I'm gonna give the version I have a try:

Dear god what have I done
My life has changed
Troubles have overcome*
My one true name/fame

I was waiting on the roof for you to arrive
Before the rain came down
Iii, I was waiting for the rain
Your the reason i try to hide

Dear god what can we do
To make things right
I've got to get this through
To her tonite

I was waiting on the roof for you to arrive
Before the rain came down
Iii, I was waiting for the rain
Your the reason i try to hide

I was waiting for the rain
Your the reason I try to hide
_________________ ??
We'll make it just like before




*Thank you Bowl of Fire.

(Edited by rachel1808 at 8:41 pm on Apr. 8, 2003)

i'm pretty sure that third line is "troubles have overcome."

-alan

It's starting to sound like "before the plane came down".

I have to say that I like the Mahaffey's version better than the ones I have heard live.

The studio version you've heard it from the Rawlings sessions. I've never cared for it at all. In fact, I think it borderlines being unlistenable.

I've never heard it, only the live version which I really liked. Now I really wanna hear this almost "unlistenable" Features song.

I just can't stand the Rawlings sessions in general. If I ever take out that CD, it's for the lone version of "Discoteque" included in it. I really like that song. I prefer Mahaffey or live bootlegs for every thing else. That's me, though.

What else is on the Rawlings Sessions?

I agree with you on that, although instead of Discotheque, I bust out the Rawlings sessions for Stagecoach. Yes, I like the live/new version better, but Rawlings' version isn't half bad. And I know the lyrics to that one...

Stagecoach
Discoteque
Dark Room
See You Thru
Exorcising Demons
Kari Anne
Stagecoach

There might be something else. It's a low quality demo, and I think the band was at an obvious weak point. It does take them a while to build a song to its full potential, and this is the case for the songs they recorded, which were brand new (and many were unperformed) at that point.

I like all those except Discotheque since I've never heard it. So, the rest were rerecorded in the Mahaffey Sessions and that's what I've probably heard and liked?

Well, if I'm not mistaken, they recorded with Jason Rawlings pretty soon after Rollum had just joined the band. And I don't think that those recordings were ever meant to be anything more than demos for the album that they would record with Matt Mahaffey.

I was never sure if the "Rawlings" meant Jason. Does he have a studio or something??

I believe you're right on both fronts, James. Also, I think Oh My Love was in those sessions too.

I always just assumed that "Rawlings" referred to Jason Rawlings. But you know what happens when you assume...

I think assuming Jason Rawlings is CLOSE, but not quite. My money would be on Brent Rawlings, his sound-tech oriented brother. I know he used to have a studio in Murfreesboro, so I would also believe that he's still got all the gear, even if it's not in the same building.

Also, I think they took Brent Rawlings with them up to New York to be their sound guy at some show.

Jason Rawlings is busy raising his family and being a substitute teacher. Oh, and doing random drum stuff for Self.


Michael

Thank you so much for clearing up this long-standing question of mine.

Does the very beginning of "Stagecoach" sound like stripper music to anyone else?

to me it sounds like Sonic music

I wouldn't really know. How would you, young one?

Uh-huh. Sure.

would anyone care to post the Mahaffey version's lyrics? with my luck it's probably already been posted and i look like an idiot asking this, but I dont care

i belive the mahaffey version lyrics are on Wiyums discography page.

It wasn't on the Mahaffey sessions. It was just on the Rawlings. The ones on Will's page appear to be the live version's words.

they arent the live version of the words. or else they are waaay off. thats why i assumed they were the recorded.

I should probably read the lyrics next time, and maybe even listen to a live version. Oh well. I think Will mentioned this before.

i was listening/watching matt's mouth a lot sunday night to try and catch these words. i'm not at all postive, but this part sounded/ looked like:

"but you came without ____
i was waiting around all night"

i thought i saw you being a dedicated lyrics decipher-er too, rachel, watching matt just as intently as me during this song. did you hear anything differently?

(Edited by HaveSomeSoma at 8:05 pm on Apr. 29, 2003)

yes, i was trying very hard to see what he was saying. no such luck, but your interpretations sound right. actually, now that i am listening to it maybe its "before you came around"?

i pushed the person next to me over trying to get to a spot where i could see matts lips during that one freakin line in "Circus".

I dunno if anyone's noticed, but at the end of the "R & R at the fair" video (just as Rollum is getting out of that bear ride) an obviously different version of Stagecoach begins to play. Anyone know anything about this? Is there a second studio recording floating around somewhere?

It comes from a demo session they started and never finished, so it has no vocals. It also isn't "floating around" either. If I don't have a copy of it (and I don't), then it has to be pretty hard to come by.

I recall hearing at the time that this first showed up that there are numerous sessions that have been recorded for which vocals were never added, and this was part of that. Oh to have those sessions.

Will

Unless I'm mistaken, I was present when these recordings were made. Well, one night of them anyway.

I remember the Features recording at some guy's house, who had a soundboard upstairs in this little room and had microphones set up downstairs.

I think Brian Carter was there and they were actually writing Stagecoach during the process. Also I think Rollum was insisting on holding up a pot to the microphone and beating on it for percussion on one song and one of the recording guys was laughing about it. I think the pot beating song was Circus but it's been several years and I drank a little so I'm not sure.

Was that the Rawlings sessions?

Judging by how ghetto that sounded, probably.

The Rawlings "Stagecoach," however, is not only one of my favorite Features songs, but the bridge is one of my favorite Pelham vocal moments, too. I never was too fond the live versions since I think they wound up tweaking it and giving it a bit too much of a darker pretense, but I love the lyrics on this one. Especially on the aforementioned bridge ("Dear God, what have I done? / My life has changed / For the most part, I'm still young / But not the same"). Very pretty.

The rest of those sessions kind of blow though, yeah. The five songs that were later rerecorded are in much finer form on the Mahaffey Sessions.

Now that you mention it, I seem to recall pretty much everyone being on PCP and arguing over which one was the "real" Superman.