Wednesday, April 21, 2021

"LEAVIN' ALL OUR TROUBLES FAR BEHIND" (Back-story, Lyrics, and Link to Song on YouTube)

 

LEAVIN’ ALL OUR TROUBLES FAR BEHIND (Back-story, Lyrics, and Link to song on YouTube)

Back-story:

Folks, is there anything better than a road trip?  It has to be one of the top ten great experiences.  In addition to letting us let go of our anxieties and responsibilities, it gives us time to relax, reflect, and renew our commitment to whatever personal goals we have set.  It lets us live in the moment, the most satisfying place we can be.  Most everyone I know has been on a road trip, but if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to get out there and try it!

Siobhan and I have been going on road trips for the past Thirty-nine years.  As with much of what we do, we keep it simple.  We take very little with us: favorite audio books, favorite music, and just the essentials regarding clothing.  In the 1990s, after Siobhan started playing bass, we began taking the music along with us so that we could practice and play some impromptu gigs if the opportunity arose.  The focus of our trips has been, and will probably continue to be, visiting family and friends.  So far, our destinations have been New England, Ohio, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Florida.  Unlike many travelers, we do not rush to these destinations.  Instead, we take our time, staying in little interesting towns we find along the way.  We love to meet new people and listen to the stories they have to tell.

In the mid 1990s, we traveled to Alexander, North Carolina, a little town just north of Asheville.  Our friends, Marianne and Raymond Jacque, retired there, and built a beautiful home up in the hills outside of Alexander.  “Leavin’ All Our Troubles Far Behind” was born on this trip.

 We were on highway 81, an interstate that starts in upstate New York and ends in Alabama.  When it passes through western Virginia, it travels along the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.  Somewhere between Winchester and Christiansburg, with the music blaring, the details of the first verse of the song came together.  The imagery is nothing special.  I merely put the sights, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes of the road into a simple meter and rhyme scheme.  I felt good about this first verse, but I did not immediately know where to go with it.  Here is what happened.

 When we arrived at Marianne and Raymond’s house, the awesome setting of their home inspired me and gave me an excellent opportunity to complete the song.  I am an early riser, and usually have at least two to three hours of alone time before everyone else gets up.  Sitting in the sunroom located on the deck in the front of the Jacque’s home, I composed the second and third verses of the song as the dissipating fog dawned another beautiful Carolina morning.

 When it came to creating the chorus, it was simple.  Road trips allow us to detach from our past and future, and, if we let it happen, they let us get into the now and enjoy the moment.  I have been working at living this philosophy for most of my life, and as I get better and better at it, I find life becoming more and more rewarding.  Many folks who listen to my songs wonder if I am a Buddhist.  I’m not, but I sure think they have some cool ideas!

 The song is a fast moving somewhat folk, country, Americana  song.  With a guitar, a fiddle, a mandolin, a banjo, a harmonica, a bass, drums, and backup harmonies, John and Joe Dady (now members of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame) and Tim Chaapel (owner of Mobile Music in Canandaigua, NY), all quintessential musicians, help Siobhan and me create one of those hard-driving road tunes.  Big thanks to these guys!  The song is  far from being anything like the classic road trip song “Take It Easy” by the Eagles, but it has that feel to it.  I like it, and I hope you do, too.

 

Lyrics:

Verse 1

It's August and the summer's nearly over

Here we are on Highway 81

The Blue Ridge, the Smokies, and you right by my side

It's time to take a break and have some fun

As we roll along and sip our cups of coffee

The sun is rising in the eastern sky

The leaves upon the trees blow so gently from the breeze

The truckers nod and wave as they go by

 

Chorus

And here we are without a past or future

Suspended once again in space and time

Enjoying each and every precious moment

Leavin’ all our troubles far behind

 

Verse 2

Way back up in those woods outside of Asheville

Off the beaten path, out of the way

All alone sits a little home from where no one would want to roam

A place where time just seems to fade away

It's here we sit and play our good time music

Bluegrass, country, folk, and rock-n-roll

And as we sing, the hills soon ring, and suddenly everything

Harmonizes to become one soul

 

Chorus

 

Verse 3

And sometimes on those Carolina mornings

The fog is like a lazy hazy dream

So we reflect, select, reject, and finally connect

With that sun that carves a bright and vivid scene

And often on those Carolina evenings

The thunder rolls and rumbles through the hills

We watch each flash, feel each crash, listen to that water splash

'Til the moon returns serene and still.

 

Chorus

 

Instrumental Break

 

Repeat first half of Verse 1, and then the chorus 2 times.

 

Here is a link to the song on YouTube.  It’s an auto generated video created by CD Baby, our distributor.  If an ad appears when the link opens, click to dismiss it, and the song will start.  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvMmUbPQBgU&list=PLmaM3h4AoHN_cKb13jMDd4mDim-mU_khW&index=13

If you Prefer, you can stream this song on all the major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, etc.