Strings, horns and hope, all in just under eight minutes.
Written in 1987, this was one of the first 'big' songs. One afternoon I literally picked up the guitar and the chorus fell out of me, almost exactly as you hear it now. Then it was several weeks of work to come up with the rest of it!
Recorded on the 788.
New (Nov. 2018) - Fourteen years after its initial release, 'Phoenix In The Night' has been updated. Due to advances in recording technology unavailable to me originally, I've been able to go back and replace the string sounds with more realistic versions (and totally rescored). I've also autotuned the vocals and fixed some little edit issues here and there with the backing tracks. The whole song has also been completely remixed, resulting in a much better version that I hope finally does the material a little more justice.
I wake up sweating from the deepest darkest dreams
I thought I'd never see the light
It's made me realize no matter how it seems
another day and it's alright
I have been a prisoner in jails I could not see
with bars as strong as iron or steel
I am still a victim of the traps I made myself
the key to make them open is the will
I'll rise like a phoenix in the night
from the ashes of its bones
Rise like the stars right out of sight
when the morning light has shone
I'm like the phoenix in the night - on my own!
The breaking of a heart, the softest sound to fall
like listening to a rainy day
It makes an echo that's the loudest noise of all
and take so long to fade away
I have sailed an ocean now alone with my own pain
so often thought I would taste defeat
Now I see the other side at last within my reach
all I want is land beneath my feet
I'll rise like a phoenix in the night
from the ashes of its bones
Rise like the stars right out of sight
when the morning light has shone
I'm like the phoenix in the night - on my own!
Living in a world that makes me older
I try to learn as best I can
To roll the sadness off my shoulder
is the lesson taught again
Yes, I've had to face a trial by fire
and I could not take much more
But like the phoenix from its burning pyre
I came out stronger than before
So many people have a dream that's been denied
and feelings they can not relate
A lifetime spent reliving what they could have tried
trapped in a world where it's too late
I have felt the rise and fall of hope within my breast
the fear that I might lose my ground
Everyone has made mistakes and I'm like all the rest
I want my world to keep on going round
I'll rise like a phoenix in the night
from the ashes of its bones
Rise like the stars right out of sight
when the morning light has shone
I'm like the phoenix in the night - on my own!
I'll rise like a phoenix in the night
from the ashes of its bones
Rise like the stars right out of sight
when the morning light has shone
I'm like the phoenix in the night - on my own!