“FOREST”
CREDITS
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Howard Willing
All Songs Written by Katie Cole.
Except "Learning How To Lose" & "Somewhere I've Never Been"
Written by Katie Cole, John Capek.
Strings Arranged by Tim Lauer.
Recorded in Nashville at Blackbird, Sound Emporium, Starstruck, Love Shack Studios and the Bear's Lair.
Second Engineer - Austin Brown.
Assistant Engineer - Todd Tidwell.
Digitally Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.
Musicians:
Lead Vocals - Katie Cole
Background Vocals - Katie Cole, Laura Cooksey, David Wise, Terry White, Janine Jones
Keys - Tim Lauer, Katie Cole
Acoustic Guitar - Todd Lombardo, Katie Cole
Electric Guitar - Sam Hunter
Pedal Steel - Paul Franklin
Bass - Mark Hill
Drums - Victor Indrizzo, Chris McHugh, Adam Schreiber
Programming - Howard Willing
Orchestra:
Viola - Kristin Wilkinson, Chris Farrell
Violin - David Davidson, David Angell, Annaliese Kowert, Jung-Min Shin, Alicia Enstrom, Jenny Bifano
Cello - Sari Reist, Kevin Bate, Austin Hoke
Flute - Jim Hoke, Erik Gratten
Oboe - Jim Hoke, Luke Simonson
Sax, Clarinet - Jim Hoke
French Horn - Patrick Walle
Trumpet, Flugelhorn - Mike Haynes, Steve Patrick
Copyist - Stephen Lamb
Thank you so much to everybody who helped bring this album to life. This is the hardest piece of work I’ve ever written and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support and encouragement of Howard and my sister Angela.
Thank you to Doug Rich and Rolff Zwiep.
Special thanks to my amazing Kickstarter family including: Colin Archer, Ashley Baltetsch, Richard Abel, Gary Fugita, Justin Echterling, Patrick Fenner, Mike Zoltowski, James and Becky McKinlay, Gerard "Bomber" Carrol, Geo Folkers, Noni, Bruce L. Moore, Kourtney Pompi, William Kane, Robert Muir, Mike "Pops the Legend" Easter, Steven Bearer, Rebecca Wemyss, Liz Marsh, Kevin Churko, Phil, Mark, Joe Stadele, Todd White, Rick W, Ryan O'Leary, Trevour Meyer, Joseph Sestili, Mara McKinnon, Michael J Webdell.
Graphic Design by Katie Cole & Ashley L. Evans. Photos by Dire Image.
Executive Producers Trevour Meyer. William Kane, Mike "Pops the Legend" Easter, Michael J Webdell, Joey McKinnon.
This album is dedicated to my Mum 1944-2024
side a. - out of the woods
“ALWAYS DO”
Just because you close the door
Don’t mean we are really done
Just because you hold her hand
Don’t mean she’s the only one
Just because you call my name
Don’t mean I’m gonna run
Run to you like I always do
Just because I fight back tears
Don’t mean I’ve broken down
Just because my door is open
Don’t mean you can come around
Just because our lips collide
Don’t mean I want you now
Want you too like I always do
Coz I want you to go but gripping your shirt
Scream “you’d better leave”
But my voice don’t work
Swear we can’t do this anymore
Like I’ve sworn a million other times before
Just because I answer the phone
Don’t mean you should call me up
Just because I loved you once
Don’t mean that I’m still in love
Just because I can’t let go
Don’t mean that this is enough
Ooh, coz I’m numb as you slip through my hands
And I don’t trust me anymore to know who I am
Yeah coz you call my name
You call my name and I’ll run to you
Run to you, run to you, run to you
”LITTLE TOO LATE”
It’s a little too late to tell me you’re sorry
It’s a little too late to make me care
While I am leaving out the back door
And you’re asleep in there.
I’m headed up north and past Colorado
But I left you a note saying you’re not the one
I tried and tried to give our love meaning
But it went numb
If I’m gone before you wake
It’s a little too late
When you only get the thorns, never the roses
No foot stopping the door, before it closes
Three little words you’ll never say
So it’s just too little too late
It’s a little too late as I follow the White River
Won’t dare follow me where I’ve gone
Over the rockies it’s smooth sailing
From now on
So, no matter what you say
This bird has flown away
It’s a little too late
”I CAN CLOSE MY EYES”
Maybe I dream too much
The tide comes in gives me a cool rush
But someday that bluebird will fly
I’ll leave my door open, roll the dice
Didn’t know you wanted to sing
And those melodies you just held them in
When the stars all come out tonight
You can sign your name in golden lights
Yeah, you’re slipping through, guess I always knew
But, I can close my eyes
If anybody asks me I’ll say we’re fine
Make believe that you’re still mine
If anybody asks me I’ll save the lie coz I, I, I,
I can close my eyes
I can see you so clear, you’re still here
Blowing smoke into the air, in the air
I’m drawing circles ‘round your name in the dust
But I’m ashamed
There’s nothing even there
What if I ask you to stay
Drag it out less than pocket change
Try to hold on to the wind
Somehow it gets under my skin
You say I love you, but I see right through
And, I can close my eyes
If anybody asks me I’ll say we’re fine
Make believe that you’re still mine
If anybody asks me I’ll save the lie coz I, I, I,
I can close my eyes
Oh close my eyes
I can close my eyes
Oooh I can close my eyes, I
“LEARNING HOW TO LOSE”
Bittersweet the road is long
Turn right, it’s wrong
Endless flood of tears
Lost count of all the years and even
If the golden sun don’t last
This too, will pass
After all the greys and blues
My heart had its hopes up
When nothing brought it down
A paper plane can fly so high
Pretending there’s no ground
All the bleeding battle scars
Paid way more than my dues
You’re never through, Learning how to lose
No one sings amazing grace
By saving face
As if I didn’t know
I’d have to let you go and even
If my hands no longer hold
Our love, gone cold
I won’t regret one moment with you
My heart had its hopes up
When nothing brought it down
A paper plane can fly so high
Pretending there’s no ground
All the bleeding battle scars
Paid way more than my dues
You’re never through, Learning how to lose
I stand back up after a fall
But heaven knows you can’t win ‘em all
My heart had its hopes up
When nothing brought it down
A paper plane can fly so high
Pretending there’s no ground
All the bleeding battle scars
Paid way more than my dues
You’re never through, Learning how to lose
Learning how to lose
”LOVE IS A LIAR”
She tells me its ok, to let go of the reins
To close my eyes so tight, that I can’t see the light
She whispers “trust in me”. My mother says that she
Could see through blue and black and how I’d bounce right back
I got these battle scars and these broken dreams
From standing too close to the fire
And my memory ain’t what it used to be,
So I trust her when she says I’ll be fine
She says Love Is A Liar….
She says forget the past, you’re not to blame for that
Says if you bleed it’s real, it’s not that big a deal
Before the tears have dried, on the pillow on his side
She says you’re ready now…jump, you’ll land feet on the ground
I got these battle scars and these broken dreams
From standing too close to the fire
And my memory ain’t what it used to be,
So I trust her when she says I’ll be fine
Coz Love Is A Liar…
She says I think too much and I should give it up
And let go, why even think twice
Just wait and see, she’s looking down on me
It ain’t like the other times.
Says it’s a perfect day, it’s just a little rain
This one’s real you’ll see, she says, “honestly”
I got these broken hearts and these sleepless dreams
From running straight into the fire
And my memory still hold you next to me
My heart thinks it’ll hurt every time
So I trust her when she says I’ll be fine
And Love is a liar
side b. - into the forest
“FOREST”
Maybe today she’s going to be alright
Lit by neon in a lonely bar tonight
Priest talking to a sinner trying to change his mind
Buys him a round and turns to her and smiles
Cold as stone, yeah, despite all she has
Got a job, money and a silent heart attack
No different from the fool drowning bourbon into black
Scared to go on, ashamed to go back
On a path she can’t stray
They even parted the seas
She can’t see the way
Can't see, can’t see, the forest for the trees
Counting red cars as they pass on by
Who knows where they’re headed or why oh why
Standing on an overpass to see if she can fly
But steps back down and says “not tonight”
On a path she can’t stray
They even parted the seas
She can’t see the way
Can't see, can’t see, the forest for the trees
Crying out for change
But as always, stumbling on her knees
They say you’re blind coz you cant find
The thing that you need
It’s calling and calling out your name
Who do you want to be
Just get out of your own way
Can’t see, can’t see the forest for the trees
Maybe today she’s going to be alright
“SOMEWHERE I’VE NEVER BEEN”
I’ve climbed the steps of Paris in Spring
The church on the hill where the angels sing
Danced in Barcelona, did I skip a beat
Coffee in Bruges walked the cobblestone street
Woke in Mykonos when the sun went down
Walked the white sands where my tears go to drown
Is it something I missed the warmth of your touch
Senses are full but my heart not so much
In an English rose garden I walked in the rain
But the flowers on the postcard don’t look the same
Take me somewhere I’ve never been
Inside myself, closer to home
Show me something I’ve never seen
Maybe there’s a place you know, coz I wanna go
New years in New York at the strike of twelve
No hand to hold but the fear that I felt
Had I seen it all but nothing it all
Coz into your love is where I wanted to fall
Find another rose garden but with you by my side
Will everything be different like it’s the first time
Take me somewhere I’ve never been
Inside myself, closer to home
Show me something I’ve never seen
Maybe there’s a place you know, coz I wanna go
I wanna go take me home
It’s you I wanna know
“BLUE”
In that smile is there something else
Drink of blue swallowed down til you’re not yourself
Lost in the woods then the light goes out
Nothing makes sense now
Stationary, walking in quicksand
It’s not scary reach out for my hand
It’s my pain too that you’re going through
You’ve taken me with you
Don’t you know?
On your face lines crooked and long
Staring at the sun til the glow was gone
Trace the outline of a life that’s blurred
In a shattered world
Temporary, it’s madness so
Hold on steady let the sadness go
It’s my pain too that you’re going through
You’ve taken me with you
The horizon is a wall
When there’s nowhere left to fall
And darkness filling up your mind
But I won’t leave you behind
Here you are so here I’ll stay
Until the heaviness goes away
Stationary, oh
Its not scary reach out for my hand
Its my pain too that you’re going through
You’ve taken me with you
It’s just a shade of blue
“SATURN”
Been to Saturn and back and I don’t know
Who felt more like an alien and out of place
When I came home
Your eyes raven black and I knew
That maybe we changed was it me
Or was it you, coz life can do
Something so beautiful then tear it apart
Like it was never there at all and we have to restart
We can take it all back if we choose to
Will you love me like you used to?
Saw Mercury close hard to explain
It’s burnt like fire of the sun but it’s cold
How you say my name
Yeah we drift apart like wasted breath
I hope we can forgive what we said
And never meant, coz life can do
Something so beautiful then tear it apart
Like it was never there at all and we have to restart
We can take it all back if we choose to
Will you love me like you used to?
All the colour and beauty I’ve seen
Ain’t got nothing on you and me
I’m coming home, been to Saturn and back
I’m coming home if you’ll have me, coz life can do
Something so beautiful then tear it apart
Like it was never there at all and we have to restart
We can take it all back if we choose to
Will you love me like you used to?
“YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN”
Young and idealized
A spark lit some fires
So you packed a bag to roam
To the bitter world unknown
Your eyes opened wide
A dream grew inside
The child when you came
Unsung but forged a name
No matter the winding road you take
All the promises kept just to break
Wilder you wander now and then
But, you can never go home again
No, you can never go home again
Up the same old street
Everything changed it seems
Somewhere in the past
Innocence comes crawling back
Invisible to all
Tried to fly but had to fall
The scars are the journey too
What happens is up to you
No matter the winding road you take
All the promises kept just to break
Wilder you wander now and then
But, You can never go home again
No You can never go home again
In your room everything in it’s place
But you’re not the same
Even the sleepless will dream tonight
Hope is all you need so hold on tight
Wilder you wander now and then
But, You can never go home again
No You can never go home again
You can never
