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Will You Be True?

#Music #Ninth Street Mission

Lyrics

I know myself but I don’t know what I’m gonna do
Don’t know what I might say when I talk to you
Maybe I’ll just cry, or maybe I’ll go crazy on you
All I wanna know is will you be true?

Will you listen? Will you turn away and run?
Will you give up on what we’ve begun?
Will you take my hand and take my burden upon you?
All I wanna know is will you be true?

I know myself but I don’t know what I’m gonna do
Don’t know what I might say when I talk to you
Will you take my hand and take my burden upon you?
All I wanna know is will you be true?

Copyright © 2008 Karl Ward

Release Info

  • Release: Will You Be True?
  • Artist: Ninth Street Mission
  • Format: Digital
  • Date: November 30, 2008
  • Personnel:
    • Karl Ward: electric guitar, drums, lead vocals
    • Adam Chimera: mixing
    • Quinn Raymond: electric guitar
    • Namrata Tripathi: bass, harmony vocals

Writing notes

I wrote this song on a borrowed nylon string guitar, while I was crashing at a friend’s place on the Upper East Side. It was probably one of the first songs I played with Quinn at the Ludlow practice space. A friend of mine had told me of something terrible that happened to her, and how she went to her boyfriend in this desperate and damaged state. This song is about the challenges that young lovers make to each other, the promises they want to make and keep. It isn’t always easy, is it?

Recording notes

We recorded the drums in my Henry Street apartment, aiming pretty hard at a Neil Young and Crazy Horse “Out on the Weekend” style rhythm section. I think I played the original bass line on an acoustic guitar that we pitch shifted down–it sounded amazing, but I think Adam had Nami play it right later, on a proper bass. I think Nami and I recorded the vocals in the same session where she recorded the bass. I could be making all this up and no one would notice. We recorded all of this in a space ship that was hovering over Bayonne, New Jersey. Bayonne is the next Hoboken, just wait, you’ll see.

That’s my Telecaster on the rhythm guitar part, straight into the Sovtek MIG-50. The fingerpicking wasn’t quite figured out until a few takes in. I asked Adam if he thought it was good enough and he said, “you know, why don’t you work on it for a few minutes?” Good advice.

Quinn recorded like a dozen great lead guitar parts, which Adam edited into what you’re hearing. There’s a version floating around with all of them full blast, no vocals. Pretty radical.