OK--I'm gonna tell the REAL story because Chris is way too modest. If he wrote "Yesterday" he'd call it junk.
Well, I was working on this song, and I was just running it into the ground. I'd been with it too long, had no objectivity and my vision for it was burned to a crisp. So I asked Chris if he'd like to mess with it. I gave him full carte blanche and told him to do anything he felt like to it. So he comes up with a much better feel, a much better story line and some cool melodic twists. Hell, he even picked out the good parts and kept those! In my opinion, he took it from semi-decent to outstanding.
Like many of us, I hear something magical in Chris's writing and I'm pleased to have a guy who can take my messy songs and turn them into gems. In fact, I'm sending his about a hundred rejects to work on, so he might not have much time for the board until 2008!
Chris--I haven't heard the latest mix yet--just got home. I did hear the first electrified version. Tell you the truth, I liked it better without the extra guitars. It reminded me of the sound of Tangled Up In Blue, where the music just supports the singer perfectly. If I did a track of this, I'd be going for the same feel. In fact, if I do, I'd prefer that you sing it. The combination of your voice with that lyric really sells it for me.
Off to hear the latest version!