CHRIS HERIN - HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

GUESTS ARTISTS

Alex Lifeson (Rush) - Peter Frampton - Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) - Doane Perry (Jethro Tull) - John O'Hara (Jethro Tull)

Cody Bowles (Crown Lands) - Kevin Comeau (Crown Lands) - Kim Mitchell (Max Webster, Solo) - Tim Bowness (No-Man, Solo)

Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree, O.R.k., etc.) - Michael Sadler (Saga) - Jeff Kollman (Alan Parsons, Lou Gramm, Cosmosquad, etc.)

Mark Mikel (The Pillbugs, Corky Laing's Mountain, etc.) - Shane Gaalaas (Yngwie Malmsteen, Cosmosquad, The B'z, etc.)

Kevin Chown (Tarja Turjunan, Chad Smith, Sebastian Bach, Cosmosquad, etc.) - Matthew Parmenter (Discipline)

Randy McStine (McStine Minnemann, Porcupine Tree & Steven Wilson (touring)) - Hugh Syme (Ian Thomas Band, Rush)

Gary Craig (Bruce Cockburn, Alannah Myles, Larry Gowan, etc.) - Terry Sampson (Warners Bros., Kenny Rogers, Vanessa Williams, etc.)

Johnathan Blake (Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, etc.) - Walter White (Bob James, Maynard Ferguson, Wynton Marsalis, etc…)

Jimmy Keegan (Spock's Beard, Pattern-Seeking Animals) - David Barrett (Platinum Blonde, Alan Parsons, DB Trio)

Tim Michling (Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, etc.) - Ben Riley (Moshen Namjoo, Wynton Marsalis, etc.)

Rick Morrison (Toronto Sessions) - Adam Gust (L.A. Sessions, Educator, etc.)

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Produced by: Terry Brown & Chris Herin
Recorded and mixed by: Terry Brown at Moron Heights Recorders, Ontario, Canada
Arrangements by: Chris Herin & Terry Brown
Artwork, design and illustrations by: Hugh Syme
Mastered by: Peter J. Moore at the “E” RoomToronto, Canada
Photography by: Matthew Parmenter & Hugh Syme

WARNING SIGNS

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Shane Gaalaas
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic rhythm guitars: Chris Herin
Lead guitar: Jeff Kollman
Lead vocals: Michael Sadler
Backing vocals: Mark Mikel & Chris Herin
Percussion & programming: Terry Brown
Keyboards & samples: Hugh Syme

Wake up from a sleepless dream
Wound up tight with no relief
Hands on the clock work overtime
A different person closed his eyes last night

Days add up
Time winds down
Who knows where the end begins?
Well-intended alibis
Cover up the warning signs

Get up from a dreamless sleep
Unaware what’s happening
All you used to be lies buried inside
In decay and in disguise
Animated not alive

Days add up
Time winds down
Who knows where the end begins?
Well-intended alibis
Cover up the warning signs

I wait to listen
But you cannot speak

Days add up
Time winds down
Who knows where the end begins?
Well-intended alibis
Cover up the warning signs
Things aren’t as they seem
Reality unseen

On the long sunset

THE DARKEST HOUR

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums & percussion: Doane Perry
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Lead guitar, mandolin, flute: Martin Barre
Lead vocals: Mark Mikel
Backing vocals: Matthew Parmenter & Mark Mikel
Keyboards: Hugh Syme

I’m not sure how I got here
I’m not sure where I am
I awoke to surroundings strange
As everything has changed

Now I wander through this new and barren place
I feel the shadows overtake in a haunting déjà vu
Voices speaking only when spoken to
I crave silence in solitude

In the darkest hour
Sideways drives the rain
Tearing all the leaves from limbs
Before the clouds give way

Now I look for a place to hide
From dark memories
I can’t change what’s already done
Trees must bend and sway not to break

In the darkest hour
Sideways drives the rain
Tearing all the leaves from limbs
Before the clouds give way
To bare the sun

In the darkest hour
Sideways drives the rain
Tearing all the leaves from limbs
Before the clouds give way
As darkest hours fade

LIVING IN THE NIGHT

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Ben Riley
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic guitars, mandolin: Chris Herin
Lead vocals: Matthew Parmenter
Backing vocals: Mark Mikel
Keyboards & orchestration: John O’Hara
Oboe & English horn: Tim Michling
Percussion & programming: Terry Brown

Pictures in disarray
Fell to the ground today
As the walls crumble
On to the ground

Promises disappear
Under a blue sky clear
As I discover
Your fall from grace
What does it mean?
What shall I do?

Darkness falls
For stars to light the sky
Living in the night
Simple truth
Hiding in plain sight
Living in the night

As my illusions break
What will the pieces make?
Can they go back
Together again
I cover the wounds
That will not heal

Darkness falls
For stars to light the sky
Living in the night
Simple truth
Hiding in plain sight
Living in the night

Turn corners blind
What will I find?
Peace at last?
From the past

Darkness falls
For stars to light the sky
Living in the night
Rising to shine…

THE HEART OF YOU

Music: Herin, Sampson / Lyrics: Sampson

Drums: Ben Riley
Bass: Kevin Chown
Lead Guitar: Peter Frampton
Electric & acoustic guitars, banjo: Chris Herin
Lead & backing vocals, keyboards: Terry Sampson

I don’t have a number here to call you
Just a number of hours here to get through

I take one step, then another
Whenever the world’s going under
What you had, you gave
And I will never be the same

I carry the heart of you
Every single step
To be a part of you
I will not forget
What I hold on to
Is what will get me through
I carry the heart of you
Oh, the heart of you

When I need to take a breath, I take two
How do I find myself without you?

I take one step, then another
Whenever the world’s going under
What you had, you gave
And I will never be the same

I carry the heart of you
Every single step
To be a part of you
I will not forget
What I hold on to
Is what will get me through
I carry the heart of you
Oh, the heart of you

I carry the heart of you, I do
(In every single step)
I carry the heart of you, I do
(I will not forget)
I carry the heart of you, I do
I carry the heart of you, I do
(I will not forget)

SECRET ADVERSARY

Music: Herin, Truax / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Gary Craig
Bass: Kevin Chown
Lead Guitar: Kim Mitchell
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Lead & backing vocals, tambourine: Randy McStine
Keyboards: Matthew Parmenter & Hugh Syme

In between the rights of way
Fumbling lines writ on your sleeve
In a shadow box behind a silken screen
Talking back to front
Words drift and meanings shift
Poetic echo in dissonant decay

A trick of light
A trick of memory
See shadows crawl
Unaware of a secret adversary
Standing you up against the wall

In the haze behind your smile
Wheels grind slowly in reverse
As confusion obfuscates a cruel truth
A knight without his armor
A king without his crown
The mercenary draws his sword

A trick of light
A trick of memory
See shadows crawl
Unaware of a secret adversary
Standing you up against the wall

A twist of fate
Adrift in jeopardy
Chance did befall
Unaware of a secret adversary
Standing you up against the wall

Thee, enemy within
Nemesis unrecognized
Distant early warning signs
too well-disguised
Hiding in plain sight
From this vantage point
It’s hard to understand
The how and why and when

A trick of light
A trick of memory
See shadows crawl
A twist of fate you’re
Adrift in jeopardy
Where chance did befall
A trick of sight
A trick of scenery
In absentia
Unaware of the secret adversary
Standing you…
…and us…
…up against the wall

A WRINKLE IN TIME

Music: Herin, Truax / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Adam Gust
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Lead & backing vocals: Randy McStine
Keyboards: Hugh Syme & Chris Herin

The weight of time
Presses down on me
I don’t know how to meet reality
Scenery blurring, I retreat

These wheels no longer turn
All of a sudden then is now – how?
Chasing a place to hide
Grace, we yearn

We walk side by side in a silent way
Louder than any words
Unspoken truth
A wrinkle in time
Not by design

Time ticks away
From another day
I can’t embrace
This unwanted change
Comfortable in ignorance I repent

We walk side by side in a silent way
Louder than any words
Unspoken truth
A wrinkle in time
Not by design
Green eyes blink as the full moon shines

Night light shadows dance
When lamp lights go out
Soothes a well-worn soul
Body and mind disconnect
Rope untied - free to fly

We walk side by side in a silent way
Louder than any words
Unspoken truth
A wrinkle in time
Not by design
Too late the cavalry

Wide-eyed in surprise
A wrinkle in time
With time undefined
Moments divide
A wrinkle in time
A face in disguise
Nowhere to hide
A wrinkle in time

SECOND ENDING

Music: Herin, Chown / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Ben Riley
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric guitar soundscapes, acoustic guitar: Alex Lifeson
Electric & acoustic guitars, banjo: Chris Herin
Pedal steel guitar: David Barrett
Lead vocals & violin: Matthew Parmenter
Backing vocals: Mark Mikel & Randy McStine
Recorders & cor anglais: Tim Michling
Keyboards: Kevin Chown
Percussion & programming: Terry Brown & Kevin Chown

I watch the storm approaching
Without a sound
The ending was beginning
Hidden in the clouds

A soothing sense of motion
Feeds a restless peace
A thousand inner voices
Crying for relief

I heard the faintest whisper
On a sudden breeze
You came to tell me
You had been set free
(You are free on the breeze)

Leave life behind
For a second time
As the ghosts of yesterday
Finally pass away

feel the empty spaces
Never here before
I see the broken pieces
Abandoned on the floor

Your reflection changes
In the setting sun
Colors radiating
Fading then they’re gone

Leave life behind
For a second time
As the ghosts of yesterday
Finally pass away
Hidden memories
Silent dignity
As you’re drifting off to sleep
Free to rest in peace

SAFE HOUSE (Isolation)

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Ian Bacon
Bass: Colin Edwin
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Lead & backing vocals: Tim Bowness
Piano & keyboards: Chris Herin
Sound design & programming: Colin Edwin
Strings: Hugh Syme

I hide inside a safe house
Behind the curtains drawn
I contemplate the faces
Scratched into the wall
I can hear every snowflake
Kiss the windowpane

Too much noise and I disappear
through the floor
Smoke and mirrors open distant shores

I chased the moving target
With a blindfold on
I held the dying embers
Of a siren song
There is no silver lining
Through this endless night

Too much noise and I disappear
through the floor
Smoke and mirrors open distant shores

Too much noise and I disappear
through the floor
Smoke and mirrors open distant shores

Safe inside behind the darkened door

SLOW TO CRUMBLE

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Ben Riley
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Additional rhythm guitar embellishments: Kevin Comeau
Lead vocals: Cody Bowles
Backing vocals: Mark Mikel
Keyboards: Kevin Comeau

Dark the sky flashing lights swim in the clouds
Half-submerged in a surge of muted sound
Pace a hole in the ground

Silhouettes in distress step out of frame
Turning wheel rusted steel to blunt the blade
Claim another prize if we can survive
When our worlds collide

Some things I should say haven’t been said
Some things that I write haven’t been read
I keep to myself
Building a wall that’s slow to crumble

Distance from distant drums deny relief
Steal away from the fray by heading east
Aching for sleep

Holding on far too long in wind and rain
Caught off guard falling hard
When secrets came
Indecision mine when the hero died
In the friendly fire

Some things I should say haven’t been said
Some things that I write haven’t been read
I keep to myself
Building a wall that’s slow to crumble

I watch the sails
As the ship disappears into the mist
Up in the air
An arcing flare is burning bright

Some things I should say haven’t been said
Some things that I write haven’t been read
I keep to myself
By building a shell
By building a wall that will not crumble

WILDERNESS YEARS

Music: Herin / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Jimmy Keegan
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric & acoustic guitars: Chris Herin
Saxophone: Rick Morrison
Lead vocals: Randy McStine
Backing vocals: Mark Mikel, Chris Herin, Scott Hunt

Locked inside an unseen world
Destiny dissolving unfulfilled
Details blur then disappear
Hazy memories you strain to hear
Echoes fade away
Unaware you’re in the wilderness

Overlook what we can’t see
Simple answers waiting unredeemed
Then is now as now demands
Each tomorrow lost as it began
Turn back the hourglass
Lost within the past
Unaware you’re in the wilderness

Voices linger from the one room school
of your youth
Time unmeasured – slow surrender assured
Sorrow and fear
will mark these wilderness years

Night is day and day is dark as night
Say goodbye to when you had
A once upon a time

Voices linger from the one room school
of your youth
Time unmeasured – slow surrender assured
The bells fall silent without hope or reprieve
Sorrow and fear
will mark these wilderness years
Oh…, once upon a time

WHITE DANDELIONS

Music: Herin, Parmenter / Lyrics: Herin

Drums: Johnathan Blake
Bass: Kevin Chown
Electric guitar: Chris Herin
Lead & backing vocals: Matthew Parmenter
Piano: Matthew Parmenter
Horn arrangement, trumpet, trombone: Walter White

Dandelions wax then wane to gray
In waves before their time
Here the lost man stands
Before the time-lapse dance
Collapsed his mind

A thousand surface cuts belie your smile
Of sorrow in your eyes
Now the lost man sits
In a shrinking world
No beacon shines
No cure divine

Face without a name
A day of reckoning

I am at your side
I apologize
Bringing you the news
It’s time to die

White flags fly
Goodbye