STORY BEHIND THE SONG - "AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND"

This song was written in preparation for my last album, "Shanghai'd and Marooned In Key West (things could be worse)". It's one of those pieces that "ends up on the cutting room floor", so to speak.

It needs to be stated that this song is not autobiographical! As it's sung in the first person, it sounds as though it is. That fact actually played into part of the reason I cut it out. The other reasons were that I hadn't actually given much thought to the instrumentation.

The level of production is something that varies from artist to artist. Some will send a producer an acoustic demo to a producer and they will do the arrangement, organize the musicians, record everything, have the artist do the vocal, then send them the completed piece. In many cases the artist really doesn't have hardly any input.That works well for many. It doesn't work at all for me however.

If it's my work, I'm involved 100% . I will get most of the musicians. The arrangements are virtually all of mine. I'll be there during the recording, making decisions on how/what the other musicians play, so on and so forth.

With this song, as I say, it never really made it past the writing/arrangement stage. This album would be my first foray into the Trop Rock genre and as you'll see from the lyrics below, it paints a pretty good picture!

The inspiration for the song was several people I either knew as friends, was acquainted with, or just saw here in Key West.

As I say, the song was written in the first person and it depicts, quite humorously, a complete Key West blow out's trials and tribulations. I had a lot of fun and laughs writing it!

1)
SUN COME UP MOON GO DOWN
JUST GOT IN FROM PAINTING THE TOWN
BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS
SOMETIMES I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SAY WHEN, BUT IT'S ALRIGHT
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND

2)
WOKE UP AT TWO IMAGINE THAT
I FEEL JUST LIKE THE CAT IN THE HAT
SWEPT EVERYTHING UNDER THE BED
COBWEBS CLUTTER INSIDE MY HEAD
BUT IT'S ALRIGHT  YEAH, IT'S ALRIGHT
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND

(Bridge)
SUN RISE IN THE ATLANTIC
SUN SETS IN THE GULF
SO AS YOU SEE, IN SPITE OF ME, ALL IS WELL
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND

3)
MET A FEW GIRLS AT A LOCAL SALOON
WE HEADED BACK TO THEIR HOTEL ROOM
STRIP POKER AND TWISTER ALL NIGHT LONG
LOST ALL MY CLOTHES HAD TO TAKE A CAB HOME
BUT IT'S ALRIGHT  YEAH, IT'S ALRIGHT
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND

(Bridge 2)
SHOTS OF JUMBIE CHASED WITH BEER
PUSSERS RUM OVER ICE
LIFE HERE, IT'S ABUNDANTLY CLEAR,
IS QUITE NICE, YEAH IT'S QUITE NICE

4)
I HAD A REAL JOB BUT IT WENT SOUTH
I HAD THE VAPORS AIRING ABOUT
NOW I SELL TOURS ON THE STREET SIDE
MAKE A GOOD LIVING BUT IT COLLIDES WITH MY LIFE
BUT IT'S ALRIGHT, YEAH IT'S ALRIGHT
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND
AS LONG AS I LIVE ON THE ISLAND

© 5/27/2009 Christopher R. Rehm  BMI