Glad to Be Alive

I wrote this song the summer after I had moved back to Louisville from new York. I had returned that winter, and I was so busy putting the finishing touches on Who Are the Navigators. By the time summer rolled around, I had nothing to do but wait for the CDs to arrive. I got reacquainted with a woman I had known several years back. She was in town for a performance, and she needed someone to drive her around (or something like that). We'll call her Tina. 

I had spent probably the last 8 years in an on-again off again relationship with a gal (we'll call her Ramona). Ramona lived in New York, and I had moved back to Louisville to escape the relationship on some level.  I was having a great time writing songs. I wrote "Get Out of Touch", "Here Comes the Hurricane", "Just Getting Started", "Take it for a Ride" and many others I hope to release some day. My point is, I had gotten over Ramona, but I had never learned how to date. How do single people meet each other? 

Well, Tina showed up, and I felt like I could hope again. It made me feel, well, glad to be alive. Of course, she was back on the road within a week. What I didn't realize at the time was that that moment was really the zenith of that relationship. My songwriter-self knew. Over the years, I've come to learn that my songwriter self is waaaay smarter and wiser than I am. In fact, I've often questioned whether I write any of my songs, because I'm not that smart. The words that I wrote were right on the money:

And though she'll disappear into the great unknown

And I might have to walk on through the valley of stone

I am not alone

No I will survive

My songwriter-self knew that this chance encounter didn't end with the couple living happily ever after. She did disappear, and I was alone, but I survived. The true gift of that moment in time was that I had been liberated from a toxic relationship with Ramona. I was truly independent.

At any rate, The Navigators were in the studio for the album that became Glory, Glory. Everyone decided that a solo acoustic song might be nice to fill out the album, so one day I played a bunch of songs love in the studio.  That's where this recording came from. Andrew Emer said we should put it on the album, because it was one of the few happy songs, which it was. But it didn't make the cut. 

The funny thing is that as we were wrapping up Glory, Glory, we had an opportunity to play Bowery Ballroom, which we did. It was one of my favorite shows. The band said that I should play, "Glad to Be Alive" by myself. That was quite a moment for me. There I was all alone onstage in front of thousands of people. I think I nailed it, but I was out of my body at the time.  Tina was there too. I hope she got the thank you. 

Now when I hear the song, I hear it very differently. I'm a father, and I think of my daughter disappearing into the great unknown (someday). It's hard to imagine, honestly, but I think I will survive.