When I was at the Lyons, Colorado Song School last August, I was at my camp, noodling around on my guitar in a tuning I learned from Beth Wood. It’s DADGCE. I came up with a rhythm and riff in the key of C that I liked, and The Muse sent me this line, “Sailing on a Sea of Hope”. But C wasn’t good for my voice, G was better, so as much as I loved the tuning, I decided I had to ditch it and go back to standard tuning. But here’s a lesson I’ve learned: sometimes using a new tuning can give you a song idea that you never would have gotten otherwise, even if you go back to another tuning to finish it.
I wrote the chorus first, and then pillaged an unfinished song from 2005 for some verse lyrics. Another lesson learned: don’t be upset about unfinished songs. Maybe they weren’t meant to be finished. Put them in the song junkyard and use them for spare parts for other songs.
I don’t know if it’s done yet. It’s a first draft. I’ll probably tweak the melody and chords a little more, maybe some of the lyrics. I’ll record a rough version and put it up on myspace.com/robroperdemos. Here’s the lyrics as they stand now.
Sea of Hope
by Rob Roper 1st Draft December 31, 2009
Mistakes are necessary
so I’m gonna make some
This life of comfort is
a life of boredom
The radio plays
the same old songs
I’ve got to do something
even if it’s wrong
Chorus
Sailing on a sea of hope
Bailing out this leaky boat
Set the sail, catch the wind
Won’t be coming back here again
Won’t be back here again
Tired of living
in the slow lane
Tired of saying
another wasted day
Everybody says
“You’ve got it made”
But even the best zoo is
still a cage
Chorus
Bridge:
I don’t know
what I’m searching for
But I don’t care if I
ever make it to the shore
Chorus
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I went to a songwriters group this morning and played this song for them. They had a good suggestion– swap the 2nd part of each verse. I agree, it flows better. So now it goes like this:
Sea of Hope
by Rob Roper 2nd Draft Jan 3, 2010
Mistakes are necessary
so I’m gonna make some
This life of comfort is
a life of boredom
Everybody says
“You’ve got it made”
But even the best zoo is
still a cage
Chorus:
Sailing on a sea of hope
Bailing out this leaky boat
Set the sail, catch the wind
Won’t be coming back here again
Won’t be back here again
Tired of living
in the slow lane
Tired of saying
another wasted day
The radio plays
the same old songs
I’ve got to do something
even if it’s wrong
(Chorus)
Bridge:
I don’t know
what I’m searching for
But I don’t care if I
ever make it to the shore
(Chorus)