βThereβs something magical that happens when these musicians play together,β says Ray LaMontagne. βIβve been wanting to capture what weβve been doing live for a while. The chemistry is really special.β
The billing on LaMontagneβs fourth album, God Willinβ & the Creek Donβt Rise, reveals instantly that something new is happening with this project. The record is credited to βRay LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogsββthe first time that the singer/songwriter has defined himself within a band setting, rather than as a solo artist. In addition, it marks the first time that LaMontagne has taken on the role of producer. And as soon as the music starts, with the Joe Cocker-style soul power of the opening βRepo Man,β itβs apparent that one of the worldβs most acclaimed artists has moved into some fresh territory.
Not that he was necessarily in need of a new direction. The album is the follow-up to 2008βs Gossip in the Grain, which debuted in the Top Five on the Billboard charts; garnered two 2010 Grammy nominations; earned LaMontagne a coveted slot performing on Saturday Night Live; and continued the expansion of a highly-respected career that began with his first album, Trouble, in 2004.
The line-up of the Pariah Dogs, and their alliance with LaMontagne, is already well-proven and familiar. These musiciansβEric Heywood and Greg Leisz on guitars, Jennifer Condos on bass, and Jay Bellerose on drumsβhave been working as the singerβs touring band for the last few years, and developing into a tight-knit team. Though he had thought about trying to get all of these busy session players together in the studio before, only now did time and circumstance align and make it possible.
For one thing, there was a new work set-up that LaMontagne was excited about. βI just bought this old estate in western Massachusetts that belonged to the first US ambassador to Russia,β he says. βThereβs this beautiful room in the house, that was once a connected barn that was turned into a ballroom in the early 1900βs and I felt like it would make a great place to record.
βIt was an unknown space and an unknown situation, but it all worked,β says drummer Bellerose. βIt was one of the easiest sessions Iβve ever doneβthe songs just played themselves. We were scheduled to record for two weeks, but we were done tracking in five or six days.β
The last song on God Willinβ, βThe Devilβs in the Jukebox,β was the first thing that the group recorded. Bellerose notes that this simple, bluesy track set a tone for the sessions. βIt was kind of a springboard,β he says. βIt loosened everybody up, gave us a chance to breathe.β
βThatβs one of those songs I tend to write that is so damn linear, itβs up to us to make it interesting,β says LaMontagne with a laugh. βIf you take it apart, thereβs not a lot happening. But the way these guys approach songs is always surprising. Where they take the melody, the interplay between the rhythm sectionβwho knows what theyβre going to come up with?β
Guitarist Heywood says that the singer βmade a decision beforehand to trust the band, and he really stuck to that.β He points to the albumβs title track as an example of the way these sessions allowed each song to find its own path. Heywood and Leisz both play pedal steel, and they looked to LaMontagne to determine the arrangements and instrumentation.
βOn that one, he said, βHow about two pedal steels?,β Heywood recalls. βAnd then Jay started doing this bombastic, artillery-style drum thing. The song reads as a letter, with no chorus or bridge, so the whole thing was the most surprising track for me, and definitely one of my favorites. And Rayβs vocal performance is amazing.β
Ray LaMontagne has one of the remarkable stories in musicβs past decade. Since leaving his job in a Maine shoe factory to pursue his calling as a musician, he has released three studio albums and two live EPs, won awards and topped criticsβ polls internationally, and established himself as one of the most distinctive talents of his generation. His songs have been featured in numerous films and television shows, including multiple performances of his compositions on American Idol.
Yet he maintains that, until God Willinβ, all of these accomplishments have come despite his own struggles in the recording studio. βThe process has always been laborious, itβs been difficult for me to get any momentum,β he says. βI always felt like I was swimming upstream.β
But this time, things were different. βRay was really in his comfort zone,β says Bellerose. βHe was home with family, heβs really relaxed around this bandβthere was never a moment that felt uncomfortable. I think heβs just having a lot more fun communicating with more people, and getting out of being on his own as a singer/songwriter.β
LaMontagne claims that he didnβt specifically set out to write songs for this group of musicians, though he certainly had its sound in his mind. Regardless of the outcome, he says that his process didnβtβand canβt everβchange.
βFor me, songs just have to happen, they have to come out of nowhere,β he says. βOtherwise it sounds like youβre trying to write a song, and I can spot that a mile awayβand I think listeners can, too.
βI wonβt ever sit down and write unless something is knocking at the door. I can go months without writing a songβand thatβs when it gets scary, when you feel like youβre never going to write another song because theyβre just not coming around.β
LaMontagneβs steady output, however, indicates that thereβs little cause for concern. And for God Willinβ & the Creek Donβt Rise, in addition to his own extraordinary writing, these ten songs had the benefit of contributions from an exceptional bunch of musicians, collaborating under ideal conditions. Even the notoriously self-critical LaMontagne canβt hide his delight at the results.
βThese guys are all so good, and I trust their instincts, I just wanted to write songs that I felt would excite them,β concludes LaMontagne βThere was a certain amount of pressure, because theyβre so much more accomplished than I am as a musician. But I knew that if I could pull together a batch of songs I was happy with, there was really no risk involved.β
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
Like Rock & Roll And Radio
Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Does it deepen over time like the river
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are you still in love with her?
Do you remember how you were before the sorrow?
Are you closer for the tears
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
I can see you lyin' there
Tying ribbons in your hair and pullin' faces
I can feel your hand in mine
Though were living separate lives in separate places
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now?
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
All these white lies hanging like flies on the wall
Hard wired, road tired
Counting curtain calls and waiting
Waiting for the axe to fall
Are you still in love with me
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Does it deepen over time, like the river
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now?
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
The lyrics of Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs's song Like Rock & Roll and Radio depict a sense of uncertainty and introspection about a relationship that seems to veer towards unfamiliarity. The first stanza describes an attempt to understand the course of the relationship and whether the love between the couple has deepened over time or has gradually diminished. The second stanza delves into the reminiscence of past moments before sadness and hurdles took over, and ponders whether their relationship has become a façade, turning into strangers.
The third verse focuses primarily on the stream of white lies that are now beginning to weigh heavy on the relationship. The singer might be exhausted from the whole ordeal of meeting the expectations while also waiting for the big axe to fall that will inevitably end the relationship. The final stanza circles back to the question of love, leaving it up to the audience's interpretation whether the love has dissipated into nothingness or has weathered the trials of time and circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you still in love with me
Are your feelings for me still the same
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Or have they evolved with time
Does it deepen over time like the river
Do they become more intense and meaningful like a river flowing through a canyon
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are you still in love with her?
Do you still have feelings for her
Do you remember how you were before the sorrow?
Do you recall how things were before the sadness and heartbreak
Are you closer for the tears
Did the tears bring you closer together
Or has the weight of all the years left you hollow?
Or has the weight of time drained you both of emotions
Are we strangers now?
Do we not know each other anymore
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Like two distant performers from different acts
Are we strangers now
Do we feel estranged like two separate entities
Like rock and roll and the radio?
As separate as music genres like rock-and-roll and radio channels
I can see you lyin' there
I can picture you lying with your hair tied up and making faces
Tying ribbons in your hair and pullin' faces
I can feel your hand in mine
I still sense your touch and presence
Though were living separate lives in separate places
Despite leading different lives in different places
All these white lies hanging like flies on the wall
All these little lies that are hovering around like insects on a wall
Hard wired, road tired
Tired from many journeys
Counting curtain calls and waiting
Going through many shows and waiting for the end
Waiting for the axe to fall
Anticipating the inevitable end of a situation
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Have our feelings for each other transformed or remained constant like before
Does it deepen over time, like the river
Did our love mature and become more profound over the years
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are we strangers now?
Do we feel like we don't recognize each other anymore
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
As estranged as performers from separate shows
Are we strangers now?
Do we feel disconnected and unfamiliar
Like rock and roll and the radio?
As separate as two different music genres
Lyrics Β© BMG Rights Management
Written by: RAYCHARLES JACK LAMONTAGNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sonicfoxxmusic4281
As a songwriter myself i often sit with a talented friend who is a poet and we analyse and tear apart lyrics and music of some of the "greats" to see we can work out if there is one true special ingredient in that singer and his/her songs...a formula.
Ray Lamontagne...
....in a nutshell we came up with a variety of things but one or two things stood out.Remember this is purely an opinion based from somebody(myself) who is prolific with the pen(which i feel Ray is).
Let's get the beard thing out of the way for all of the many folk who ridicule it..or love it. There are two things, whilst trying to focus on writing which tend to go by the wayside when you write songs(three if you count relationships)..as a man, preening in front of a mirror is the last thing on the agenda as writing "cracking" lines appears at the worst times..ALL THE TIME..
3.a.m. in the morning, with snow falling on the roads and watching drunk folk arriving home seems par for the course(mildly amusing though..especially when a song comes out of it). But mostly, words and music, as a creative, pop up at some unusual times..i.e. when the Mother-in-law pops in for a surprise visit, or right in the middle of a family film, up pops that gem of an idea(and out comes the pen(with a wife killing you with daggers in her eyes), on a hospital bed awaiting treatment for a muscle spasm or waiting for the wife and kids to go around the supermarket OR burning numerous PIZZAS due to taking eye off the ball....couple some of these with Ray's touring schedule and you realise A BEARD and the least possible amounts of haircuts in a year is a cool place to be.
Now, to the music and lyrics. As a dude whose fame arrived a little later than many, i've absolutely no doubt that Ray has already built up a stack of songs(before somebody said.."THIS DUDE'S AWESOME") and it will be more of a problem finding said songs when he needs to find them, as most will probably be written on just about anything he could find at the time..recently i penned a whole lyrical idea on the only available space on our Vauxhall Corsa service manual..my wife found it and went nuts.."HOW OUR WE GONNA SELL THE CAR NOW!!!"..her words...The Tippex bottle will find it's way there one day..although, who knows, it might put more value on the car if my latest song THE STORM by HANNAH DRURY turns a few heads..or anything by JASMINE LAMPORT...or on SONIC FOXX MUSIC(Shameless advert OVER).
Back to the whole point..WHAT IS RAY'S SECRET....after weeks of discussing it and totally rating his albums, we finally settled on a simple thing.....RAY LAMONTAGNE'S SECRET INGREDIENT IS......
RAY CHARLES LAMONTAGNE....it's him, the way he writes, the way he sings and the way he is able to carve you up emotionally inside with that amazingly emotional voice. Ray's secret IS NO SECRET...the answer is, as he says...WITHIN YOU...the listener...and when you find HIM you just want to buy, YES, BUY, every bloody song the man has penned.
ROCK ON RAY LAMONTAGNE...and to anybody who finds and loves his creations...I SALUTE YOU!!!!
@sonicfoxxmusic4281
FINALLY....AT LAST..
Five or six years ago i would play this regularly to my 11 year old daughter, just totally praying that she might connect to something of pure quality. Time passed on and two days ago, she walked in through our open back door with "hi Dad..i won't be a minute..just need the toilet". Eventually, as this very song above was playing, the latch on the door opened, she headed towards the sink to wash her hands with the briefest ever conversation between us passed, which went as follows...
"You know Dad, it must be about the right time for us to go and see Ray Lamontagne "live", don't you think?"
In that very small but delicate moment, i knew i had raised my daughter properly. It felt like the perfect exchange between a father and his daughter.
She shouted through, "No response then Dad...no?".
The only reason i was silent was because i was trying to dry my eyes without her knowing, as this song played out to it's conclusion. It felt like a beautiful final film scene and the credits rolled.
HUGE THANKS Ray.
@troyputteet8026
I remember the first time I heard this song speechless still speechless No words to describe how good this song is in French or in English unreal smh I tip my hat off too ya OL Ray boy smh too good
@chriseasdon3536
i first heard ray in 2004,bloody blew me away,still listening every chance I get,the dogs bollocks got nothing on ray,he is bloody brilliant,whata man,whata voice,deserves a medal for saving America form years of shite music,ten out of tn ray lamontagne
@KH-rd2xi
Cuts right thru you. Brilliant Lyricist. Brilliant Sound. Brilliant Clarity. Bravo for sharing your work with us, Ray.
@ticksspoon
Best song on the album. This strips me down til I'm nothing but a hollow ache. Absolutely devastating, and yet I come back, again and again. Such is the power of Ray.
@kevindryden5192
You sound like him
@seanmckee2296
He has said the things...that I couldn't express myself...and wanted to say....and I'm a songwriter and guitar player...have been for
years........absolutely beautiful...his soul and songwriting talent...and band!
@abhobie
This song is what song writing is about. If you have a simple melody you don't need more if your lyrics are spot on like these. I love this song!
@jaimiehorn6642
Ray is the best! His songs touch the very depths of your soul
@JeffReilly
These people must be like, βwhat the F### is going on!β This guy is so in touch with himself and what is going on itβs ridiculous!
@McDania
I've never seen or heard anything more perfect than this