Between the Shadow and the Light
Lyrics
  • "Remember the Time"
  • my carry-on's too heavy
  • take my kite, depart for Cincinatti
  • taunting the sky, we fly into gutters
  • forming opinions no one will utter
  • trails in the sky, looks like a sign
  • eats a sandwich made of time
  • riding cross-country on a johnny seat
  • saying hello to the people he meets
  • yesterday's arriving today
  • new things appearing in the air
  • but we're still striking at a speck of sand
  • sonorously we solicit sleep
  • marveling at the best that could be
  • farmers burn corn effigies
  • begging the pope for fertility
  • yesterday's arriving today
  • new things appearing in the air
  • but we're still striking at a speck of sand
  • on a tangent and went within
  • hidden exit remaining without
  • urgent message from the front line
  • curtain call, remember the time
  • remember the time...
  • "Acrobat"
  • you look at me for what to say
  • i don't think i know any way
  • freakout after the makeout
  • she left without her pants
  • on a cold, cold day
  • you fell flat on your back
  • you nimble acrobat
  • and now you're running away
  • you're running away
  • what's going on? your neck's just fine
  • was kissing you such a crime?
  • i feel the stars materialize
  • no, that's just wishful thinking
  • you fell flat on your back
  • you nimble acrobat
  • can't you see this ship is sinking?
  • a little action between the sheets
  • that don't mean you're a cheat
  • was gonna send you a letter
  • but a photo was better
  • a picture of the bottom of my feet
  • freakout after the makeout
  • she left without her pants
  • on a cold, cold day
  • you fell flat on your back
  • you nimble acrobat
  • and now you're running away
  • you fell flat on your back
  • "Deliverance"
  • i wish i could find the words
  • they escape like a breath
  • there's no easy way to say
  • love's had its chance and left
  • neither one of us really knows
  • what it takes to make love grow
  • there's no there for either of us
  • we need deliverance
  • deliverance
  • it takes a lot not to pick up the phone
  • i still crave you when i'm all alone
  • i think about all the times we'll miss
  • while i try to find meaning in this
  • neither one of us really knows
  • what it takes to make love grow
  • there's no there for either of us
  • we need deliverance
  • deliverance
  • don't know where the seeds were sown
  • or if it's something i own
  • i'm looking forward, keeping hope alive
  • waiting for you to arrive
  • "Carrier"
  • you leave me something every time we meet
  • i think you gave me mad cow disease
  • i know it's you 'cause i'm fine when you're gone
  • you gave me an ear infection on the phone
  • Carrier! the problem is you
  • Carrier! you're diseased through and through
  • Carrier! the problem is you
  • Carrier! now i'm through with you
  • a look from your eyes turns me to stone
  • medusa hides behind the windows of your home
  • i can't escape no matter how hard i try
  • you say you're clean but i know you lie
  • Carrier! the problem is you
  • Carrier! you're diseased through and through
  • Carrier! the culprit is you
  • Carrier! now i'm through with you
  • you used to leave me notes on the folded-up sheets at the end of the bed
  • an evening post, a funny joke, a thought to fill my head
  • now a fever's taken over me, on your pillow there's a colony
  • you're an unwitting host, don't even approach--
  • stay away from me
  • Carrier! the problem is you
  • Carrier! you're diseased through and through
  • Carrier!
  • "Find a Ride"
  • don't break my bark, the leaves are first
  • the perfect thanks is but a third's worth
  • the path to eden is through the devil's door
  • forged a comb in unquenchable cold
  • get on board, the stop sign says go
  • inspiration comes from the navel you know
  • yank the pacifier from the wager
  • stack the lumber and kindle a settler
  • separate, give the moment a chance
  • so what if the surface is as murky glass?
  • rummage through the rubbish heap of your mind
  • grab a few things and find a ride
  • find a ride
  • dare embrace the atlas ruby
  • a fiction victim is only an idiom
  • catapult button can only hinder
  • a zooming mantis exhumed in glitter
  • separate, give the moment a chance
  • so what if the surface is as murky glass?
  • rummage through the rubbish heap of your mind
  • grab a few things and find a ride
  • find a ride
  • a fish can walk, a pig can fly
  • if we'll only let them try
  • there's nothin' strange
  • when you attain
  • love for the name of the game
  • "You're the One"
  • you give me a smile when i open my eyes
  • a dream that appears when i wake
  • signs from heaven fall from the sky
  • a gift that comes from grace
  • you're the one who keeps moving the strings
  • you're the one who lives in my dreams
  • ray of sun, come through my door
  • you're the one i do all this for
  • all of my days i laze in the shade
  • visions of you dance in my head
  • when first i see the morning sun
  • it reminds of your easy style
  • you're the one who keeps moving the strings
  • you're the one who lives in my dreams
  • ray of sun, come through my door
  • you're the one i do all this for
  • i do all this for...
  • let me begin by showing some skin
  • the answer is given by working the pen
  • top of the mountain is discipline
  • a place i've often tried to have been
  • the seas of seven have finally risen
  • time to open the invitation...
  • "Spotlight"
  • face in the shadow of a sidewalk
  • south is the route to the place
  • waiting, i stand on high ground
  • in the rain, anticipating
  • get your courage tonight
  • 'cause you're in the spotlight
  • they'll never be the same
  • 'cause in their lives you've made a change
  • get out there and make your place
  • tomorrow you have yourself to face
  • how do you want to see yourself?
  • cowardly or brave?
  • get your courage tonight
  • cause you're in the spotlight
  • they'll never be the same
  • cause in their lives you've made a change
  • where have you spent the last week of your life?
  • on the path you have led can you look back with pride?
  • what direction does your future lie?
  • amidst the rocks, or flying high in the sky?
  • get your courage tonight
  • 'cause you're in the spotlight
  • they'll never be the same
  • 'cause in their lives you've made a change
  • oh you've made that...
  • change
  • "Lookin Out"
  • lookin' out my thirteenth floor window
  • seeing the crawlin' down below
  • thinking to myself, "things look good"
  • but the concrete is so cold
  • hopes were high even though i tried
  • to let preservation be my guide
  • lying in pieces for all to view
  • at a wake i'm only invited to
  • scribbles on a chalkboard, beginning of the end
  • another round of the boardgame called pretend
  • funny how something i tried not to inflate
  • blew up in my face
  • a grenade disintegrates
  • washout was what the doctor said
  • a case too common to the few
  • carelessly handled, the eggs will scramble
  • the makings of work only a disguise
  • scribbles on a chalkboard, beginning of the end
  • another round of the boardgame called pretend
  • funny how something i tried not to inflate
  • blew up in my face
  • a grenade disintegrates
  • got a part, but lost the role
  • another goal to be disconstructed
  • what did you do? answer the question
  • a question so put deserves an answer
  • "Who Am I?"
  • where are you going? look right here
  • don't lift your eyes to heaven, dear
  • let me carry you to your front door
  • then you'll see that i'm all that and more
  • who am i?
  • i'm your dreams turned real
  • it's nothing you can touch or feel
  • who am i?
  • don't ask -- you know
  • i'm your favorite picture show
  • believe me, i'm completely for real
  • i wouldn't brag or boast
  • i'm the one man in this whole world
  • who can give you the most
  • what, you say? a cocky chap
  • he just wants to be seen
  • but just come on over
  • and sit in my lap
  • then you'll see what i mean
  • who am i?
  • i'm your dreams turned real
  • it's nothing you can touch or feel
  • who am i?
  • don't ask -- you know
  • i'm your favorite picture show
  • "Once Upon s Time"
  • once upon a time lived a man in a valley
  • he never saw a soul nor spoke a word
  • one day a mystery came walking through the valley
  • his eyes shone like glowing orbs
  • he'd never seen a mistress so inviting,
  • he'd never seen skin so pale and white
  • he invited her in for a tea party
  • this is what he said to she
  • "i've wasted half my life wallowing in squalor and demise
  • now I realize that I must open my eyes!
  • now I realize what I'd been missing,
  • now I realize"
  • the mistress had her tea, oh, so quietly
  • her eyes stared into me, imploring
  • she parted her lips, I waited in suspense
  • as she said these words to me
  • "don't hide from the world, your soul wants to shine
  • everyone needs your light and you've lost so much time
  • awaken, awaken from your hazy slumber,
  • let everyone see what you have to offer"
  • "Meet You On The Downbeat"
  • pale green flowers adorn the stage
  • in silence the people you engage
  • pieces of you lie scattered on the floor
  • i know you're here but i just can't find you
  • meet you on the downbeat
  • that you started with your sure-steppin' feet
  • right now i'm needing your energy
  • meet you on the downbeat
  • while we listen to the liturgy
  • right now i'm needing your energy
  • call and response we spoke of the future
  • who knew those words were the last
  • now i'm left looking for meaning in this
  • set of keys, scarf, watch and a hat
  • someday soon we'll meet again
  • in the big show in the sky
  • the things that make you who you are
  • will never, never die
  • meet you on the downbeat
  • that you started with your sure-steppin' feet
  • right now i'm needing your energy
  • meet you on the downbeat
  • while we listen to the liturgy
  • right now i'm needing your energy
  • "Dream Song"
  • i got a dream, don't make no sense
  • i'm standing on a barbed-wire fence
  • straight from the line, down off the wall
  • suddenly my run turns to a crawl
  • rollin' down a dream street in my car
  • for some reason i don't get very far
  • tell me how to find the way
  • from here to there from where we are
  • i try to run, but my legs don't work
  • jump from the bridge but it doesn't hurt
  • fly through the air without a cape
  • wake up it's gone without a trace
  • rollin' down a dream street in my car
  • for some reason i don't get very far
  • tell me how to find the way
  • from here to there from where we are
  • what's the measure, who's the measure?
  • that decides what is right and wrong
  • what's the measure, who's the measure?
  • don't let your fear pull you along
  • "No Safety"
  • i've got to make myself do something
  • to keep from self destruction
  • i can't live up to my own expectations
  • it's starting to cause a reaction
  • no safety at the bottom of a bottle
  • no safety where no one will ever follow
  • can't seem to find my way
  • so i'll just try to make it through another day
  • tired of wasting time
  • my brain can't take the strain
  • i gotta be satisfied
  • no more standing in the rain
  • no safety...
  • "I Want You"
  • i dreamed a dream of you last night
  • you were silhouetted by the waning light
  • a single star shown down on your face
  • and i knew that i was in the right place
  • tell me what i've got to do to see you
  • 'cause being apart's making me blue
  • i want you
  • i need you
  • i miss you
  • i wrote you a letter just the other day
  • and in it, this is what i had to say
  • i want you waiting with your arms open wide
  • i want you ready to see me in your eyes
  • tell me what i've got to do to see you
  • 'cause being apart's making me blue
  • i want you
  • i need you
  • i miss you
  • tell me what i've got to do to see you
  • 'cause being apart's making me...blue
  • "Love Me"
  • sometimes i feel like i can't shine
  • i'm scared but i don't know why
  • that's when i burn deep inside
  • deep, deep under the rising tide
  • but when you love me, i'm alive
  • when you love me, i feel fine
  • when you love me, i'm alive
  • when you love me, i feel fine
  • i feel fine
  • your love is like a fine wine
  • it grows deeper and better with time
  • you make me feel a little juvenile
  • it's just something that happens when you smile (at me)
  • when you love me, i'm alive
  • when you love me, i feel fine
  • when you love me, i'm alive
  • when you love me, i feel fine
  • i feel fine
  • "Superstition"
  • i broke a looking glass
  • i threw two pennies in a well to make up for my past
  • i don't care what anyone thinks
  • just as long as i avoid the jinx
  • do you believe in superstition?
  • i'm keeping my fingers crossed
  • i'm going on intuition
  • maybe luck will help the cause –
  • good luck will help the cause
  • this is a strange sensation
  • feeling like the world is causing my action
  • i may have had one or two romances
  • but that don't mean with you i'm taking any chances
  • and if the stars are aligned
  • and the fates will agree
  • there's a place in heaven
  • a place for you and me
  • i truly do believe
  • that from these things we cannot hide
  • and i'm hopin', i'm hopin'
  • superstition's on my side –
  • good luck's on my side
  • do you believe in superstition?
  • i'm keeping my fingers crossed
  • i'm going on intuition
  • maybe luck will help the cause –
  • i believe in superstition?
  • i'm keeping my fingers crossed
  • i'm going on intuition
  • i'm keepin' my
  • i'm keepin' my
  • i'm keepin' my fingers crossed
  • for you ... for you ... for you!
  • only for you
  • "Crimson Eyes"
  • cancel this feeling, a check without a mate
  • i am the gateway to frailty of late
  • i need to learn from my mistakes
  • i'm so damn tired of feeling ashamed
  • we cower like fools in the darkness of night
  • what lies behind those crimson eyes
  • we cower like fools in the darkness of night
  • what lies behind those crimson eyes
  • i look for words written on your face
  • sometimes your heart is such a faraway place
  • come on girl, let me come inside
  • it's a place where i can hide
  • we cower like fools in the darkness of night
  • what lies behind those crimson eyes
  • we cower like fools in the darkness of night
  • what lies behind those crimson eyes
  • what lies, behind those crimson eyes
  • what lies, behind those crimson eyes
  • "Walking on Water"
  • candles we light in darkened hour
  • canyons, rivers of tears flow to the sea
  • corridors dimly lit we walk
  • to a place beyond what we see
  • i'm standing on the sea
  • of galilee
  • and i'm looking around
  • but the moment i lose
  • my faith in you
  • i begin sinking down
  • let's take a walk on the river
  • pass the trees so green
  • let's bravely walk the halls
  • of things we haven't seen
  • in this cool garden
  • time slows for us
  • we see no one and nothing else
  • and all we feel is our unbroken trust
  • the road is not easy
  • and failure's always near
  • but you and me (me and you)
  • my baby
  • we will have
  • we will have no
  • we will have no fear
  • i'm standing on the sea
  • of galilee
  • and i'm looking around
  • but the moment i lose
  • my faith in you
  • i begin sinking down
  • "Stars & Lies"
  • secrets we keep under lock and key
  • secrets that might unravel you and me
  • things we keep inside our hearts
  • things ready to tear us apart
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • we play these silly games of seek and hide
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • a cool wind brushes your cheek
  • a perfect night to find what we seek
  • when we trust each other we'll find
  • a perfect love's not far behind
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • we play these silly games of seek and hide
  • and our love is all stars and lies
  • "Love Is"
  • there's a word or two out there
  • about love and who you should give it to
  • but love should have a say
  • and it never says no
  • love would never separate or try to divide
  • where a difference existed before
  • no motives, no borders, no boundaries
  • easy to see love takes no sides
  • love is giving without wanting a reward
  • love is creating where there was nothing before
  • love is the glue that binds me to you
  • love doesn't care who it is given to
  • how would you like it if you woke one day
  • to find your love wasn't on the map?
  • would you give up on what you believed
  • to chase the idols of your dreams?
  • get a view of what's around you
  • this is not the place to break down
  • gather clues, it proves who is who
  • a change of pace from the everyday blues
  • love is giving without wanting a reward
  • love is creating where there was nothing before
  • love is the glue that binds me to you
  • love doesn't care who it is given to
  • love is the one thing that's there to guide you
  • love is a fountain bubbling up inside you
  • love is right there at the end of your reach
  • love is the answer to the questions you seek
  • the answer to the questions you seek
  • love is...
  • "Radio Contact"
  • we at healthcare have longstanding tradition
  • that we won't insure a pre-eixsting condition
  • even though we claim to keep a watchful eye
  • somehow we still manage to up and die
  • we are robots from outer space
  • we come seeking the master race
  • we only want to make radio contact
  • gotta find out what's up with this place
  • music business you failed to innovate
  • and in so doing you sealed your fate
  • you only get back what you create
  • to fix your problems you want to legislate
  • we are robots from outer space
  • we come seeking the master race
  • we only want to make radio contact
  • gotta find out what's up with this place
  • you think that you're sneaky
  • but we see right through
  • the claims that ultimately
  • we're the ones who get screwed
  • you've made your decisions
  • you've made your bed
  • so buck up people
  • don't always eat what you're fed
  • detroit are you listening? you're not what they want
  • the last time you were cool, so was the fonz
  • sat back on your profits and failed to see
  • what the future was gonna be
  • we are robots from outer space
  • we come seeking the master race
  • we only want to make radio contact
  • gotta find out what's up with this place
  • "western song"
  • get the field ready for beans and corn
  • late in the season gotta get it goin'
  • plowing earth to live off the land
  • this patch of dirt i call my own
  • weather's got me tied in knots
  • tight as a rope to walk across
  • seems like the luck i've got
  • is as driftless as the ground i walk upon
  • on the way from durango to butte
  • the western man is who we salute
  • nothing wrong with an honest living
  • using the tools that you've been given
  • up at daybreak the coffee is brewed
  • a fire we make when the day is through
  • under the stars we fashion a bed
  • blanket and boots a pillow for my head
  • doing the job til the working's done
  • smell of the air drifts on the breeze
  • riding all day just to get back home
  • under the rain of autumn leaves
  • on the way from durango to butte
  • the western man is who we salute
  • nothing wrong with an honest living
  • using the tools that you've been given
  • "Ida"
  • ida, oh ida, oh where did you go
  • you left me here in reno with nothing but my soul
  • i miss you quite dearly and i want you to come home
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • i met my ida in a bar in mexico
  • we made off quite keenly with a bottle of cuervo
  • that's when i became wrapped around her pinky toe
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • this is the second verse, it goes a little like this
  • i took my ida for to live in wedded bliss
  • we bought a house in reno with a laon from uncle joe
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • ida, oh ida, oh where did you go
  • you left me here in reno with nothing but my soul
  • i miss you quite dearly and i want you to come home
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • this is the third verse, it goes a little like this
  • i came home one evening to find something amiss
  • she left with all i had and didn't leave a note
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • now i'm quite saddened that my ida's gone to stay
  • it pains me to know that uncle joe i'll have to pay
  • but nevertheless i still love you to this day
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • ida, oh ida, oh where did you go
  • you left me here in reno with nothing but my soul
  • i miss you quite dearly and i want you to come home
  • ida, oh where did you go?
  • "there are times"
  • there are times when a pressure comes from within
  • sits on the heart, leaving it pinned
  • not quite sure about the feeling's origin
  • the time corresponds with the arctic wind
  • find among thrushes the things we're after
  • the keys to the ways of sustain
  • you do what you can and you hope it passes
  • and time moves glacial slow
  • so what to do? the force is strong
  • a thing sometimes dormant but always along
  • crops up lately and i feel the weight
  • a shell of me in a desolate place
  • find among thrushes the things we're after
  • the keys to the ways of sustain
  • you do what you can and you hope it passes
  • and time moves glacial slow
  • care for a sinuous eagle
  • carnivore bravely casts nets around here
  • black is the night revealing
  • secrets beneath the surface
  • "Eyes"
  • you flew in like a paper airplane
  • piloted by a beam of light
  • we crossed over in the jet stream
  • and danced in the turbulence
  • i saw you were going to pass
  • from miles away i knew
  • from the moment i saw you
  • i was drawn into your vortex
  • I know what should be, my brain works just fine
  • but nevertheless you've occupied a place in mind
  • the air blew warm on my head
  • and i imagined something growing
  • in the soil behind my eyes
  • where the love flowers grow
  • I know what should be, my brain works just fine
  • but nevertheless you've occupied a place in mind
  • i look to the sky for a sign
  • i'm ready to jump with both feet
  • i haven't been here much time
  • in the big scheme of things
  • when i look right into your eyes
  • the faintest fire i still see
  • with the moon as our guide
  • the sea no longer between us
  • i know you're so far away
  • the ties are severed more and more
  • the sky in your eyes is gray
  • in the mountain view by the sea
  • the flame is small, so hard to see
  • an ember a tiny spot of red
  • hoping for a zephyr wind
  • to help it spring to life
Biography

Though basing the title around the varied sound and temperatures of its songs, JC Jordan and The Way's debut full-length Between the Shadow and the Light is eerily titled. Through death, legal troubles and the burden of starting completely over, this musician and his crew have seen both darkness and joy in the seven years since their last release. For all the emotional changes that have occurred though, these songs aren't the blistering stomps you may expect with those sorts of circumstances. Here, they breathe with a shocking amount of ease, and bubble over with creativity and professionalism; a rare feat for many to accomplish.

The Mississippi-bred Jordan has been active in Chicago's music scene for over ten years, having relocated to the Windy City after picking up classical guitar and being influenced by blues, folk and bluegrass. Through open mic nights at Subterranean and Inner Town Pub, Jordan eventually met up with those that would make up The Way, releasing the Come Inside EP in 2005. However after only three shows, his drummer suddenly and tragically passed away. After attempting to cope with that loss and regrouping, The Way's new drummer was arrested soon after joining the group, leading to another stopping point.

Fast-forward to 2012: After years writing and recording on weeknights and weekends JC Jordan and The Way are primed to let the world hear the raw emotion and fluid skills that they've been honing since starting sessions for BTSATL back in 2008. The music is as varied as the emotions that helped shape it. Tracks like "Lookin' Out" give soulful nods to Motown and blues-rock, while "Once Upon A Time" gives a more mystic, gut-wrenching feel. "Who Am I?" is a gentle, sweeping example of gleaming pop songwriting, and when on the same record as the bouncy "Deliverance" and the hypnotic "Find A Ride," it makes for a unique spiral of influences, including prog-rock, funk and classical. In Chicago's sometimes rigid scene of sub-genres and cliques, JC Jordan ensures that there's something for everyone here.

The Way

JC Jordan played in all roles on this record except for the drums, but he also solicited the talents of many of Chicago's musicians and producers to add their own colors along the way:

  • drums : Randal Huiskens & Bart Sherman
  • congas : Dominic Vaglica
  • bass guitar : Roy Wollen
  • electric guitar : Mike LaVista
  • acoustic guitar : Cory Hance
  • cello : Eric Meschke
  • backing vocals : Vernard Burton & Laura Sherman
  • production : Paul Ester, Alex Sosa, Jesse Elam & John Duncan
  • graphic design : Randal Huiskens & Jessica Burkart
  • photography : Todd Wallin & Kenneth Macarus
  • mastering : Matthew Agoglia at Masterdisk

As an artistic choice, no synthesizers or keyboards were used in the creation of this album.

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