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!
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(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_/
Let Me Fall
Wood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I had to pull over 'cause something was changing
While the wind screen was wiping off the rain that kept falling
I thought about nothing, yeah, I thought about living
Bitterness is sweet 'cause it's funny after all
Now you've got me to my feet, just let me fall
Changing my keys to my old front door
Turning around and talking, pretending once more
Bitterness is sweet 'cause it's funny after all
Now you've got me to my feet, just let me fall
I've been holding on too tight, always waiting on your call
Now we both know you're right so let me fall, let me fall
After a while I began my journey home
Dreadin' that moment when on my stairs I'll be all alone
Dangling my keys in my old front door
And turning around and talking and pretending once more
That am I only doing what I expect myself to do
You know sometimes it's hard to tell what is it isn't true
Or am I living out a liar off for someone else?
Or is this just me beneath it all? I just don't know anymore
Bitterness is sweet 'cause it's funny after all
Now you've got me to my feet, just let me fall
I've been holding on too tight and always waiting on your call
Now we both know you're right so let me fall, let me fall
The song "Let Me Fall" by Wood is a melancholic ballad that delves into the conflicting emotions of a breakup. The lyrics speak of a journey where the singer is driving away, leaving behind a relationship that has caused them pain, and yet, as they drive through the rain, they are torn between feelings of bitterness and the freedom that comes with being single. The singer is lost in thought, contemplating life and the choices they have made. They ponder, "am I living out a liar off for someone else? Or is this just me beneath it all? I just don't know anymore". They are unsure of their place in the world and are searching for answers.
The chorus of the song is particularly poignant, as the singer concedes defeat, acknowledging that they have been holding onto the relationship too tightly, "I've been holding on too tight, always waiting on your call, Now we both know you're right so let me fall, let me fall". They have come to the realization that it's time to let go and allow themselves to fall, to accept the pain and the freedom that comes with it, as that is the only way to move forward in life.
In the end, the song beautifully encapsulates the emotional turmoil and the bittersweet nature of letting go of someone you once loved, while also recognizing the importance of self-love and the healing that comes with it.
Line by Line Meaning
As I drove off one evening, for the last time I'm leaving
I left knowing it would be the last time I drove away from you.
I had to pull over 'cause something was changing
I had to stop because I felt a shift in my life and couldn't go on without acknowledging it.
While the wind screen was wiping off the rain that kept falling
As the windshield wipers cleared the pouring rain, I was lost in thought.
I thought about nothing, yeah, I thought about living
My mind was blank, except for a desire to truly experience life.
Bitterness is sweet 'cause it's funny after all
I find humor in the irony of feeling bitter about what wasn't meant to last.
Now you've got me to my feet, just let me fall
I'm standing because of you, but I need to fall in order to move on.
Right now I'm dreaming that I'm back at my place
I'm fantasizing that I'm home and safe from the pain of uncertainty.
Changing my keys to my old front door
I'm returning to a familiar space and hoping for a sense of belonging.
Turning around and talking, pretending once more
I'm fooling myself into thinking that things can go back to how they were before.
I've been holding on too tight, always waiting on your call
I've been clinging to something that was never going to happen, waiting for a sign from you.
Now we both know you're right so let me fall, let me fall
We both know it's time to move on, so allow me to stumble and learn from my mistakes.
After a while I began my journey home
I eventually set out on my way back to the place where I feel safe, but unsure of what's ahead.
Dreadin' that moment when on my stairs I'll be all alone
I'm afraid of the loneliness I'll feel when I return home to an empty space.
Dangling my keys in my old front door
I'm hesitant to insert the keys, knowing that it signifies a new chapter in my life.
And turning around and talking and pretending once more
I'm still pretending that things can go back to normal, even though deep down I know they can't.
That am I only doing what I expect myself to do
I'm questioning whether my actions are driven by my inner desires or by societal expectations.
You know sometimes it's hard to tell what is it isn't true
It can be difficult to distinguish between reality and perception, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.
Or am I living out a liar off for someone else?
Am I living a lie for the sake of someone else's expectations?
Or is this just me beneath it all? I just don't know anymore
I'm struggling to identify who I am at my core, and I'm feeling lost and uncertain.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MADDOCK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind