Lyrics

TRY

Canyons of mystery
Every time we meet
Falling from the heights of day
Into a restless deep
I’m quite sure you feel it too
That it’s not just me

So let’s try
All we can do is try
Just another case of do or die
There’s only one way we can know
Risk a crash and burn to grow

When I saw you there, on that beat up plastic chair
At that laundromat, waiting for the spin cycle
When I looked into your eyes
What a total surprise
And I wondered if we shared wounds in the same places

Canyons of mystery
Everywhere we meet
Once at the corner store
Three times on the street
Now you smile at me,
Now we laugh at the same thing

So let’s try
All we can do is try
If you want it as much as do I
Only one way to know
Risk a crash and burn to grow

Solo

Chance meetings, chance greetings
At a bus stop or under an awning in a downpour
Like two lone molecules flashing lightning in a storm
Was it destiny with each encounter?

Canyons of mystery
Every time we meet
Now we’re together
The delight is just as sweet
There’s still so much to know
And secrets to keep

But let’s try
All we can do is try
If you want it as much as I-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
All we can do is try
All we can do

Brian Campbell: music, lyrics, lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Karina Márquez: back vocal
Martin Bennett: recording engineering, arrangements, sampled instruments, lead electric guitar
Recorded at Studio Loco, Montreal
copyright registration SOCAN 2025

About half a lifetime ago when I first moved to Montreal, I saw a woman at a laundromat who made a strong impression on me: she was strikingly beautiful and dramatic, and there was an intimation of deep affinity. Then over a succession of days we kept coming across each other, at a corner store, on the street. We even exchanged some friendly words, in French and English. I was too shy to come forward and ask her out for even coffee, and it seemed quite possible it would reach that point, but it never did. Nothing else came out of that relationship until this song, written only a year or two ago. But brought into it are special connections that really did lead to consummated romantic relationships, like my relationship with my wife … and that mysterious moment of attraction. It’s said that it only takes a tenth of a second to make a lasting first impression. — BC