Room to Dream


Click on the track you're interested in:

released on 08.30.05
01 Far Away (3:42)
02 I've Fallen (3:26)
03 I Will Be Your Friend (3:51)
04 W/O You (3:03)
05 Hold On Tonight (7:09)
06 Room To Dream (3:19)
07 Just In Love With You (3:40)
08 No More Flowers (3:31)
09 My Heart Breaks Through (4:42)
10 I'm Not Good Enough (5:21)
11 Only Lonely (4:59)
12 Nothing Else Can Take Your Place With Me (5:23)
13 This Show's Over (6:36)



Produced, Recorded, Engineered & Mixed by TW @ Milkshake Studios - Saint Peters, MO
Additional production help on Only Lonely by Phill Grooms
Mastered by Ron Boustead @ Precision Mastering - Hollywood, CA
Art Direction & Design: Jay Smith
Photography: PD Young, Kristy Sadich & John Wehrle

Ok, I’m gonna try as best as possible to go through each track and elaborate on them a little from a songwriting perspective and also from a production standpoint. First off, 4 of these songs were totally lost on a hard drive and I couldn’t do anymore mixing to them or anything. I had to scrounge around and find the best final version that I had, those songs being tracks 6-9. I still like the way this project ended up, but it was sad loosing everything we had worked on for those 4 songs and not able to tweak them out a little more...oh well, it gave new life to the project and reminds me to backup more often. The drums for the rest of the songs were done in about 6 hours from what I remember with Drew Bailey (Greenwheel) coming up with ideas after a first listen. But, little did I know until the next day that one of the overhead mics had crapped out randomly throughout this time frame, making 1 song not usable at all and leaving others to just forget about for the time being. I’m not the biggest fan of doing this cause sometimes the real meanings in songs and why people wrote them might be trivial compared to how a person might relate to a song and what it means to them. So hopefully this won’t ruin that for anyone.

Far Away
This was the last song to be recorded and written for this project. The actual song arrangement and music written long ago, but I was never happy with the lyrics. I originally had the chorus and was happy with it, and the bridge. The whole idea was that sometimes in this crazy life, we take a look around and where we want to be and where we really are, are so far apart from each other (thus we’re far away). I had the lamest lyrics on the verses until Dan Smith came in to the rescue and took the gems of ideas (sigh) and made them into understandable lyrics. He also laid all the guitars on this song, including the crazy guitar solo which has got to have one of the more creative endings to a solo ever. It was a tough battle for me to put this track first or I’ve Fallen, but felt this had a better feel for the album.

Wide awake, you can't sleep as you look at the light from the shades
Close your eyes, but it doesn't help you forget the hurt that resides

Yeah my heart goes out to you, or anyone who's felt this way
I can't lie, I've been there too with sadness I can't place

Cause I know how you feel right now
When it all looks surreal & the morning light feels close
But you're far away

You should see everything in color, no room for black & white
Start living, there's no time to get hung up on all that sucks in life

Yeah my heart goes out to you, or anyone who's felt this way
I can't lie, I've been there too with sadness & the growing pains

And you've reached for the stars, but never gotten that far
Where's the joy that lived inside your life
Has it died, or are you holding yourself down

TW: Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Acoustic & Electric Guitars

I’ve Fallen
I recorded this awhile ago, and the final version has a little bit more to it then the original demo one. This song started off having more of a country feel to it oddly enough, but then I played with some loops and turned it into a pop song. Even threw in a little half time in bridge for all ya out there :) The premise of this song was based on the idea that the world will keep revolving and everyone on planet earth will keep doing what they’re doing regardless of what’s going on in my life, or the way I feel.

I'm feeling like I never should have opened up
Cause sometimes I'm better off leaving my big mouth shut & not say so much
I'm pleasing you by musing you, it don't take much
You're intertwined in my crazy mind, more than the rest So I've said, from the things I've learned in you

I've fallen
I've fallen in love
I've fallen, while the world keeps spinnin around

You tell me simple minds are amused by simple things, there's nothing new
So why is my sky so blue, is it true that you love me like I love you

So who are you to tell me these things may not be true
Then who are you to say
When you never look away past your front door
To see the love you're waiting for

I've found the love you're looking for
I know the love you're dying for

Yeah the world keeps spinnin while I keep falling
The world keeps spinnin while I keep falling
The world keeps spinnin while I keep falling in love

TW: Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Phill Grooms: Bass
PD Young: Electric Guitars

I Will Be Your Friend
Talk about old school. I wrote this back in 1999 with my sister. I think these lyrics are quiet fab on the verses, my big sister Heather delivered quiet well here. I remember I had all these chorus lyrics to play around with like "I will marry you, wherever you want me too...I will be your friend". Ok, so I just made that up, but you get the idea. I think the verses tell this story in itself, that I thought of this friend above myself and sometimes in life you see them going through things where you know things just suck, but you just really don’t know cause you’ve never been in their shoes. Well, I even recorded a version of this back in 99 and when I was going through all the songs for this project, this one jumped out. I thought to myself, I want to try and re-record this, but it was such a short song (like in the 2 min range) and the old version had this really long ending with a totally different feel...honestly, it made no sense. So I got a new dilemma, I wrote the bridge you hear now, but didn’t have but like 1 line for lyrics, I didn’t want to contradict what I had already said or state what I’ve already said, so it was hard at first, but I think it turned out awesome. What I think really stands out to this if you listen to it correctly is that there are 2 different drums parts going on. When we got to this song to record the drums, I told Drew Bailey that I didn’t want this to sound like a ballad, so he was like...I have an idea. After he laid the first set of drums, he says...give me another take, don’t delete what I just did, trust me here Tom. So I did, and man...pretty creative and props to him on that idea.

I can't say I've been there
I can't say I understand
I can't say I approve or that I want to
I won't tell you something if you already know
I won't believe in less then the you I've come to know

I will carry you wherever you need me to
I will be your friend
However lonely the road
You will not go alone
Cause I will be your friend

From the way I see it you're the biggest star
I'd be so lucky to be half of what you are
So if you need a perspective
I've got a different view
I'll show you everyday until you see the truth

I see that life can bring you down in the simplest of ways
Yeah, I feel it's time you hear it again
That I will love you until the end

I will hold you high
Take you closer to the light
Cause I will be your friend
Yeah, I will be your friend

No matter how far away
I will always stay
Cause I will be your friend

TW: Electric Guitars, Keyboards & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Electric Guitar

W/O You
What can I say, I was going for a Beatles sound, horns and all. Ya know how most songs of not being able to be with the person you want to be with are sad, sappy songs. Well I thought I’d change it and make it a happy song. Thus the line "you thought you got me down, but all you did was turn my world around...made me smile". Get it now? Since this was recorded after No More Flowers, I knew I could probably get Phill over to lay some trumpet parts on this to make it sound really 60ish, and again, he came through. I recorded a live piano on it to give it that extra sloppy TW feel :) There really isn’t much else to say about this...

I thought I heard your voice
But all I heard was void
Remembered by the sounds of life
Without you

I thought I saw your face
But all it was, was me in a daze
Hypnotized, mesmerized
Without you

Oh oh whoa without you
Oh oh whoa without you
What should I do without you

You think ya got me down
But all you did was turn my world around
You made me smile, made it all worth while
Without you

You're the song I'll never sing
The melody that haunts me in my dreams
My one & only sad lullaby
The one that made me cry
But it's alright...I didn't die

My life seems cruel without you
There's nothing new without you
So what should I do without you

TW: Piano, Keyboards, Tambourine & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass & Trumpet
Dan Smith: Electric Guitars

Hold on Tonight
I think this was one of the first songs I really recorded for this project. And yes, this is about suicide as the liners would indicate. This probably turned into one of favorite tracks on the CD. I wrote this song really fast and didn’t know what to think of it after I had, so I made a quick, quick demo of it and played it for a friend of mine to see what he thought. I remember listening to it in his car in the parking lot of a Steak n Shake. It was raining out, and little did he know, I had recorded the vocal like 10 minutes beforehand. After he heard it, he said it sounded early 90’s, but it was good and he liked it (its dramatically changed since then). So, I asked a friend to come over and play cello on it to see what it might sound like at the end. Sure enough, that’s what the song needed. The part she played was so awesome. I still didn’t have much for the rest of the song except some loops in places, but I had a good idea of what I wanted this song to sound like. Sarah McLaughlin on the verses and Avril on chorus, haha. I actually said that once. I had some fancy piano stuff I almost included in on it, but in the end, I felt there was enough going on and it just busied it up to much. Some may say the ending is too long and I should have faded it out sooner. I understand that & could have easily done that, but I felt like I needed to get my point across and repeating it like I did accomplishes that hopefully.

For every two homicides in the U.S. there are three suicides. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students and the third-leading cause of death among youth overall (ages 15-24). If you or a friend are thinking about taking your pain away by ending your life, please talk to someone about the way you're feeling. There are solutions to problems, and there is always hope. Help is just a phone call away: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433 - the National Hopeline Network).

You sail away on the water of endless time
Fighting demons all around in your mind
I pray to God that it's not too late for you
You have so much right here left to do
I hope you do

Can't you see
You got me going crazy

So I promise you something true
More than broken words & hearts
I know leaving is all you're seeing
But it'd kill me too if you'd part
So can't you just hold on tonight
Yeah, hold on tonight...tonight

Life's too short to go home sooner than you have to
It's more than a game, it's your life you take
I hope you stay

Cause I love you
Yes I do

Yeah, I promise you something new
More than broken words & hearts
I know feelings are all your leaving
But it'd kill me too if you'd part
So can't you just hold on tonight
Can't you just hold on tonight
Yeah, hold on tonight...tonight

I love you more than life itself
I'll hold you when you need to be held

TW: Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Archie McKinlay: Bass
Dan Smith: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Megan Ross: Cello

Room to Dream
The title track...I am not usually a fan of title tracks, but felt that this was better then the other idea "Dreaming in Stereo" after doing a quick search on Google and seeing that it had already been done. I hope when people read that title they also don’t think of it as an actual room in which to dream, but rather as there’s always room to dream with your goals/ambitions in life. I don’t even really remember how I came up with most of this, I know it was written on guitar right after I had tuned it to open E. I think I had just figured out some chords that sounded cool and wrote it. Still is a fun one to play.

Say hello to the rest of your life
It's all the same every night, you realize
So you say goodbye to your life
But I wish you knew the dreams that were still inside of you
Cause they still know you

You try to fly so high
On wings broken in disguise
But there's still room for you to dream

Feeling down you try to say
Everything that makes you want to run away
I feel your pain when you look amazed
That all you know is all you'll ever be
It's sad to see

You cry your eyes to sleep
But if you'd wake you'd see
That there's still room for you to dream

Yeah, there's still room for you to dream
There's still room for you to dream
There's still room, yeah there's room
There's always room for you to dream

TW: Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Matt Stephens: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Acoustic & Electric Guitars

Just in Love With You
This really wasn’t suppose to make it onto this project. This is an old "sleeper song" written back in 1999 I think. Very poppy feel like I’ve Fallen. The song that was suppose to go here was called Still Feels the Same which is this 6/8 song where the drum mics had crapped out while recording, we were gonna try to re-record the drums, but I gave up on that with Drews busy schedule now. Back to this song though...it’s crazy what can I say, arrangement/chord progression wise at least it is a little. I don’t know what all to say except part of it was written on piano (chorus), the other half on guitar. I can only remember coming up with the chorus and wanting to have fun with it.

One day I walked outside
Saw the world in a different light
Tried to pick up the pieces where they were left
But it was one filthy mess

It's all just fun for now
Sometime later I'll have to take you out
Hey baby, just how does that sound

I don't know what it is with you
Hey baby I'm just in love with you
I don't have the slightest clue
Hey baby I'm just in love with you
I don't know what I should do
Since I'm in love with you

One day I ran outside
Saw your face reflecting the sunlight
I was never expecting just what I saw
I think that's why I took that fall

I sensed a different feeling coming over me
Something new that I never had seen
Hey baby, looks like it was meant to be

Some think I've lost my mind
I think they're jealous they can't find
What it is that I've found in you

Some think I've lost my mind
I think they're crazy they can't find
What it is that I see in you

TW: Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Electric Guitars

No More Flowers
The never ending question "what does this song mean". Well, this was something I stumbled across when browsing through my songs and liked the concept of it. The thought was, a girl will get flowers from a guy when the guy likes her. But as you know more then likely, as time goes on, the flowers stop coming. So in theory you could say getting flowers = being loved. There is actually a girl I used to know that was from Rahway, NJ (the song mentions the city), but the song was not written for her. I just threw the cities name in to be "artsy" cause it’s a dumpy town actually across from NYC, which kinda fits with making this a sad song. Just imagine with me, a girl that is very pretty, had all the guys but not a one that gave her love and time, the only 2 things in life that really can’t be bought (and as Dan Smith would say..."are the best things people can give"). So that’s the explanation...the muted trumpet solo Phill Grooms plays on this is highlight on the cd for me...love it.

Mary lost her perfect world
Grew up to fast for sure
No one cared, or so she'd swear
About no more flowers

Mary had a way with words
But all her lines were always blurred
So she stayed, always in Rahway
To find no more flowers

Mary had her way with men
Always got what she wanted from them
But love & time, for that she'd die
To find one more flower

The morning cries with the bee's that fly
Cause there's no more flowers

TW: Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Phill Grooms: Bass & Trumpet
Dan Smith: Acoustic Electric Guitar

My Heart Breaks Through
Speaking of the person I knew in Rahway, haha...this one is for her, as she knows already. I just remember hugging her and she said to me "I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again". As soon as she did, I realized my heart felt like it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. I know she wasn’t thinking the same thing I was when she said that, but it changed me, for the better. Shortly thereafter I was back home and couldn’t get that out of my head and wrote this song for her. Needless to say, she doesn’t talk to me anymore, ha. However, I love the ending to this song, another one of favorite parts of the cd. I originally wanted to make this the first track of the CD because it was kinda the motivation of sorts for coming out with another project...

I see you fall alone
As you try to find a home
Wanderin for your soul
In places you fear to go
You're always a beat to slow
You know it's always sad to hear how the story goes

With you...

It's you my heart breaks through
It's you that breaks my heart
Into a million different parts
It's you my heart breaks through

You try to find a theme
Longing to be free
Wonderin to believe
Anything from me
I talk about crazy things
From time to time but these words I'll always mean

Now you come crawling back
Afraid to face the fact
That memories & fears have hidden your life
I know you've had enough
You say you're just down on your luck
But I know there's more than can be seen with my eyes

TW: Acoustic/Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Electric Guitars

I’m Not Good Enough
What can I say, I like the Wallflowers!! PD Young totally made this song sound the way it does with his hot alt country slide guitar licks. Most the time guys write songs for girls, well here’s one for the guys. I’m pretty sure that every guy out there has felt this way at some point in time, it was just a phase I was going through when I wrote it. Just remember though "you cant lose what you’ve never had".

Midnight calls to the rain that falls
This night has reached its end
Like parades that pass away
You're gone like the wind
Yeah you not me

Memories fade like yesterday to the setting sun
Picture us in a still frame with every sigh it's done
Yeah you can't see

That I'm the one who understands
That I could never be your man
With all I try still I know I can't
Cause I'm not good enough
Yeah, I'm not good enough

Walk by our hiding place where we could always confide
Forget the past like the photographs so quick you deny
Yeah you not me

I hope you find your way
To a light of a brand new day
I hope you come back down
To a place where you can be found
Yeah you not me

Yeah, I'm the one who understands
Yeah, I'm the one without chance
Now I know I could never be your man
Cause I'm not good enough
Yeah, I'm not good enough

You can't really lose what you've never had
Hard to grasp, sometimes a little sad
But it's ok, yeah, it's allright

TW: Electric Guitars, Keyboards & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Electric Guitar
PD Young: Acoustic & Slide Electric Guitars

Only Lonely
This was an odd one. I was never really sure about this one. So I told Phill that I’d give him one song on the project where he could do what he wanted to with it, so he helped add the little break part at the end before the last chorus repeats. The idea for this came from a friend of a friend, and the first line is in mention of another song called "Autumn Walker" which they said defined this friend of theres. From my take, I felt they were lonely like many people out there. This is probably the most aggressive song on the CD, my fav part is the bridge lyrics and the very end where I’m singing "you’re only lonely" over and over.

You're my Autumn Walker
Oh how you've grown, but somehow
No you would, no you never would know
So how do you fair thee
Isolated from the world you try to take on your own

You fall like rain today
You drown into each passing wave

I've seen your smile fade
It washed away
Change moves slowly
I've seen your heart crack
It turned back
Leaving you only lonely

Taken in sometimes with your life
You're living on the line
Running inside your mind
I'm trying so hard
I'm desperate to find you wherever you are

You are so beautiful tonight
Wanting to shine so bright

How many times does this have to go the same way down before you figure it out
And how many times can you fall before you break

TW: Acoustic Guitars, Piano, Rhodes & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phill Grooms: Bass
Matt Stephens: Electric Guitars
Dan Smith: Electric Guitar

Nothing Else Can Take Your Place With Me
I just wanted a song with a really long title...well not really. This was another song that I had, but wasn’t to sure about how solid it was as a song and almost chucked it from being recorded. But before doing so, I recorded the piano, guitar and ebow and was warming up to it. Then I had PD come over and play accordion on it to see what it would sound like, and that’s when I thought this song had some potential. See, there used to be loops on this, but they were horrible. Drew layed drums starting on the first chorus out, but I couldn’t use them because one of the mics was going in and out and it sounded bad. So, I had Tommy A come in and play djembe on it to fill it out, which he actually got down in one take which was impressive seeing he had never heard it before. But from all of these crazy things comes what I think is a really good recording and song. From a lyric stand point, I think most us of can get a big head and think we’re pretty good somedays, but in reality, even our best day we’ll ever have is still never good enough.

You're my hope in this sad forsaken place
Breathing life in me in every step I take
And I know that nothing else can take your place with me

You're my saving grace
You are my unseen silhouette
Taken me in when no one else would see fit
And I know that nothing else could take your place with me

You came & saved me
And I don't deserve you even on my best day
And I see you everywhere
And nothing can compare to you, to you, to you
And I know you'll always be
Cause nothing else can take your place with me

You're my redemption
You are my first love
More then any other I could ever dream of
And I know that nothing else could take your place with me

TW: Ebow/Acoustic/Electric Guitars, Rhodes, Keyboards, Programming & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Archie McKinlay: Bass
PD Young: Accordion
Tommy Atkinson: Djembe

This Show’s Over
I fought on what I wanted to say with these lyrics for awhile (like most songs I’m learning). The idea was, a lot of people treat life as if it’s some show, or they live their life as if it is one actually. But in reality it’s not, and one day they’ll learn that this show called life will be over sooner then they ever thought it was. When I was writing this lyric, I wanted it to apply as if you were watching a movie, a play, or a concert...like a real show. I originally had a short ending to this song, but Drew thought it was the coolest part of it, so I extended it really quick in ProTools and let him go to town and stop whenever he wanted. Later I recorded the piano track and with the drums I realized I wanted this song to be really simple. I had Megan come over and play cello on this and another song that got scratched, and even though she played some cool stuff throughout the song, felt that it only needed to be in the ending. So the very end end...yes, yes, it’s what you’re thinking it is. I didn’t even remember playing it till just forgetting to stop the song from playing once and I thought it was cool. If you listen carefully, you’ll notice that there is this really bad noise in the background. Yeah, that was the air conditioning or heater unit making some weird noises when I was recording, I couldn’t do much about it...gave it character though, like the rest of the cd, so much to say, only so little you’ll probably ever read :)

Taken back, surprised
There's no compromise that there's an end
To every word & rhyme
One day there'll be no more to hide behind

So take a seat, take your bow
There's no use running now

When this show's over
This show's over
This show's over soon

We get one take in life
Line by line with little time
Some get themes & plots
When story boards was all you got

I hear you say "if time were only on our side"
I know I'd lay my head & cry
Cause I'd forget why we were here at all in life

Every perfect line means nothing when you die

When this show's over
This show's over
This show's over fast

No more ticket stubs to keep
No more credit lines to read
When this show's over

No more theatre darkened halls
No more curtains left to fall
When this show's over

TW: Piano, Percussion & Vocals
Drew Bailey: Drums
Phil Grooms: Bass
Dan Smith: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Megan Ross: Cello

All songs © 2005 Shakin' the Music / ASCAP
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Well thanks for reading all of that, and I hope the songs above will maybe inspire you in some way or another that there’s always room to dream.

Tom Wehrle