"TOMBSTONE" genre: Acoustic
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	Tombstone is a town in Arizona where... oops! Different song... This was written as a reflection on the analogy between relationships and Boot Hill. Uh, that is, lifetimes. Both relationships and lives have a span it seems, sometimes we may be glad when it's over and sometimes we may not. I guess this is about one of those times when I was not. Solid acoustic rock guitar work, a complex tapestry acting as the warp to the lyric's woof. A fabric woven of love and ghosts.
	MP3.com CD: Force of Habit - buy it! CD: Nearer to the Sun   Label: Beachwood Recordings [33086-8777-2] Credits: Jennifer Meller: Backing Vocals; Rand Bishop: Backing and Harmony Vocals; Arno Lucas: Percussion; Henry Newmark: Kat Drums; Stephen Paul: Lead and Harmony Vocals, Wha Guitar, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars; Produced by: Rand Bishop and Stephen Paul; Engineered by: Stephen Paul; Assisted by Scott Swink; Mastered by: Arnie Acosta at A&M; © 2000 Built On Dreams Music (BMI)
	Story Behind the Song The song is about the same woman I wrote all of the songs on the recording "Nearer to the Sun". When the dust finally cleared in the aftermath, as I said in one of my poems, "like the meteorite that cleansed the world of dinosaurs" after five years of walking on my fingertips and all the while crazy in love, "Tombstone" is how it felt. The song was recorded in my Vineland studio and like the other cuts was also mixed and assembled there. My assistant The Swinkster, (as we fondly referred to Scott Swink[g]) and I pulled an all-nighter and completed final assembly of the 2-track analog masters literally as a car was warming in the driveway to get us to A&M for mastering. "Nearer to the Sun" was my first album for Beachwood Recordings. The entire thing was highly experimental as we had no idea how it would be received by AAA radio, or AOR radio, happily both of which picked up the album and played it all over the world. I was quite astounded as it was a great departure from some of my earlier work on major labels. I think the most thrilling thing about it was that it was the first time we had made it on Merseyside radio in Liverpool through the BBC.[g] That was a real breakthrough, hey! The birthplace of The Boys! Wow I was stoked. This particular record was also very popular in Italy, especially Milan. It also did very well in Europe in general, and I have received mail from as far away as Hungary, which at that time was just beginning to break away from the Soviet bloc. That really amazed me. From what I understand it was also played in Poland. Though I had been making records most of my life, "Nearer to the Sun" proved to really be that breakthrough album. Technical Notes: Recording procedures were fairly consistent throughout the recording, refer to the notes on the song "Once in a Lifetime" for detailed ideas about the recording chain in general. Lyrics Tombstone I look up at these impassionate stars I wonder why things are the way they are On two separate size of the earth we lie And I can't understand it, I don't see why You say our friendship will last till the end But I don't want to be a conquered male friend There ain't no way to stop this ancient attraction The passion and heat of our lover's reaction Do you gaze at my tombstone without crying Do we give up this time without even trying I still see you in the cloudless sky The big blue center of God's own eye I still feel every trace of heat On the cooling path between our streets Do you gaze at my tombstone without crying Do we give up this time without even trying Well maybe one day I'll dance again And hold some other partner's trembling hand But for now I guess I'll fly alone And hope that love will steer us home... Do you gaze at my tombstone without crying Do we give up this time without even trying I look up at these impassionate stars I wonder why things are the way they are On two separate sides of the earth we lie And I can't understand it, I don't see why Do you gaze at my tombstone without crying And I don't think we should give up this time without trying Words and Music by Stephen Paul © 2000 Built On Dreams Music (BMI)

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