Hey David,

I'm sorry for not being more clear. I went back and listened again to the solo area. When I was commenting above, I was thinking the solo was after the next vs. I feel your guitar solo needs a different approach and tone--you do not need the spacious break with electric piano after that solo--it feels like an "intermission" disconnecting the listener. The solo alone is enough break with this long slower tempo song. Experiment with a guitar solo with a more distant reverb/delay that builds--also it might work better for the solo not follow the exact same vs melody, but more importantly when solo finishes --go directly into the next vs. You could delete one of the later verses and return to your last vs. or not go back to the 1st vs. I do kind of like returning to the beginning vs the more I think of it however.

1) augment/experiment with guitar solo to be more climatic rather than just an instrumental vs--experiment with guitar solo sounds.....
2) delete post solo break w/piano-will give song more of a climax and cut some time.
3) eliminate one later vs- for downsizing--I've had this task of deleting a vs, sometimes painful, sometimes I've ended up rearranging verses.....

JMO David--but I strive to give you my reasoning as to why, rather than just say it's "too long." Some songs can be long when structured properly or have a vibe/subject matter that make it work. This is a beautiful ballad, but not a rhapsody or song that changes enough musically to go much beyond 4:15-4:30 which is still considered long. I didn't delve into the lyrics--I feel lyrics are best polished (if needed) after you get the music foundation and timing in place.

BTW--I wouldn't give you this much of my time if I didn't think this song had any potential!

steady-eddie