Key West Music And Happenings: Song dissection: "Liveaboard"

Liveaboard is a quirky song story from the get go, however, having said that, it's a cool song to delve into with a fun story!

I was living in Cutler Bay in southern Miami Dade County in 2006 and regular trips were the norm to the upper keys for me on the weekends. In 35 minutes from leaving the house, I'd be sitting at the bar of The Caribbean Club in Key Largo. I'd sometimes travel as far as Marathon, to the Dockside Bar, with additional stops in Islamorada. The Keys were always my favorite destination. Additionally, my band "The Rabble Rousers" played at "Gilberts" in Key Largo somewhat often.

I worked in Coral Gables and took the bus/train to work every weekday. There's a free paper in Miami called "New Times" and I'd often pick one up to read on the forty minute trip in or out. This one day a particular story struck me. It was focused on the anchorage in Marathon just off the Dockside Bar. Apparently the city was changing it's policy and reducing the anchor buoys. Many of the people who lived on their boats for as long as thirty years, were being evicted.

If this wasn't an inspiration to write a song, nothing was.

I sat down on a Saturday with the intent of writing a song about this sad event. It just flowed out. Almost without thinking, with guitar in hand, I strummed a C add9 chord. It was perfect and natural chord for this song. There was no question for the next chord which floated naturally to a F F6 F. It happened to be a perfect fit and I was off and running! The idea as a songwriter, is to paint a picture of the scene for the listener and as luck would have it, I ended up with music that painted the picture and inspired the lyrics.

In my mind I was picturing a sailor who lived on the edge, day-to-day. Though it never says it, he's most likely getting on in years.

The intro to the song is:

"It's grits and grunts for breakfast I had 'em in the early morn'.

Dropped a line off the stern as I drank my coffee".

Here, I'm putting the protagonist in the spotlight, right off the bat. It's a bit colloquial here, in that I mention Grit's and Grunts. Of course everyone knows what "Grits" are, but what are "Grunts"? Grunts are a local, tropical South Florida fish. It's a poor man's fish. They are small, bony if filleted poorly. They are actually very tasty! You won't find them in markets for the most part. Again, it's mostly those who are on a budget. For the protagonist it's a free fish and a traditional keys breakfast.

"LAST NIGHT IT WAS YELLOWTAIL

I CALL THAT THE GOOD LIFE"

Yellowtail is is a type of snapper, considered to be the finest tasting snapper. Our guy struck it lucky last night!

"LATER I’LL HEAD TO THE MARINA

I HEAR THEY GOT SOME WORK

G F

BUT I’LL GET OUT IN TIME, MAKE A BEE LINE

Am G

BACK TO WHERE TODAY BEGAN"

Our protagonist needs work. Living isn't easy. He hears there's work to be had so he's off for a good day of honest work at the marina. However, at the end of the day he's making it back to his boat, as he says "Back To Where It All Began", which is borrowed from Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers song of the same name.

Structurally, and fortunately, everything flowed, like the tide, very naturally. with the chord progression flowing with a G F Am G.

This is important because with it resolving on the final G, (the 5 chord) it allows the song the option of going to the next verse, or going to the chorus. It's always good to have options! In this case it's the chorus.

"(chorus)

C Dm F G

‘CAUSE I’M A LIVEABOARD

C C Dm F G

LIVEABOARD

C F Dm G

F Fmaj7"

In this case the chorus is based off of the root chord of the song, G. A couple of notes here however. While the song anchor's itself on the root chord of C, the C used is a standard C chord, unlike the first chord of the verses, which is a C add9. The cool thing about the C add9 is that it pretty much floats kind of in the air. It's very lite and airy as it flows about non-committal through the verses of the song.

The chorus however, I wanted something definitive and assertive. Going with the straight C works perfectly because this is the protagonist stating unequivocally, that he's a liveaboard. This is the life he's chosen. This is who he is. He states this four times, which again, shows his assertiveness

The chorus is C Dm F G. Pretty straightforward. starting on the 1chord (C) and ending on the chord 5 (G)

To finish it off it resolves with F Fmaj7

What this does, with the F Maj7 is resolve the song and gives the listener the reminder that so much is beautiful and it dissolves the protagonist's bit of aggravation. It takes him off his soapbox. Nonetheless, life is never easy for the main character, as we see in the second verse, where he gets thrown out of the marina he's lived in for decades.

THEY THREW ME OUT OF OLD BOOT KEY

YOU KNOW I LIVED THERE FOR YEARS

EVERYNIGHT I’D WASH UP TO THAT DOCKSIDE BAR

BUT BIG MONEY MOVED IN AND THEY MOVED ME OUT

I AIN’T GOT NO MONEY, AIN’T GOT NO CLOUT

SO I FIRED UP THE MOTOR

AND OFF I GO

BUT I’M OFF THE HIGHWAY AND I’M ON THE WAVES

OFF TO GREET THE MORNING SUN

He's thrown out of his home port and with no other options, he sails on with little money. He, however, remains a defiant sailor, to the end saying "I'm off the highway and I'm on the waves".

However, more frustrations are still to come. The perils and frustrations that potentially exist on the water.

(coda)

F C

"BOWLIGHT, STERNLIGHT, ANY LIGHT I CAN’T SEE NOTHIN'

I NEED A FOGHORN

F C

BREAKAWAY, GETAWAY, ANYWAY, I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE

Am F F Maj7

DAWN

The coda:

Again, highlighting the stress and frustration of our protagonist, I'm using straight major chords to start off with, in this case F and C... at least to start. After he blows off some steam, at the end of the coda he says

C Am F G

"I can't wait for the dawn"

The Am is vital here as his uncertainty rises to the surface. The Am underlines these feelings.

GOT ME AN ANCHOR IN JEWFISH CREEK

I’D LIKE TO SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS….. but

THOSE RED CROCODILE EYES THEY’RE PATROLLING

KEEPING THEIR WATCH

AND IT’S A HOT SUMMER DAY THINK I’LL FIND MY WAY

OVER TO GILBERT’S BAR

WET MY WHISTLE, TELL MY TALES TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO LISTEN

BUT I’LL STAY ANCHORED RIGHT HERE UNTIL MY LUCK

AND MONEY RUN OUT AND I GOTTA SHOVE OF

‘CAUSE I’M A LIVEABOARD…..

© August 13, 2006 Christopher R. Rehm

B.M.I.

In the final verse our protagonist finds refuge at Gilbert's Bar in Key Largo. He's going to avoid the crocs and head to the bar for a few beers, make friends, As he declarers:

"BUT I’LL STAY ANCHORED RIGHT HERE UNTIL MY LUCK

AND MONEY RUN OUT AND I GOTTA SHOVE OFF

‘CAUSE I’M A LIVEABOARD"

I had written this song and really never played it other than inside the house. I thought it was just a song that I wrote and honestly, I was in between on whether I wanted to play it out in public. My then wife, Gigi, would always say to me "That's a really good song! You should play it out!". I pretty much blew it off. However, after around the sixth or seventh time, I kind of started thinking about it. I was at an open mic and frankly, I had a few beers. My turn came and I played a couple of songs. My last song I didn't know what to play? "Liveaboard" came to mind and I just said "The hell with it. Lets get this over with. I'll just play Liveaboard and get that monkey off my back"

I played it as my last song. I finished and cleared off the stage. As I passed people in the audience, I lost count of how many people complemented me on the song. This was really rare....

Then, professional performer, Matt Anderson, asked me if he could play it at his gigs!

After I moved to Key West a couple of years in, I was walking up Duval St. and street performer, the now late John Lamana was playing and I went up to him and introduced myself and toss a $5 in his tip bucket. To which he replied "You don't have to tell me who you are! You're Chris Rehm. You wrote the song Liveaboard! Of course I know you!"

Shortly after I played it at the open mic, it became my signature song.

And I was ready to put Liveaboard on the storage shelf!

It must be stated that while here, the protagonist is a salty guy who survives day to day, a liveaboard can be anyone just like him, or, someone who lives on their 300FT. $12M yacht can also be a liveaboard. To be a liveaboard all you have to do is live on your boat.

LIVEABOARD

intro: Cadd9 –F/F6

I) IT’S GRITS AND GRUNTS FOR BREAKFAST

Cadd9

I COUGHT ‘EM IN THE EARLY MORN’

F /F6 /F

DROPPED A LINE OFF THE STERN

AS I DRANK MY COFFEE

LAST NIGHT IT WAS YELLOWTAIL

I CALL THAT THE GOOD LIFE

LATER I’LL HEAD TO THE MARINA

I HEAR THEY GOT SOME WORK

AND I’LL GET OUT IN TIME, MAKE A BEE LINE

G F

BACK TO WHERE TODAY BEGAN

Am G

(chorus)

‘CAUSE I’M A LIVEABOARD

C Dm F G

LIVEABOARD

C F Dm G F Fmaj7

II)

Cadd9 F/F6

THEY TOSSED ME OUT OF OLD BOOT KEY

YOU KNOW I LIVED THERE FOR YEARS

EVERYNIGHT I’D WASH UP TO THAT DOCKSIDE BAR

BUT BIG MONEY MOVED IN AND THEY MOVED ME OUT

I AIN’T GOT NO MONEY, AIN’T GOT NO CLOUT

SO I FIRED UP THE MOTOR

AND OFF I GO

BUT I’M OFF THE HIGHWAY AND I’M ON THE WAVES

G F

OFF TO GREET THE MORNING SUN

Am G

(chorus)

(coda)

BOWLIGHT, STERNLIGHT, CAN’T SEE NOTHIN

I NEED A FOGHORN

BREAKAWAY, GETAWAY, ANYWAY, I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE

F C

DAWN

Am F G

III) FOUND ME AN ANCHOR IN JEWFISH CREEK

YOU KNOW I’D LIKE TO SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS….. but

THOSE RED CROCODILE EYES THEY’RE PATROLLING

KEEPING THEIR WATCH

AND IT’S A HOT SUMMER DAY THINK I’LL FIND MY WAY

OVER TO GILBERT’S BAR

WET MY WHISTLE, TELL MY TALES TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO LISTEN

BUT I’LL STAY ANCHORED RIGHT HERE UNTIL MY LUCK

G F

AND MONEY RUN OUT AND IT'S TIME TO SHOVE OFF

Am G

(chorus)

CAUSE I’M A LIVEABOARD…..

B.M.I.

Christopher R. Rehm is a published songwriter in both Nashville (McClure and Trowbridge Publishing, Nashville ) and in London, England, United Kingdom. (Millennium Production Music)

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