I… Read Full Bio ↴1. Wood is an experimental noise/ambient music project started in 2023
2. Traditional Rock and Americana from James Maddock and company.
He's just an ordinary guy. We know that because he's forever telling us he's just an ordinary guy in that likable, down-to-earth, "fancy a drink, pal?" sort of way.
But how many ordinary guys do YOU know who amble nonchalantly on stage looking as if they're about to pick a fight with a karaoke machine and then sing with a sublime power that charms and chills in equal measure? How many ordinary guys do YOU know who write a whole catalogue of songs with such emotional depth that they sound like classics the instant you hear them?
He's a Midlands lad called James Maddock from the English city of Leicester, famous for... well, Leicester's not famous for anything at all really. But for years, he's had this unfeasible dream of making wonderful music under the name of Wood and, hey, dreams come true.... "We used to be called 'The Gift Of Love,'" he remembers, "and we were talking one night about music and I said, 'On all the records I really love -- like Dylan and The Band -- you can picture the room they're playing in and you can hear the wood.' And it suddenly hit me. WOOD! That was the name I wanted for my band."
James picked up his first instrument -- the ukulele that his granddad used to play in wartime bands -- at the age of eight. His dad, an optician, filled the house with jazz and if you venture into Leicester on a wet weekend you might still find Mr. Maddock playing in a jazz band in some remote corner.
"By the time I was 14, I started thinking seriously about being able to play the guitar," James recalls, "and I was pretty good at it. I had this great guitar teacher and at the end of a lesson he'd say, 'You should check out this record by Neil Young.... ' I worked on a market stall on a Saturday and I'd go in, get my wages, and then go and buy a Neil Young record. And the next week he'd say, 'have you heard Ry Cooder...?,' and it went on from week to week... The Eagles, Jackson Browne... and all the West Coast stuff...."
"Then I found Born To Run at a friend's house and it completely blew me away," he continues. "I was a big Bruce fan, still am. The Band's second album was a seminal influence on me too. Bob Dylan is a big hero for me."
James Maddock moved to London when he was 20 and served his apprenticeship in covers bands working the ...ahem... boisterous London Irish pub circuit. He played in the Arsenal Tavern, North London, every weekend for several years, an achievement that surely merits some sort of long service gold medal award. It was hard, the audiences took no prisoners and you could play there for a hundred years without being discovered, but James wouldn't have missed it for the world. And besides, from this unglamorous environment of beer, tobacco and loud covers of old standards and the hits of the day, the first splinters of Wood began to emerge about three years ago. "I took over as singer and started doing my favorite songs -- Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bob Marley stuff -- but all the time I was also writing my own songs."
They even recorded some demos of his material (at Abbey Road Studios, no less, where they fantasized about being rich and famous as they arrived to be gawked at and have their pictures taken by Japanese tourists) and waited for unspeakably lavish offers to flood in. Strangely enough, they didn't. But James somehow knew his music's spiritual home was America. "Two of the albums I most identify with are Late For The Sky (Jackson Browne) and Harvest (Neil Young). I love songwriters and I try to combine melodies and story. I've always liked my music to be quite gentle, with an acoustic, friendly feel...."
At a time when nothing got signed in the UK unless it came with nasal voices and loud twanging guitars and could be marketed as "Brit pop," James suddenly found himself flown to New York where a chance play of the demo sufficiently impressed Columbia Record executives to offer him a record deal. Classic songs. Beautiful melodies. Great lyrics. Choruses just made for dancing on the ceiling. A voice to sell your grandmother for. Where had this boy BEEN all their lives?!
"They got me to fly out there and do a gig in their offices!," James exclaims. "It was pretty scary! You spend all your life trying to get to this point and suddenly you're standing there with your guitar and it's all hanging on what you do in 20 minutes in that office."
The boy obviously done good. His old Leicester schoolchum, Bill Newsinger (guitar), and the other two Wood mainstays, Jim O'Malley (bass) and Steve Jackson (drums), found themselves finally summoned to Tongue & Groove Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to record, with producer Dave "Stiff" Johnson, the album they'd begun to despair would ever get made. "It really is a dream come true!," James admits. "When you've spent so long scrubbing around trying to get £50 together for rehearsals you think it will never happen. But when it does happen it's a huge responsibility. I'm learning a lot about myself through this."
The first Wood album, Songs From Stamford Hill, is not only full of unfeasibly memorable melodies and immaculately crafted songs, it has some telling lyrics. "I'd written hundreds of songs before," James estimates, "but when we called the band 'Wood,' everything seemed to fall into place." The album's title was inspired by the area of London where James was living at the time most of the songs on the record were written.
You may already know the opening track, "Stay You," which is featured on the best-selling Top 10 album Songs From Dawson's Creek (Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax). "Never Ending," the album's closing song, is another key track, a particularly poignant, nostalgic autobiographical song about growing up in Leicester and losing touch with schoolfriends. All of James' years of frustration are reflected in the lyric of "Knock It On The Head," in which he promises to allow himself just one last crack at this music nonsense before giving it all up to get a proper job. Then again, you don't have to spend long in his company to know he could NEVER give it up!
James has a rare way with a sentimental love song, as well. "I really love 'Our Time Has Come', it's so SOPPY!" he laughs. "There's only about three chords in it too, but there's a symmetry as well." And then there's 'You Make Me Feel Bad.' "Oh, that's about a girlfriend who made me decorate the apartment about four times," he admits. "I'd do it and she'd turn round and say, 'Oh I don't like that color!.'" All human life is here.
Wood. Crazy name. Perhaps. Ordinary guy. We think not!
======================================================
(3)Wood is rapper from Houston, Tx.
He is member of S.U.C. ( Screwed Up Click) & Half Dead Organization.
(4)Wood is also an instrumental band from Wheaton, IL. They are, what you call, like-minded forward thinkers. http://www.myspace.com/ourbandwood
(5)Wood is also a project by Wouter 'Wood' Loderichs, operating from Apeldoorn, The Netherlands . On his debut he mixes hiphop, funk, rock, blues and a tinge of industrial. More info can be found at his MySpace page.
(6) Wood is also a young Norwegian pop comet, also known as Elsa Marie Skjong. http://soundcloud.com/woodnorway/wood-honey-youre-a-dog
7. Stoner/Doom Metal from Rennes, France
Bandcamp
8. French rapper signed to GrintaRecords who started in 2020
https://www.instagram.com/woodsvs_/
I Should Be Leaving Soon
Wood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is there a way? Or is it faked?
And I know you can't understand why am I doing this
Look up my dear, can't you see?
There's no more fear, isn't clear?
And they're starting to cringe.
Can't you see?
Can't you feel?
Make believe
Let me leave
I should be leaving soon but I don't know how,
Is there a way? Or is it faked?
And the shadows run in front of me,
And they're starting to cringe.
The saddest croon of a siren that cannot sing anymore,
The loudest scream in the world is you making me, feel like a cocoon.
In "I Should Be Leaving Soon," Wood leaves the listener to decipher the true meaning behind the lyrics. The song seems to be about leaving a situation or relationship that is dragging you down. The singer is searching for a way out, but is unsure if it's even possible. He feels misunderstood, as if no one else can see things from his perspective. The shadows represent his fears and doubts, which are beginning to overwhelm him.
The line, "Look up my dear, can't you see? There's no more fear, isn't it clear?" seems to be calling out to someone who is holding him back, asking them to look at the situation objectively and realize that there's nothing left to fear. The repetition of "Can't you see? Can't you feel?" highlights the singer's frustration in trying to make this other person understand what he's going through. He just wants them to "make believe" and let him go.
In the second half of the song, the lyrics take a darker turn. The "saddest croon of a siren that cannot sing anymore" represents the loss of hope, perhaps even a loss of the ability to communicate. The singer can't express the pain he's feeling, but it's intense enough to be compared to "the loudest scream in the world." The metaphor of feeling like a cocoon suggests that he's trapped, unable to break free from whatever is holding him back. The shadows continue to follow him, causing him to question whether he'll ever be able to escape.
Overall, "I Should Be Leaving Soon" is a poignant reflection on the struggle to leave something that is no longer serving you. The lyrics are open to interpretation, but the emotion behind them is clear.
Line by Line Meaning
I should be leaving soon but I don't know how,
Expressing uncertainty about leaving and not knowing how to do so.
Is there a way? Or is it faked?
Questioning whether there is a way to leave or if the possibility of leaving is not genuine.
And I know you can't understand why am I doing this
Acknowledging that the other person cannot comprehend why the singer is leaving.
Look up my dear, can't you see?
Asking the other person to observe the artist's current state.
There's no more fear, isn't clear?
Positing that the absence of fear should be evident.
And the shadows run in front of me,
The singer sees shadows that seem to lead the way.
And they're starting to cringe.
The shadows appear to be reacting negatively.
Can't you see?
Imploring the other person to see the artist's position.
Can't you feel?
Asking the other person if they are able to empathize.
Make believe
Suggesting that the other person is pretending.
Let me leave
Requesting to be allowed to go.
And the shadows run in front of me,
Reinforcing that the shadows are leading the way.
And they're starting to cringe.
Reiterating that the shadows appear troubled.
The saddest croon of a siren that cannot sing anymore,
A simile for feeling sorrowful and helpless.
The loudest scream in the world is you making me, feel like a cocoon.
Blaming the other person for making the singer feel trapped and insignificant.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Aleix Vilarassa Cubí, Arnau Pallarols Arimany, Marc Fernandez Guitart, Pol Villegas Sánchez, Raimon Costa Tarrés
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@paulbotello1289
I grew up without a Father. So many walk that same path of life, never knowing the TRUE guidance a Father can provide, the sense of protection, the unwavering love a Father is supposed to extend to his children.
It only got harder once I had children of my own, HOW do I be a Father, when I don’t even know what it means…so many abandon their children asking that same question to themselves.
God changed everything, God began showing me what it meant to love, to care, to nurture…but not just my children, but those around me “thy neighbor”.
I realized I knew no Father, just so I could come to know THE FATHER, when the time was right 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
We are going to have “Moments of Uncertainty”
But that is not as important as the element you use to relieve yourself. Many followers of Christ are still indulging in our vices and addictions to relieve our “Uncertainties”
Lean on God in your darkest moments, lean on the word that says you were created with meaning and purpose, lean on the Grace of God…let it steady your mind, your heart and your body.
I don’t know who I’m writing to, who’s reading this, but God is ready, and waiting for you to seek him, through Jesus Christ, whom he sent to die the death meant for you and I.
Not just on Sunday, not just when you “need” him, not just when you’re desperate…but every day, hour, minute and second of your life.
Develop consistency in Christ, and you will come to know what it means to “Be still, and know, that he is God”
Glory be to God 🩸🩸🩸
If I still have you here, God bless you, join me as I take you inside a moment of my own personal “Uncertainty” in life, while never forgetting God has me always 🙏🏽🕊
https://youtu.be/VXfWQtxnwqc
🙌🏽🩸
@charleswallace1664
I lost my dad 8 months ago I'm 43 years old and I'm not ashamed to say that I've shed many tears and still do
@michaelpanagiotis7109
Big Hugs CharLes . . .Sending Love . . .To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord Christ Jesus . . .
@BryanScholl-be4lt
Over 2 or 3 weeks ago I lost one of my older female cousins so I gained another guardian angel to watch over me rest in peace Jordan Fellar
@ozzy9504
My dad is a Vietnam vet. Served 2 terms. And he is sliding. Absolutely killing me.
@breepeterson1165
I lost my dad in January. He was so independent, started going down hill. Caught his face on fire smoking with oxygen on. He had COPD and Emphysema, plus many other heart related problems. It was a couple hospital stays before he passed away in our home, on hospice. It hurts my heart so bad everyday, but I just keep telling myself he's not in any pain anymore.
@Kennysandoval-bd7wr
i lost my dad 3 weeks ago now i’m 17 he was a desert storm veteran and this song describes him perfectly all of y’all are in my prayers i feel for your loss.
@ernesttalley8206
I lost my father when I was 7 in 1976 he was a pastor the teaching of the word of God I can still here in my memories today . Thank God for good Christian parents.
@joeyvaltakis3153
My mom was born in 1976
@robhartman5503
My 23 year old son sent me this...made me kneel in tears ND thank God for what I have. I then went next door and hugged my Dad.
@debbietrevino7595
Hug him tight! I would do anything to hug my dad again. Can't wait until the day I can see mine and hug him. He was the best man I have ever known.