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The bouncy lead track from Mike Gordon’s 2008 release The Green Sparrow, “Another Door” was conceptually the entry to – and product of – Gordon’s self-directed year of solitude in his studio during 2007. The Green Sparrow version features New Orleans-based drumer Doug Belote, though it is otherwise performed entirely by Gordon, who layers guitars, keyboards, hi-hat and tambourine in addition to bass and vocals, utilizing Pro Tools software. At 3:10 in length, the studio version is concise – offering only a hint of what would soon flourish on the live stage – but is bright and lifting in its own right.

Watch Another Door on YouTube Mike Gordon, “Another Door” – from The Green Sparrow, available for purchase on CD or download.

In a 2008 interview with Hidden Track’s Scott Bernstein, Gordon offered some of his thinking behind “Another Door”:

But because I started making these decisions for myself about opening a certain door and then going through it rather than spending all the time pondering which door to go through. By opening the door and going through it, which in this case the biggest door being “ok, I’m gonna write my own music and put my own band together and stop doing anything else” what I found is that when you pick a door and go through it there’s a whole bunch of new possibilities that wouldn’t have been there if you had just pondered which door to go through the whole time. So, by saying no to all of the other choices and making a choice your life is enriched. Or at least mine has been in lots of different decisions I’ve made this way.

While “Another Door” has a clearly self-referential quality, it presents widely accessible themes that resonate with a progressive and forward-thinking audience that proactively embrace positive life transformations. “Another Door” addresses the most important doors of one’s lifetime: an opened door can also find company, as “this time someone’s around the first bend” with whom “you like flying tandem a whole lot more.” But every story ends in stone, for in the end “it's only you standing by another door.” Another take for those so inclined, “Another Door” may harmonize thematically with those that seek more transitory recreational enlightenment. 

“Another Door” was the very first live song performed by Gordon’s current ensemble – Scott Murawski, Craig Myers, Tom Cleary and Todd Isler – opening the grouping’s 6/30/08 Northampton, MA debut performance. The song has remained ensconced in Gordon’s repertoire ever since, appearing in over half of his ensemble’s shows, with half of those instances in the show-opening slot, and half of the remainder performed as a set-closer. 

Watch Another Door on YouTube Mike Gordon, “Another Door” – 9/21/09, Memphis, TN

Murawski provided some insight on the gig-opening utility of “Another Door” in his excellent tour blog: “We use this tune as an opener quite often because it’s peppy, has a great dance groove, good harmonies, an interesting middle section, expandable guitar solo/jam, and a big ending. It makes a great first impression.” Indeed. The show-opener slot invites a literal interpretation for the professional concert-goer, for as the show kicks off and you settle in and the band comes on, “you’ve made it through another door.”

“Another Door” is inherently structured to rock hard on stage – the song is truly built to jam. Practically every live version of the tune by Gordon’s band delivers, but for those seeking the proverbial “extra mustard” check out: 8/15/08 in Burlington (among the first extended jam segments); 12/27/08 at Lupo’s (15+ minutes, on Murawski’s “home court”)’ 9/9/09 Somerville Theater (an early Phish haunt); 9/26/09 Barrymore Theatre (ditto); 3/9/10 Baltimore (the only encore performance to date); 3/19/11 Atlanta’s Center Stage; and 11/13/11 at the Lebanon Opera House.

(Gordon)
© Who Is She? Music, Inc. (BMI)

Swing around back, close your eyes
Slip down a chute and fantasize
About which way to go when you come back around
Hit the dirt running but you don't touch the ground
'Til you get to a spot where you might wanna be
It might be above but it could be beneath
But if you gave up the past for what's in store
Then you've come upon another door

Another lock to pick
Maybe just ram it on through
Or make like a ghost and glide
On past and the world is new
If nothing else seems like it did before
Then you've made it through another door

Now a new place, you're running again
But this time someone's around the first bend
So you jump up and fly and try to get away
But the other runner's got the same tricks to play
Climbing up higher, you land on a tower
And there's one thing you find in the final hour
That you like flying tandem a whole lot more
And you both swoop down to another door

You're rolling down the hill in someone's yard
And over a cliff you're falling hard
The other faller must be right behind
But you can't look back at the glare that shines
You splash in a stream and you're running on stones
And you're starting to think that you might be running alone
You dove underneath and now you're sure
'Cause it's only you standing by another door