Tuesday, November 01, 2016

THE WAY HOME



Wayne Watson was born on October 5, 1954 in Wisner, Louisiana.  He has had 23 #1 singles on Christian radio!  In the 90’s he and Sandi Patty performed their beautiful adult contemporary duet ‘Another Time, Another Place’ on NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show’.  In ’92 that song won a Dove Award for ‘Short Form Music Video of the Year’.  Fast forward to 1998 and Wayne released the album THE WAY HOME (Word).  Wayne dedicated it to his late father, Charles Watson, “a most dignified gentleman that lived with great humility and love for those around him”.  Michael Omartian produced the album.

First up is the light adult pop song ‘There Goes Sundown’.  It finds Wayne reflecting on his desires: “Some days I pray this prayer/More than others/For my Lord to come/When I’m weary of fightin’/When I’m tired of runnin’/Other days I wanna stay around/Grow old with that girl of mine/Most of the future is out of my hands/He reminds me every day about this time/There goes sundown (2X)/There goes sundown again”.  The song is one of six solely penned by Wayne.  Gordon Kennedy, Phil Madeira, and Jackie Street wrote the country rock number ‘Here in this Town’ which speaks of hypocrisy: “Here in this town/They all say Your Name/Sunday, it’s holy, Monday profane/How long before You bring this place to the ground?.../Here in this town/They all know the truth/Quote verse and chapter/But they don’t know You”.

‘Wouldn’t that be Somethin’!’ has a playful pop feel to it musically and includes these imaginative lyrics: “I wanna be the kind of friend that Jesus would call, you know if he had a telephone/At the end of the day/Just to talk about nothin’, nothin’/Yeah, I wanna be the kind of friend He’d wanna be around/You know without a word, without a sound/Wouldn’t that be somethin’, somethin’, yeah?/Is that so hard to imagine/The Lord Jesus as a friend like that/Spending time in the pleasure of your company?”  The wonderful inspirational anthem ‘For Such a Time as This’ was used on CBS’s popular TV show ‘Touched By an Angel’.  The song includes these words: “For such a time as this/I was placed upon the earth/To hear the voice of God and do His will whatever it is/For such a time as this/For now and all the days He gives/I am here, I am here/And I am His/For such a time as this.../Can’t change what’s happened till now/But we can change what will be/By living in holiness/That the world will see Jesus”.

‘The Urgency (Of the Generally Insignificant)’ warns against worries and anxieties and is a soulful pop song: “Say, what’s your hurry?/Why are you worryin’ about things you can’t control?/What good’s it do ya if you run the world and lose your soul?/Another New Year’s Day gone by/Still too easily occupied/By the urgency of the generally insignificant/By the urgency of things that don’t matter much at all/It occurs to me/The urgency can make a strong man crumble and fall/It’s the urgency of the generally insignificant, that’s all”.  Biff Watson plays acoustic guitar on ‘Growing’, a quiet song of vulnerability: “Don’t leave me here/You said You would not forsake me/But You never said that You wouldn’t break me to make me over in the image of you/In the dark night of the soul/When there’s no comfort in prayin’/Not a moment’s pleasure in strayin’/You’re the only shelter I know/I’m growing, I don’t like it/I’m growing and it hurts/I still love You, but God I’m tired/I guess I’ve got a lot to learn (2X)”.

‘The Long Way Home’ is one of three songs Wayne co-wrote with producer Michael Omartian.  It serves as a lovely testimonial: “I took the long way home back to what I believe/I took the long way home/You were waiting there for me/You were always faithful even when my faith was not so strong/It’s been a long way home/You know I never intended to get off the track so far/The lights that turned my head are looking quite bizarre”.  ‘Perception’ is a great rock song told from Jesus’ viewpoint: “They saw me eatin’ at the table with the sinners, tax collectors, the harlots and the thieves/Sometimes I wonder, should I be more careful ‘bout what people are thinking/What they choose to believe?/They saw Me talking to the woman at the fountain/I heard ‘em whisper ‘What’s He doing with her?’/Guess I can suffer/In people’s estimation/For the transformation of one sinner to occur”.

‘What are you still Doin’ Here’ is a romantic ballad dedicated to Wayne’s then wife, Lynn: “Who would have dreamed that you would still love me after getting to know me much better than well?/It took the mercies of Heaven and a covenant love/Still, sometimes I wonder to myself/What are you still doin’ here, loving me/Keeping all your promises faithfully/If I tried to count the ways/That would be like tryin’ to count the stars”.  Last up is ‘Come Home’.  It portrays God as the ultimate example of a loving parent: “We are all just children, even your mama and me/And everybody gone before us from this family/God, the good, good Father watches those He calls His own/One day when we’re through growin’, He’s gonna call us home/And He’ll say ‘Come home, come home/Night has fallen but the lights are on/Come home, come home/Night has fallen, it’s been so long since we’ve all been together/Gonna be here forever/Come home, come on home”.

On THE WAY HOME Wayne Watson keeps things interesting by including various styles musically-everything from inspirational ballads to rock.  Instruments used are: guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion, fiddle, and mandolin.  Vocalists employed are: Michael Mellett, Rob Frazier, Gene Miller, John Elefante, and Nicol Smith.  The lyrics are on the conversational side of things.  The main topic is the Christian life and a love song is included.  Wayne’s vocals are easy to listen to.  I’m rating THE WAY HOME 95% and recommending it to fans of James Taylor, Matthew West, and Steve Camp.  For more info visit www.waynewatson.com or connect with him on facebook.