Into Thy Hands Song By Song: Song 12: Clear Day

Song #12: Clear Day

Words: Ian Tanner and Andy Horrocks

Music: Ian Tanner

For a long time, this was one of those songs I used to hold up with some degree of pride. It's funny how time can change your outlook! It's not that I think the song is terrible, but it certainly doesn't move me like it did years ago.

I have no idea when this was written. I know that Andy recorded me doing a demo of this song somewhere around this time period. We both used to work at a "christian" music store, (which I referred to earlier in these postings). One night after teaching, Andy and I setup a few keyboards at the store and recorded a demo of this song. It was all keyboards except for the middle section which had an acoustic guitar part on it.

The original lyrics I wrote posed some problems for Andy, who thought they needed a re-write. I think my first version was something like this:

"On a clear day you can see the sun rising sadly over the city top.

On a clear day you can feel the mist dancing gently over your new car."

"over your new car" was pretty lame, you have to admit!!

I think my point was, our human possessions and aspirations mean nothing when compared to the broad expanse of nature. Ironically... I've never been interested in the broad expanse of nature!!! I never go outside. I hate camping. I fear being stung by insects while outside! So I would much sooner sit in a car with the windows up and the air conditioning on, rather than ride my bike out in God's green country!! Oh well... when you're composing a song, sometimes you suspend reality for the sake of the art!! I certainly did that!!

So Clear Day obviously needed a lyrical re-write, because there were problems like this all over it. It was a song where the music came to me first and I tried to stuff some words into it, and with less care than I did the music. Andy helped me get it better so that we could include it on the album.

The recording is pretty much entirely me on this track. It's all keys and vocals, but Andy's acoustic guitar part DID make the final version.

Session singer Wendy Davis sang the middle section "In the sun, in the sky." I'm sure that the only reason we had her sing this was because she was at the studio and we thought it would be cool. But that said... I'm pretty sure that I never performed this song with this middle section included at any show the Awakening ever did. (Actually... when Andy and I put our 90's band together, we actually learned a full band version of Clear Day. Somewhere I have a video cassette from a concert where this full version took place. I'll have to dig that up someday!)

The credits say that Dick Armin played cello on this track, but I don't hear it. I hear one cello part in verse two, but it sure sounds like a sampled cello from the Emulator and not the real thing. It's possible that Dick played on this, but it escapes my memory entirely.

Being fans of classic Art-rock albums and concept albums, I really wanted some kind of circular production approach on this album. This is where the connecting of Clear Day and Remember Me comes into play. We referenced subtle sections of Clear Day during Remember Me, and then added a reference to Remember Me in Clear Day! Ultimately, we ended the album recapping the opening lines of Remember Me. The guitar part that sounds like echoing bells was actually Andy's harmonic guitar, sampled and played in from a keyboard with echo on it. The seagull sounds were done by Andy on electric guitar.

With those fading sounds, we bid farewell to the Into Thy Hands album.

It was 6 months in the making, costing over $50,000 US, which was a lot of money for a band in a small market in those days. I'm still proud of the album and what we attempted to achieve by doing it the way we did it, but I'm much happier now that I can hear the album re-mastered and fixed up where possible. If there were enough people interested, it would be tempting to put an Awakening box set together featuring beefed-up re-masters of our original albums, along with the tons of unreleased material and live stuff that I've found. Something to consider.

Thanks for reading all of these posts on Into Thy Hands. I know already that I've left out certain details, but it's hard to keep track of all of this stuff when I'm frantically typing into my MacBook!

Those people out there (and you know who you are) who have continued to express your affection for this album, have really meant the world to us. That you guys and gals remember this stuff 20 years later, is a remarkable and meaningful compliment to us.

Cheers and thanks again.

Ian - June 21/09