The band's core members - Andy Poliakoff, lead vocals, guitar; Paul Ottinger, keyboards, percussion, guitar, vocals and Jarrett Nicolay, bass, guitar, banjo, vocals – have always delighted fans with their ability to confound expectations. On previous albums, their songs often featured arrangements that veered off in unanticipated directions moving from funk to rock, from go go to soul. “It'‟s good being eclectic,” says Poliakoff, the band's main lyricist and frequent spokesperson. “It keeps you on your toes musically, and it's fun, but we wanted to get back to some serious songwriting. In the past few years, we were writing for the live shows, endless groove things that are far from what we wrote when we were starting out. We wanted to get back to that original creative impulse and focus on our songwriting.”
The band ventured cross country to California and got to work, challenging themselves to find a more emotionally intense means of expression. “There's a value to the time you put into a project,” Poliakoff explains. “We didn‟t allow ourselves to be satisfied with the first, or even third version of a song. We're getting older, and we wanted more than bombast. We wanted to look outside ourselves and find something more reflective, more truthful, more universal, to open a new chapter in the band‟s songwriting history.” For the first time, they collaborated with other songwriters, including Brooklyn folk-rocker Ari Hest, New Orleans-based bluesman Anders Osborne, Maia Sharp who wrote “A Home” for the Dixie Chicks, and the album‟s Producer, Marshall Altman (Marc Broussard, Matt Nathanson).
“Marshall is a phenomenal musician,” Poliakoff says. “His ability to tweak the arrangements and get us deeper into the music and our emotions was outstanding. He was there the whole time, pushing us to do better.” Ottinger adds his praise: “He‟s a strong songwriter and arranger. Every time you'd pick up a guitar and sing, he'd get down to every hook, every chord, every lyric. "Is that a strong emotion?" "Is that what you really want to say?" He helped us blend all our influences into a voice that‟s new, but still reflects our past.”
The songs on Home This Year showcase the band‟s remarkable growth as both musicians and songwriters. The title track is a tale of the loneliness and yearning that haunts the road. “Being on the road away from your family and friends for a long period can be tangibly painful," sites Poliakoff, "'Home This Year' embodies that sentiment and how singing about it can help make you feel closer to home." “Sing Along,” written with Altman, is an uplifting, anthemic song, on which Poliakoff delivers one of his most soulful vocals, both tender and passionate. It is also the first tune they've ever cut with a string section. “It was written with a conscious desire to connect with the audience,” Poliakoff explains. “We play music, but we're not different from our audience. We don‟t want people to idolize us, we want to get people to have a sense of togetherness.”
Long-time Virginia Coalition fans may be surprised by the group's evolution from "spontaneous anything goes" band to introspective, soul-searching songwriters, but it's a change the band welcomes. “We've known each other for 15 years now, and while the music is still getting better, we don't want to keep writing the same song over and over,” Poliakoff states firmly. “I'm proud to be part of a group of three friends who have gone from the basement and garage to maturity and making music that speaks from the heart. It's a struggle to make a great album, but we welcomed the opportunity to reinvent ourselves while staying true to the core of what we do.”
Virginia Coalition started building a buzz in their hometown of Alexandria, Virginia in the late '90s, releasing their first album, The Colors of the Sound, in 1998. But the three principals are life long friends who have known each other since high school, and in the case of Ottinger and Nicolay, since junior high. Ottinger wanted to be in a band since he was five years old, when his mother let him paint his face like Paul Stanley of Kiss and play air guitar with a tennis racket. Poliakoff had a guitar-playing cousin, who inspired him in the 4th grade. When he was 14, his mother was struck with cancer and eventually died; music and singing provided him with an emotional release. Nicolay's father played classical guitar. Although he was intimidated, he‟d sneak away from the family and pick out melodies on his own.
Their 2008 album "Home This Year" was critically well received, including a four-and-a-half star rating from AllMusic. They have not released new music since 2008, but as of 2018 are still actively touring, especially in the Washington DC area.
Voyager 2
Virginia Coalition Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Though you're hardly in my view
For I'll listen in the way in which you told me
Hold them nearly, all these murmurs of the earth
Pushing forth white waves when something hits the water
And all directions, they point inside of you
And all connections, to life beholding
The pebble in the puddle made the ripple in the water
Voyager 2, you're leaving together
Send help soon
And I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
You draw closer now with a message held within
From all who gazed into the sky in silent wonder
What a number, the living and departed
For people all alone forever searching for an answer
Almost screaming to be heard
Modern words confusing their own need to listen
Spirit foresee endless course of aboriginal direction
Answer prism, resurrection, the earth, the child, the sun
And the stars we see
Voyager 2
You're leading the rescue
Send help soon
Well I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
They're all waiting for you
And so with patience, and the deepest fascination, I greet the day we'll somehow be together. There's time forever, in all the miracle believer, well I traveled all this way to finally see you
And all directions, they move inside of you
And all connections, the life beholding
The pebble in the puddle made the ripple in the water
Made the child sleeping soundly by the river
Voyager 2
You're leading us home now
Send help soon
Well I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
They're all waiting for you x 2
They're all waiting, all waiting, all waiting, they're all waiting for you
Voyager 2
You're leading the rescue
Send help soon.
Well I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
They're all waiting for you x 2
Voyager 2
We're leaving together
The first stanza of the song "Voyager 2" by Virginia Coalition talks about the ability to hear and understand even when something is not in plain sight. The singer seems to be referring to the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which is traveling far into space, sending back signals to Earth. The spacecraft is listening to the sounds of the universe and transmitting them back to Earth while also bringing a message from the people who have "gazed into the sky in silent wonder". The stanza also talks about the ripple effect of events, where a small pebble in the water can create a ripple that impacts the child sleeping by the river, and in a similar way, the Voyager 2 is having an impact on people waiting to hear from it.
The second stanza continues to talk about the feeling of awe and wonder at the universe and the message the Voyager 2 brings. The singer talks about the confusion of modern words and how people need to listen more. The message from the Voyager 2 is seen as a prism that has the power to bring people together across time and space. The stanza ends with a repetition of the chorus, with the singer acknowledging that spirits and children are waiting for the message from the Voyager 2.
The last stanza is a message of hope and patience. The words "there's time forever" suggest a feeling that eventually, people will understand, and that the message from the Voyager 2 will bring people together in a way that is almost miraculous. The Voyager 2 is seen as leading people home, and the chorus repeats once again, suggesting that people are still waiting to hear from the spacecraft.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear you clearly
I understand what you're saying
Though you're hardly in my view
Even though you're far away and not visible
For I'll listen in the way in which you told me
I'll listen carefully and attentively, just as you instructed me to
Hold them nearly, all these murmurs of the earth
Pay close attention to all the quiet sounds and voices of the world
Pushing forth white waves when something hits the water
When something touches the water, it creates ripples that spread in all directions
And all directions, they point inside of you
There's something deep inside you that guides you in all directions
And all connections, to life beholding
All the things around you are connected and hold the essence of life
The pebble in the puddle made the ripple in the water
Small things can have a big impact and cause a chain reaction
Made the tree casting shadows on the river through the swaying limbs I see
The tree's branches move back and forth, creating shadows on the river that I can see
Voyager 2, you're leaving together
The spacecraft, Voyager 2, is leaving along with its crew
Send help soon
We need assistance as soon as possible
And I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
There are many people, both alive and deceased, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Voyager 2
You draw closer now with a message held within
The spacecraft is getting closer and brings a message with it
From all who gazed into the sky in silent wonder
People who have looked up at the sky with awe and wonder are sending a message
What a number, the living and departed
There are countless individuals, both living and dead, who are sending their greetings
For people all alone forever searching for an answer
There are many people who are always searching for an answer to their questions and problems
Almost screaming to be heard
Many people are desperate to have their voices and concerns heard
Modern words confusing their own need to listen
People are often too caught up in their own conversations and don't take the time to listen to others
Spirit foresee endless course of aboriginal direction
Intuition and spirituality can help guide us on our journey
Answer prism, resurrection, the earth, the child, the sun
There are many answers to be found through reflecting on the natural world and life's cycles
And the stars we see
The stars in the sky are a source of wonder and inspiration
You're leading the rescue
Voyager 2 is leading the effort to save us and bring us together
Well I've seen spirits and children all waiting, waiting for you
There are many eager individuals who are waiting for Voyager 2 to arrive
And so with patience, and the deepest fascination, I greet the day we'll somehow be together.
I am patiently waiting for the day when we can all be together
There's time forever, in all the miracle believer, well I traveled all this way to finally see you
I am a true believer in miracles and have journeyed a long way to see Voyager 2 arrive
And all directions, they move inside of you
There's something deep inside of you that guides you in all directions
The pebble in the puddle made the ripple in the water
Small things can have a big impact and cause a chain reaction
Made the child sleeping soundly by the river
The ripples in the water created a peaceful environment that helped the child to sleep
You're leading us home now
Voyager 2 is leading us back to where we belong
They're all waiting, all waiting, all waiting, they're all waiting for you
There are many individuals who are eagerly waiting for Voyager 2 to arrive
We're leaving together
We are all departing on this journey together
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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