Title: The Ballad Of A Vagabond
Featuring: Cristina Lake
Released: July 22, 2012
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, Airplay
Recorded: Three Crow Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre: Alternative Rock, Baroque Rock, Folk Rock
Length: 4:32
Label: Chaos Records
Writer: Brandon Caulfield
Producer: Brandon Caulfield, JR Rhythm, Cristina Lake

“The Ballad Of A Vagabond (feat. Cristina Lake)” is a song by American singer-songwriter Brandon Caulfield featuring indie-pop singer-songwriter Cristina Lake. It is set to be released as the lead single from his as-yet-untitled third studio album. The song was written by Brandon Caulfield and was produced by Caulfield along with Cristina Lake and iconic rock musician JR Rhythm. Musically “The Ballad Of A Vagabond” is a combination of both Caulfield and Lake’s own individual style as its roots remain buried in Caulfield’s alternative rock sound with the operatic baroque style that Cristina Lake has become known for following her recent sophomore album “Chasing The Renegades”.

The song was written in early July by Brandon, having begun writing once again and becoming re-inspired to work towards creating new music for his third full-length studio album alongside both JR Rhythm and Moe Z. He wrote the song with the thought of having a female vocalist on the track and having become a fan of Cristina Lake’s most recent work he contacted her to discuss the possibility of her coming into the studio and recording the song alongside Caulfield, JR Rhythm and Moe Z which is something she was reportedly very excited about having been told about the song’s lyrics and theme.
The two met up at a recording studio in Los Angeles, California to begin recording the song together in-between breaks from her current tour. “The Ballad Of A Vagabond” was then recorded within a week, with Cristina juggling time between recording and touring in order to have the song completed before the end of the North American leg of her ‘Chasing Excuses Tour’ alongside Julia Volkova. The song will be available to purchase from July 22, 2012, as a CD Single and Digital Download as well as being made available for Airplay.

BACKGROUND, LYRICAL THEME & SONG DESCRIPTION

“The Ballad Of A Vagabond” is somewhat of a rarity for Brandon Caulfield, although he has collaborated on a few different occasions with a number of musicians, some more well-known than others it’s well worth nothing that he is a rather solitary musician when it comes to his own work, he doesn’t mind working alongside musicians to create the sound that he wants but when it comes to the typical collaborations that we see perhaps all too often in the industry these days, he has generally avoided those possibilities and that’s perhaps part of his individual quality, the fact that when he records a song it has always felt like his work and his work alone but he has decided to take this opportunity to have a vocal collaboration on this, his lead single from his third studio album.

In a recent interview, Caulfield stated how the opportunity to record with Cristina came about, “I happened to be in conversation with JR about various music and we happened to be talking about where the next iconic and innovative album would come from and he mentioned the recent album of Cristina Lake whom I had heard of on a couple of occasions but never actually delved deep enough to search out her music, so it was essentially the recommendation of JR Rhythm who encouraged me to check out this record called ‘Chasing The Renegades’ and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, she had managed to create this rather dark and bohemian piece of work that just drew me in and it certainly became a record that I admire greatly.” he continues “I felt like if I was to have someone feature on this next album then she’d be the one that I wanted to work alongside most, that breathy tone that shows real flashes of darkness and pain is something that really surprised me and even more so when we worked together in the studio, hearing her vocals live in the studio amazed me and after getting to know her over those first two sessions and her story, with Jack and all of the difficulties that that relationship brought to her was enchanting to a certain degree and instantly I knew what direction to take the song into.”

The lyrical theme to the song is that of a rather dark and sometimes lonely existence for both characters in the song, but there is an underlying feeling from the male character that there may be deep regret in the decisions that he’s made at the end of the song. It’s main theme is inspired somewhat by Cristina’s relationship with Jack Frost, although it’s not a direct story of their relationship rather a story of a fictional couple that has elements of the difficulties that Cristina faced in her relationship, the main theme is the strains of being in a relationship with a musician that has to spend time away from a young family and more clearly it’s about a musician that made the decision to abandon his young family for a career travelling from city to city as a rock and roll icon. The female character sings about the emptiness that her life has become and how she spends all of her time focussing on raising her children and not living the life that she had always envisioned, the situation is that of the female singing to the father of her children and from the male situation he’s informing her that they were always gonna have a difficult relationship no matter what choices he made, the male character may seem heartless and not at all bothered by the bad choices that he made and the life that he now leads but with the final verse of the song he shows a more true and vulnerable side to his situation and even opens up about the regrets that haunt him “I’ll pick up the whiskey after another late night show/In order to forget about you and the things that I left at home/That’s why I drink it, to forget about the things that I don’t have/I know I may seem heartless but deep down I ain’t that bad.” an indication that the alcohol and drugs aren’t used for typical reckless reasons but instead to soften the pain that he feels each day.

The song opens with a tambourine tapping lightly against Cristina’s hand and quickly followed by the acoustic guitar that Brandon can be heard gently plucking the strings before the pace of the song picks up ever so slightly and Cristina begins to sing the opening lines to the song with a raspy but gentle vocal that mirrors the instrumentation through the opening verse. As the second verse arrives with a vocal with slightly more volume and an almost beaten and bruised vocal that falls somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits the instrumentation increases in style as the lead guitar line provided by JR Rhythm provides a memorable riff alongside the soft southern twang of the slide guitar that’s provided by his ‘The Bards’ cohort, Moe Z. During the middle section is a sombre affair as Brandon and Cristina direct the lyrics back and forth between each other with the aggression that they require in the cacophony of old-fashioned sounding guitar riffs that you can’t help by imagine both JR Rhythm and Moe Z directing at each other like two gunslingers battling against each other and as the song comes towards it’s latter stages the riffs become slightly more gentile as they make way for the more tender final verse sung softly by Caulfield.


LYRICS

I’m drawing circles on the window while watching the rain pile up outside
Wondering where my life went, because I haven’t seen it in a while
I work hard from dusk till dawn, it’s the only thing that I know how to do
Our children are all wrapped up in bed and it hurts so bad to see just how much they miss you
I’ve given up hope in ever seeing you again
Your just a fleeting memory of what we could have been

The touring lifestyle is an unstable way of living
Can’t you see, it’s all about taking rather than giving
I know that I’ve got a family and commitments of my own
But you knew all along that I’m a rolling stone
I ain’t gonna lie, this moment will not pass
I find more happiness in the bottom of a whiskey glass

Heartless and tragic
That’s all you are
Those are the most important traits
Of a rock and roll star

Live your life, the way that you see fit
When your laying on an empty hotel floor
Staring into the abyss
When too much cocaine and alcohol take their toll
Don’t come running back to me
I won’t be there to break your fall

That’s fine with me, it’s in my destructive nature not to care
I don’t need your family vacations and white picket fences
I’ll drink enough alcohol to lose all of my senses
And the very next day, I’ll do it once more
I’ve become quite accustomed to a hotel room floor

When my kids grow there’s one thing I’ll say
Don’t fall in love with a renegade because they’ll leave you someday
It may seem dreamy being connected to a star
But your heart’s a vulnerable thing
So don’t let it go too far

Heartless and tragic
That’s all you are
Those are the most important traits
Of a rock and roll star

I’ll pick up the whiskey after another late night show
In order to forget you and the things that I left at home
That’s why I drink it, to forget about the things that I don’t have
I know I may seem heartless but deep down I ain’t that bad
All that I could ever want is everything we should have been
But if I had to choose between them both?
They’re few and far between

PERSONNEL
Brandon Caulfield – vocals, acoustic guitar, lyrics, production
Cristina Lake – vocals, tambourine, lyrics, production
JR Rhythm – lead guitar, production
Moe Z – slide guitar, production

SOUNDS LIKE

Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Relator [theme, female vocals and instrumental]