By Walter Becker & Rickie Lee Jones
We will fly way up high
Where the cold wind blows
Or in the sun, laughing and having fun
With the people that she knows
And if the situation should keep us separated
You know the world won't fall apart
And you will free the beautiful bird
That's caught inside your heart
Can't you hear her?
Oh she cries so loud
Casts her wild note
Over water and cloud
That's the way it's gonna be, little darlin' We'll be riding on the horses, yeah Way up in the sky, little darlin' And if you fall I'll pick you up, pick you up
You will grow, and until you go
I'll be right there by your side
And even then, whisper the wind
And she will carry up your ride
I hear all the people of the world
In a little bird's lonely cry
See them trying every way they know how
To make their spirits fly
Can't you see him? He's down on the ground He has a broken wing Looking all around
That's the way it's gonna be, little darlin'
You'll be riding on the horses, yeah
Way up in the sky, little darlin'
And if you fall I'll pick you up, pick you up
Don't worry 'bout a thing little girl Because I was young myself not so long ago And when I was young, when I was young And when I was young, oh I was a wild, wild one.
vocals: Rickie Lee Jones
string synthesizer: Rickie Lee Jones
drums: John Robinson
electric guitar: Buzz Feiten
bass: Neil Stubenhaus
electric guitar: Dean Parks
keyboard: Greg Phillinganes
percussion: Bob Zimmiti
organ: William "Smitty" Smith
piano: Michael Omartian
Engineers: Greg Penny, Roger Nichols.
The edge. Imo Donald is very much interested in making the beats sound extremely balanced. Machine like. That's why the used Wendell I guess on Gaucho as well as The Nightfly. Walter seems to be interested in more raw sounding drums, or machines. On 11 Tracks his snares are very sharp sounding while Donald always uses a very much compressed snare drum. Never a big snare sound with reverb while Walter did use that on 11 Tracks. Donald tries to make chords changes very smooth, using leadtones to make the chord steps smaller and more modal sounding. Walter makes more radical chord changes, changing tonality without leading into it all the time.
Not saying there's anything is bad about this. I totally love Donald's harmonies. The only thing I would love to hear are more raw sounding drums. More Motown stuff. Keep the dynamics alive, don't try to make them sound perfect.
Short answer: Donald is looking for perfection in smoothing things out, Walter knows perfection can be exausting and in general doesn't want music to sound too smooth.
Although I can imagine both Donald and Walter thinking that they crossed that fine line when working on Gaucho. That one came out a little too smooth imo. As if they were thinking more than feeling it. Probaly looking at a screen for the first time for finding timing issues...