TRACK BY TRACK COMMENTARY

Several years in the making, I wrote these lyrics and music and recorded them together with Hanna Enlöf and producer/recording engineer Erik Berglund. I have always insisted that a song is a story that is enhanced and enlightened by its musical form. Here is the story behind the songs on Bridges I Have Crossed.

 

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Bridges I Have Crossed

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Keys, 12 String Acoustic Guitar

Erik Berglund - Drums and Percussion

Dan Hedmark - Bass

 

Bridges is probably the most autobiographical song I have ever written. It includes my musings about certain important aspects of life including the debilitating arthritis that has severely hampered my guitar playing in the past few years.

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The Lazarus Code 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Electric Guitar, Keys

Erik Berglund - Drums and Percussion

Micke Andersson - Bass

 

The Lazarus Code was inspired by the innumerable beggars seen in and around our shops and supermarkets here in Sweden. It is both a personal criticism of my inability to share of that which I am blessed, but also a criticism of the church, where theological truth and purity is many times more important than seeing the Father in the needy around us. When we fail to address the poverty, hunger and loneliness of the unfortunate, we fail the Father as well. You can even find the rich young ruler from the gospels wandering around in this song. If the shoe fits, wear it.  Do something about it! It is certainly my size!

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Copper Bottomed 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Background Vocals, Keys

Erik Berglund - Percussion

Dan Hedmark - Electric Guitar, Bass

 

I began stringing together proverbs from a long list I found on the internet. Only after completing two verses and beginning the refrain did the song reveal to me what it was all about. At that point the third verse sort of wrote itself.

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Grey Light Morning 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Background Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Erik Berglund - Drums and Percussion

Dan Hedmark - Electric Guitar

Micke Andersson - Bass

 

I was teaching a song-writing class and had promised the students that I would also write at least two new songs for them. I realized one day that I only had about an hour left until the class should begin. Needless to say I was in a hurry. Grey Light Morning presented itself in about forty minutes. “Just a moment's pleasure left me crying” is certainly something many of us can relate to. 


 

A Lie in Your Name 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Electric Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Background Vocals, Keys

Erik Berglund - Drums and Percussion

Dan Hedmark - Bass

 

A Lie in Your Name began as an acoustic guitar riff. Hanna Enlöf composed the music to the refrain and bridge. When I presented the song to Erik Berglund in the studio he immediately said we should throw away the riff. Talk about killing your darlings. As you can perhaps guess, the song took on a completely different character than I had originally intended. As always, Erik was right. The lyric is about codependency and finally breaking free from unhealthy and toxic relationships.

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Three Degree World - feat. Hanna Enlöf

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Hanna Enlöf - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Keys

Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals

Erik Berglund - Drums and Percussion

Dan Hedmark - Electric Guitar

Micke Andersson - Bass

 

Three Degree World is a dystopian take on what could happen if our efforts to curb global warming don’t succeed. I wrote the entire lyric in one sitting and Hanna Enlöf composed the music. Musically, this song is truly Hanna’s. She is my favorite songwriter. We share the vocal duties. 

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Annie Oakley 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Background Vocals

Anna Ihlis - Background Vocals

Are Lauritzen - Background Vocals

Dan Hedmark - Electric Guitar

Micke Andersson - Bass

Erik Berglund - Percussion

 

Annie Oakley was the second song I pulled out of my magician’s hat on the rushed day teaching songwriting. I had fooled around with the riff earlier while sitting at my kitchen table. I knew early on that the song was about Annie but didn’t know the song was about Annie Oakley until I wrote that she shouldn’t “go out that door with her gun”. Then everything fell into place. I realized it couldn’t have been easy finding love when she could both ride a horse and shoot a gun better than any man. I wrote the first two verses in about 10 minutes and rushed off to my song writing class. The third verse came the same evening at home.

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If I Were a Dreamer 

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Craig Stanton Thomas - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Hanna Enlöf - Acoustic Guitar, Keys

 

If I Were a Dreamer was recorded live in the studio playing Hanna’s Levin parlor guitar while singing at the same time. It is a very spontaneous recording with some atmospheric additions on acoustic guitar and piano by Hanna. The original riff was something I could play with only one finger after surgery on my left hand. Needless to say I can now use all of the fingers on my left hand, but not nearly as well as before the surgery. Such is life! It is the longest song on the album and you have to wait until the last verse for it all to make sense.

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LAST BUT NOT LEAST - THANK YOU!

 

I would especially like to thank my good friend and gifted guitarist/musician, Dan Hedmark, for his guitar and bass work on this album. Always a master of good taste, his playing brings me joy and constant wonder. I never tire of listening to his solos on “Grey Light Morning” and “Annie Oakley”. His playing on “Copper Bottomed” and “Three Degree World” totally lifts these songs to new heights. 

 

Thank you, Micke Andersson, for your encouragement and bass playing on several of these songs. Thank you for believing in my work!

 

A special thanks to Anna Ihlis and Are Lauritzen for your friendship, encouragement, and background singing on Annie Oakley. 

 

Great appreciation and thanks to producer/sound engineer Erik Berglund for your honesty, artistry and competence. You are the sort of person I want by my side when trying to find the perfect recorded form for my songs. This album owes much to your gifts.

 

And finally, thank you Hanna Enlöf, for being just the person you are. You are the best of everything in this world, a constant inspiration and role model in all things musical. Your contribution to these arrangements and your playing and singing is truly a gift. It is an honor to make music with you. It is a privilege to share a creative world with you!