"Wind Swept Shore" was the theme of last week's Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge. Preparing for this song, my thoughts flew straight to Cannon Beach, on the Oregon Coast. The resulting song is an ode to Oregon, remembering the people and the places that make that state so special to me.
This song is original, newly written for the Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge, prompted by the theme: "Wind Swept Shore."
“Far Out In Oregon”
The Story
The Christmas holiday rushed me away from home, and so I missed the due date in last week's Songwriters Challenge. Sorry about that. This song here is an emotional one for me, looking back and reminiscing. I was born in Oregon, and lived there for a while, returning to visit over the course of many summers. Family members and cherished friends live there still. These people were with me while I wrote this song.
Oregon's natural landscapes are among the world's most wonderful. Vivid green rainforests, sky-high waterfalls, salmon-filled rivers, rocky desert canyons... Even the coastline itself offers a diverse array of environments: sand dunes, volcanic cliffs, forests that disappear into the sea, and yes, windswept shores. The place is otherworldly. These places were with me while I wrote this song.
Yes, these people and places are so very precious to me, and I'm happy they could be with me while I wrote this song. Sadly, there was another dominating memory that drive me into the deeper territory of this song, with its bluesy tone, and the subtly sorrowful lyrics. I remembered a fragile time in my life, when something terrible happened and I had to escape to Oregon, to find myself again.
Skip the next paragraph, if you're not ready for a horror story.
I apologize in advance if this rattles your nerves, but I'll do my best to share a true story in a sensitive light. I heard a woman's scream one night. I shot out of bed and ventured out to see what this was about. I followed another scream to an open garage, where a mother was holding her 15-year-old son, who hung himself with an extension cord. I'll just say about that much for now, although there's so much more to say.
Oregon saved me from the crush of despair, in that moment, because it brought life back into perspective for me. I was living in Montana at the time, and my little brother picked me up and drove straight to the Pacific Ocean, where my little troubles dissolved, in the presence of something so big. Mother Ocean truly soothed me with her immensity, and she washed away my emotional pain. This song, "Far Out In Oregon," encapsulates these feelings and remembrances.
The Lyrics
Behind eyes closed
My heart goes coasting
Over the edge of Oregon
Getting life in motion
Windswept shores
Old growth forests
Cattle guards on country roads
Fields filled with roses
Far out in Oregon
This tornado goes to unwind
Blowing in the breeze to the great big ocean
Gonna ease this little troubled mind
Moving forward
Further inward
My heart remembers
Windy winter blizzards
Reflections on Crater Lake
Listening to meadowlarks
With evening coyotes
Howling in the cedar trees
Far out in Oregon...
My heart advances
To future glances
New songs new dances
Adventures and romances
In Bend in Redmond
In Ashland in Portland
Cannon Beach
With loved ones with me
Far out in Oregon...
Gratefully,
