Previously floating around the web in an inferior version, here is a much better quality version of the demo for Love In The 4th, the source of the vocal used on the version over at https://www.walterbeckermedia.com/forum/rarities-unreleased/love-in-the-4th-aka-lies-i-can-believe
Love in the 4th (Demo)
(a.k.a. Lies I Can Believe)
Walter Becker and Dean Parks
Zeon Music: Runaway Inflation © 1992
Round and round - The words are spinning
Why don't we take it - From the beginning
I know it hurts but - Babe don't you worry
Let's take our time honey - What's the hurry?
Your eyes are moving - Yes I can see them
The words are soothing - Why don't I believe them?
Your eyes are beaming - But I can't receive them
You say our love just - Needs some attention
Maybe it's stuck in - The fourth dimension
You say it wants more - Kissage and huggage
Maybe it just got - Lost with our luggage
Maybe our love just - Needs space to grow in
A place to go to - A vector to grow in
Maybe what I need's - A towel to throw in
Don't you remember that rainy night?
Riding the dog in the pale moonlight
Making love up in the very last row
Lord have mercy - Halfway to Jersey
Spare me the details, the guts and glory
The truth is just another story
Why don't you give me
Why don't you give me
Lies I can believe?
I never said I was a diplomat
I guess I got no country to be true to
Don't you tell me not to be like that
Don't you blame me when I do like you do
Life is a gamble - You're never ready
The sands are shifting but - The winds are steady
They never let up - So keep your head up
Don't let 'em blow you away
To every man goes - His share of passion
But I'm way under - The legal ration
I think you nailed it - Right down to the letter
It's getting older - But it ain't getting better
Maybe our love just - Needs a vacation
The train is rolling - Out of the station
Across the platform - Another train is pulling in
Lovers sighing in exotic places
Holding hands with all the aces
Making love up on the captain's table
All the way, all the way home
I see my past stretched out before me
The truth is just another story
Why don't you give me
Why don't you give me
Lies I can believe?
His vocals are matchless on this. I'm glad you (Matt) could make this Vox work with the Signet track (folks, that was a hell of a job he had to do, and it's absolutely seamless).
But those vocals....man...and the phrasing, like someone noted on the other post. There are so many reasons this is a great song (and a great demo IMHO). This was probably my favorite of the demos floating around back in the day. The song's simply peerless, a real showcase for what he does best in so many ways. It's nice to have a cleaner version to listen to - thanks .
Kind of crazy that these vocals are just the guide vocals on a demo track! Beautifully sung, and the sound is perfectly balanced with the right volume, EQ, and reverb like it would be for a release-ready track.
Also, this audio quality on this one in general is pristine. Of all the demos we've been fortunate enough to hear, this is the best "sounding."
@Dan Belcher It really speaks to how good Walter was as a singer. Not perfect, but so seemingly comfortable in his voice that the imperfections add to the overall effect and charm. I think he knocked this one out of the park. A great vocal and a great song.
Love this. I'd quite happily pay for a CD of this stuff
All the aces...dealt so rarely.
Right from the very first time that I heard it, this Demo flooded my mind with all of these sweet, sweet images of grandeur.. It came at me from several layers, all of them unfolding at once.. To me, this Demo is that unique, semi-luminescent Oyster, hoping for a grain of sand, to cultivate a beautiful Cultured Pearl..
The structure of the song, or the Pearl, is perfect.. Cultured.. What I believe to be, perhaps, Walter's best lyrics, are the focal point of this song, with his vocal delivery wrapped magically around and through this array of photo thoughts from the fourth dimension.. I wrote about his vocal delivery on the other page, and how well the new arrangement, with the solid, more basic band, allowed his voice to sit back in the mix a bit. That approach really gave Walter's voice a little more expression, so his phrasing and intonation became much more interpretive than ever before.. You don't have to be perfect to be a Great singer.. Perfect is Boring.. Perfect takes the mojo away, the Human element.. This Demo has all of the Human magic in it ! Walter's singing is full and moving and expressive, a Cultured Pearl performance.. Matthew had the opportunity to sit in the Producer's chair and combine this Demo and a solid foundation track, and using Arranger skills he was able to create a New track that is really Powerful ! Thank You Matt.. What an achievement.. Lary
Well worth revisiting, time and time again... Lary
Great groove as you'd expect, with the bass and drums locked tight, but sedate. I don't really know what the song is about though - does anyone? Is it about a girlfriend who won't "put out"?
Some great lines, e.g.,
"Why don't you give me
Lies I can believe?"
You could envisage a Republican saying this to Donald Trump!
"I never said I was a diplomat " - a line from Elvis Costello's "Greenshirt"
"Riding the dog" - what does this mean? Sex?
So rare that a chorus lines have different words……most song writers just don’t have the limitless expressiveness of a Walter Becker who had so much to tell us about love and regret and………
That bass line. Yeah. 'nuff said.
Wow...a new browser! Welcome Thomas, and mahalo for wandering by