mind.
Like mist across the water, visions rise.
These are indistinct or unclear images that form in my mind and the more I try to forget them, the more they seem to appear.
The raindrops sliding off your skin,
I remember that rainy day, the raindrops sliding off on your skin, watching you as you got drenched in the downpour, enjoying every bit of that moment.
Holding my breath and jumping in,
As you jumped into the river to swim, I held my breath and jumped in right after you, enjoying this moment with you.
Our bodies finally collide.
We swam so close and our bodies finally come together, colliding together.
All these traces lead me back to you.
All these things remind me of you, and they are pointing me towards you, back to you.
And all these places, I'm just passing through.
I didn't find anything permanent that could replace you, so I kept wandering through different places.
All these faces, none of them are yours.
I kept meeting new people, but none of them compared to you. None of them were yours.
I don't know what I left you for,
I'm not sure why I left you in the first place.
I just know I can't live like this anymore.
I'm not okay with the life I'm living now without you and I need to make things right so I can be with you again.
I left you dreaming in the sun,
I remember the times when you were sleeping in the sun, comfortably dreaming without a care in the world.
Sprawled out on the rocks, your heart undone.
I remember how vulnerable you looked, lying there with your heart exposed, seeming to be broken after I left you.
I loved you then, but didn't know,
I loved you then, but I didn't realize how much I loved you until after I left.
I only knew I had to go.
I didn't necessarily want to leave, but I felt like I had to.
A love like that can make you run.
Sometimes love can be so scary that it makes you want to run away from it instead of embracing it.
And when I finally came around,
After time had passed, I came to the realization that I needed to make things right and find you again.
I went back to that old river town.
I returned to the place where we used to spend so much time together.
I looked for you, but you weren't there,
I searched for you, but you weren't around anymore.
The locals said a love affair
The people around there told me that we had a love that was unforgettable, something truly special.
Had broken up and brought you down.
Because our love affair ended, it left a giant hole in your heart, which heavily affected your life.
I'm on your front porch, got your paper in my hand
I approach your house with your morning newspaper in my hand.
I've been waiting for you, lord, well I've got it all planned.
I've been waiting for this moment and I know just what I'm going to say to you.
Give me one more chance and I'll explain,
If you give me one more opportunity, I can explain myself to you and make things right.
Through every single thing I've seen,
I've seen and experienced many things since I've been away from you.
I only wished that I could be with you again.
All I want is to be back with you, the person who means the most to me.
Contributed by Nolan D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.