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"Old Blue Chair"
I first laid eyes on that chair four, almost five years
ago. And I sat in that chair every day while I was soul searching about my
life, what had happened, where I wanted to be. Mostly, though, I sat in
that chair trying to figure out about a love that was lost - and I just
sat there, looked out at the ocean and let the hurt wash over me like the
waves.
In fact, I saw in there one morning with a bit of a
hangover - and watched the sun come up. For some reason, that morning, the
sun came up different. I knew right then, it was gonna be alright.
And ever since, any kind of changes I find myself going
through - be they good or sad - I find myself drawn back to that old blue
chair. It's where I weather and make peace with my life.
"Be As You Are"
I was sitting in this little bar, watching the national
championship football game - waiting for my buddy to get off bartending…
and I looked over and saw Michael J. Fox sitting there, nobody bothering
him. It's the beauty of the islands - people will just let you be
whatever, whoever you are and they leave you be.
That's what the line in the chorus: "You can be a bum,
a tourist or a star/ You can be as you are…" is all about: the idea that
no matter who you ARE, you can be what you want - and nobody really cares!
I wrote the very first verse on my way to my Mom's
house on Christmas Eve. Then I called Dean Dillon to help me finish it up.
I just knew he'd understand…
"Guitars, Tiki Bars"
It's not just a tour, it's a way of life.
"Island Boy"
This is a very special song about a very dear friend.
It's totally his story and yet - it's every one of us, too. No matter
where you are or who you are, there is a quiet place in us, and all we
have to do is accept it.
When I was at my most fragile, he was the person who
really showed me you could take life as it comes. You could be easy, and
it would all be okay. Just stay in the moment… and let things come… and do
your best… but mostly enjoy what you're given. And yes, Emily really is
the woman who makes the man - and this is her story in a lot of ways, too.
"Somewhere In The Sun"
This is the only song that wasn't written or started in
the islands. This one was actually written in my bus, stranded in the
middle of an ice storm in Austin, Texas. We were supposed to play the
University of Texas, but the weather made them cancel the show.
So this song became the antidote. It transformed our
existence from this awful cold, nowhere to go, no show to play to a
warmer, more kicked back place. And it tells a lot of truth about
everything people never see or think about this life on the road.
"Boston"
Over the years I've been going to the different
islands, I've met a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life,
but it still amazes me how many people - especially girls - are from New
England. This is a few pages from their life down there, how they live it
and how they feel it.
"Something Sexy 'Bout The Rain"
When you think about the tropics, you think about
endless sunny days. But for the people who live there, it's all about the
rain and the way it makes you feel because there's nothing sexier than
watching the rain slide off the palm trees or down the window panes -
especially when there's a wonderful memory involved, like this one.
"Key Lime Pie:
What could taste better? My, my, my….
"French Kissing Life"
This is an amazingly real song for me. It's my heart…
When I'm on the front of my boat, taking off - it's just like putting your
soul right into the heart of what life is supposed to be.
When I went down there last year after my [2003's
Margaritas 'n' Senoritas] tour had ended, I was as tired as I'd ever been.
I raged for 9 straight days, which is where the first line came from. And
those ooooohs are very real! I have a friend who get on the front of my
boat and do that, just howl into the universe - and that sound that's just
so much freedom and joy and release was imprinted on my soul.
That to me, that is the essence of what this song is
about.
"Sherry's Living In Paradise"
Sherry worked at this little Italian restaurant down on
the beach - and I met her on my second trip to the islands.
Of course we flirted with her. She asked us what we did… and I told her I
was a singer/songwriter. And she totally didn't believe me. Totally
didn't. So when we finished the meal, I told her I wouldn't come back and
bother her anymore that trip 'cause we'd kind of worn her out - unless I'd
written a song about her, which she didn't believe.
It took me a week and a half to do it. But I finally
got this written. I put my guitar in the Jeep, drove down to where she was
working and took her outside. Then I set her up on this little stone wall
and sang her the song. She was floored!
It really is the song of her life and the way a lot of the girls down
there live their lives. And it was also the very first seed of this album
all those years ago… It just has a way of getting into everything, turning
into a world that you can't forget and wouldn't want to.
"Magic"
I do believe there's an unseen magic about the islands.
It's magical the way it can change people's lives, like the way it changed
mine - and it's often subtle things.
We've had so many friends who leave and keep showing
back up, because they can't adjust to "the real world" once they've lived
here. That allure draws you in and won't let you go: the people, the way
the sun gets tangled in the sailboats when the day just dies, the spaces
between the musical notes and the sand beneath your toes. Everything about
it is just magic - which is why we wrote this song.
"Soul Of A Sailor"
I was sitting at a little bar on the far side of this
island with a friend of mine, and we were watching these fisherman coming
in. They were just these weather-beaten guys who go were the wind and the
sea and their hearts take them... and he made a joke that that was going
to be us one day.
Deep inside, though, I think everybody has a bit of
that restlessness. I know I feel more alive when I'm rootless and moving
with the currents. Most everybody wants to feel that free I think. Deep
down, for all of us... that's what this song is about.
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