Lake Champlain from Burlington, VT
Give it All We Got was written on a drive back home to Rochester from Burlington, Vermont. The six hour drive, if you choose to go this way, takes you through the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. To this day, it is the only song I’ve have ever completely composed without an instrument in front of me. I was in Burlington for one of my best friend’s bachelorette party. On the drive up, I listened to an assortment of some of my favorite records. Madman Across the Water, The Nashville Sound, Second Helping, Mr. Misunderstood, and others thoroughly enjoying the sunny August weather and the entrancing views of Lake Champlain, the Green Mountains, and the Adirondack High Peaks. We spent four days celebrating her upcoming wedding, catching up with each other after a prolonged separation, and consuming large quantities of alcohol which, when in good company, can have a transcendental effect.
Travel is good for a writer. It affords you the time to process thoughts that have been marinating. As I drove, flashbacks, musings, images, words, and ideas drifted across the windshield like a screen saver. In the months before I had been thinking a lot about the direction of my life. Do I buy a house in the Rochester area? Do I move to a new city to try and forge a life and identify independently? Do I quit my job for the sake of quitting and find another? Is it ok to have a consistent and fulfilling life? Why was I looking for fault in an otherwise happy and fulfilling life? You know--existential crises sort of stuff.
As I crossed into the Adirondack park, I had a flashback of sitting on a train in Paris. I was on my way to visit my college girlfriend who was living there at the time. She had always had a clearly defined vision for her life, down to the color paint she wanted for her dining room. She envisioned an idyllic New England home in a quaint town surrounded by a rocky and rolling pastoral landscape. Before I realized I wasn’t included in that vision, I adopted it and made it my own without thought or regard for what I wanted because I had yet to define anything for myself.
As I grow in age and as a person I’m developing my own vision that’s becoming both clear and original. And as it focuses into frame, it’s both intimidating and comforting. Intimidating because it’s slowly becoming a reality, and comforting because I’m co-constructing this new vision with someone I can depend on.
Lyrics:
When I was young I stole an image for my life
I stole it from a girl I knew wasn’t right
I could see us sitting forever side by side
But she went and bought herself a one-ticket ride
The first time I laid my eyes on you I didn’t dare breathe
A wave rushed over my anxious heart under pastel cotton tweed
You traded me your heart while you were in disguise
Now we’re off for another ride
If I fly too high would you pull me back down to you?
Cause I’ve fallen like this before and I’ve hit the floor
Oh if we do this
Let’s give it all we got
I photographed another image for my life
A little house a strong wife lights that flicker sometimes
Idyllic imperfection scraped knees homemade corrections
Hanging gutters rusty nails and colored leaves
These mountains roads twist and turn here upstate
If I had it my my way I don’t think I would wait
Intimidation once again is at my door
That departure hangs on some more
If I fly too high would you pull me back down to you?
Cause I’ve fallen like this before and I’ve hit the floor
Oh if we do this
Let’s give it all we got