"The Good House Is Built upon a Rock (Back-story, Lyrics, and Music)

 

THE GOOD HOUSE IS BUILT UPON A ROCK (Back-story, Lyrics, and Links to the song on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon)

Back-story:

Since 1974, I have lived in Canandaigua, a beautiful little town in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  However, my good fortune did not start when I came to Canandaigua.  It started long ago in another little New York town nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains along the Hudson River shore.  Saugerties, the place where I spent my childhood and teenage years, needs no description for anyone who has grown up in small-town America.  Like all small towns, it has its memorable characters, great stories, wonderful events, and genuine friends, those people who are always there when you really need them.  “The Good House Is Built Upon a Rock” is a tribute to those people who were there when I needed them.

You see, when I was sixteen, a junior in high school, I went blind after sustaining a fall during a cross-country race.  Most of you know the details of the event because I think I have told it at least two or three thousand times, usually while sitting on some bar stool in some local watering hole.  It’s amazing how much people need beer to ask you what they want to know, isn’t it?  Anyway, if you don’t know the details, and you want to know them, e-mail me, and I will give you the scoop.

Following my accident, the people of Saugerties rallied to give me an unbelievable amount of support.  The obstacles I faced were difficult, but these people made mountains seem like rolling hills.  I could never come close to repaying them for all the wonderful things they did for me, so I wrote this little tune as an expression of my deep appreciation for the outpouring of their love for me.

Now that you know what motivated me to develop the song, it’s time to get into the nature of its construction.  Prior to the deaths of my parents, Siobhan and I regularly went to Saugerties about three or four times a year to visit them at their home on quiet little Elm Street.  When we were there, we often went out walking to burn off the millions of calories we absorb from my mother’s cooking.  One night we were walking up by Cantine field, the local park where just about every sport is played.  If you are from Canandaigua, just visualize Jefferson or Baker Park, and if you are from somewhere else, put yourself in your local park, and you’ll be with me.

As we walked across Cantine field, we were each engaged in our own thoughts.  Mine reflected on when I used to watch the Babe Ruth League baseball games.  When I stood in the grandstand’s years ago, I would often look to the west and look at the sun setting on the beautiful, majestic Catskill Mountain range.  As Siobhan and I walked, I thought about Saugerties being nestled between these mountains and the Hudson River, and the first line of the song was born.  I love internal rhyme, so when I stumbled across the phrase, “foothills of the Catskill’s,” I knew the line was a keeper.  Although I am not proud of this, the first verse emerged like the introduction to a five-paragraph essay.  I’m afraid when you teach something day in and day out for thirty-two years, it stays with you on a subconscious level forever.

The first verse concludes with the lyric “those good things that small town gave to me,” and this becomes the driving force for the rest of the song.  While driving back from Saugerties to Canandaigua, approximately 250 miles, my mind kept identifying just what those “good things” were.  When a song won’t leave you alone, it’s like having popcorn in your teeth; you don’t feel right until you get it out.  Upon returning to Canandaigua, I took all those “good things” and carved out a meter and rhyme scheme for them.  Once again, I fell into that five-paragraph trap.  Oh well, I am too old and comfortable to try to be something I am not.

After the verses of the song were in place, I worked at developing a chorus that would unite them.  During the forty-six years I have been in Canandaigua, life for me has gone very well, and in reflection, I see that much of that success can be attributed to what I absorbed while growing up in Saugerties.  The seeds that were planted in me in Saugerties blossomed when I got to Canandaigua.  This is also true for many of my friends and acquaintances from Saugerties who are now spread throughout the country and the rest of the world.  We are all ambassadors of this little town and its wonderful values.  To represent these ambassadors, I developed a chorus with a series of metaphorical clichés concluding with “the good house is built upon a rock.”

Following the completion of the song, Siobhan and I tossed around some options for arranging it.  We settled on a hard-driving, upbeat sound with somewhat of a bluegrass flare.  We chose This high-energy tempo to reflect the positive nature of the Saugerties community, an optimism that truly helped me to recover.

We recorded this song in 1998 at The Garage, a little studio in Rochester, New York.  The Garage, no longer in existence,  was owned and operated by John and Joe Dady, two quintessential musicians, who are now members of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame.  When we recorded with them, we always could count on great coffee, good stories, and an aching stomach from laughing.

John, Joe, and Tim Chaapel, another fine musician, truly enhanced the sound Siobhan and I brought to the studio.  With just a banjo, guitar, and snare drum, they captured the positive feeling we wanted the listener to experience.  I am no Doc Watson. So, John Dady backed me up with some hot licks on the guitar.  Joe Dady, who unfortunately succumbed to leukemia in 2019, a tremendous loss to our music community, picked a mean banjo on this one.  Joe and Siobhan drove the song with just the right touch on the snare drum and the acoustic bass.  Tim Chaapel, who occasionally played with Siobhan and me back then, sang back-up harmony.  Tim developed a nice idea for the start of the song. It opens with him and John Dady and me singing an a cappella version of the chorus.  I like it, and I hope you do too.  When I hear the song start, I, once again, begin to see those foothills of the Catskills.

 

Lyrics:

Verse 1:

In the foothills of the Catskill's

On that Hudson River shore

There's a little country village

I don't see much any more

At times when I go back there

To see friends and family

I remember all those good things

That small town gave to me

Chorus:

You know, the apple, it doesn't fall far from the tree

And all of us are chips off the old block

The good things are the small ones that we often do not see

And the good house is built upon a rock

Verse 2:

I was guided by my family

Received kindness from my friends

And all my patient teachers

They stayed with me to the end

The love that came from everyone

Was worth much more than gold

I take it with me where I go

And I give it back two-fold

Chorus:

Verse 3:

Everyone encouraged me

When there was a chance to take

And everyone forgave me

When I made my mistakes

The understanding I was shown

As I fought to find my way

Is given back to those I meet

As I greet this world each day

Chorus:

Verse 4:

It's here I learned to persevere

When reaching for my goals

With each goal came a confidence

From deep down in my soul

This confidence brought a wisdom

So simple and so clear

Embrace each precious moment

'Cause it quickly disappears

Chorus:

Repeat Verse 1:

Chorus: (two times)

 

Here is a link to the song on Spotify.  It is song #7 on our CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE album, which is what will appear if you click on the link.  Provide a username and password, and you’ll be good to go with a free account.

https://open.spotify.com/album/612vyh3RDKhKPE9ypBWbKJ

 

Here is a link to listen to the song on Apple Music.  Again, it is song #7 on our CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE album.

https://music.apple.com/au/album/caught-in-the-middle/id253874969

 

Here is a link to listen to the song on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Good-House-Built-Upon-Rock/dp/B001OC36WW