Can't Go Home Again (2024 Version)

Robert James

I think…
I might…
I think I might absolutely freakin’ love this song.

Well… the chorus at least. The rest is okay, but the chorus friggin’ slams.

I wrote and recorded this in November 2014 for that year’s National Solo Album Month. It’s been added to and dropped from my re-recording list multiple times. I still don’t think I did it justice, but I have a mix now… even though it’s almost midnight and I should have been asleep two hours ago and I have no clue if this mix is any good or not. It’s actually been sitting around waiting to be mixed since June of 2022… it’s now March of 2024 (in case you stumble upon this at some date in the far off future). I just really wanted this version to come out great, so much so that I have been literally afraid of it.

But it’s done now. The original version of the song was about two minutes longer than this version. I absolutely gutted it to try and make it slap more. I think my editing choices were good ones. I hope at some mythical far off point in time I will still think so. Who knows.

There are a ton of rhythm guitar tracks and they are all different signal paths. Here’s what I did, though I can’t remember for sure which path goes with which section of the song.

Gibson SG into Klon KTR into Keeley D&M Drive into Vox AC15.
Gibson SG into Eathquaker Devices The Depths into Klon KTR into Keeley D7M Drive into Vox AC15.
Gibson SG into Earthquaker Devices The Depths into Klon KTR into MXR Carbon Copy Mini into Vox AC15.
Gibson SG into Wren and Cuff Super Russian into MXR Carbon Copy Mini into Vox AC15.

There were two signal paths for lead guitars too. The first one is the backwards thing in the intro and the second is all of the other solos.
Gibson Les Paul Standard into Wren and Cuff Super Russian into MXR Carbon Copy Mini into Vox AC15.
Gibson Les Paul Standard into Klon KTR into Keeley D&M Drive into MXR Carbon Copy Mini into Vox AC15.

Verse 1
Waste away to nothing
sit and pass the time
I’m only bluffing
since when is that a crime

Verse 2
I give it everything
and still I end up last
Time to close the books
there’s time for one last blast

Chorus
I sit alone
Thoughts are my own
I can’t go home again

Break
That’s just how it is

Don’t you feel stupid
Don’t you feel small
So much time wasted
Why try at all

Other Break
One lifetime of wonder
One moment’s remorse