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ABOUT THIS SONG I love this song...and the kids did too. It takes an uncertainty and paints it brightly with intention and possibility. Children, once they have forgotten who they really are, live in a tentative world that wants to control them to essentially give up enough to not be rebellious, an initiator, an inspiration, and a Whole Being I grew up in the 50's, when nuclear annhilation was a constant threat as an undercurrent of living. Even when we played outside the sound of a plane going overhead created pause. I grew up being told that I could survive a nuclear explosition if I just did the duck and cover correctly. Many times under my desk with my head on my left arm face down under the desk and my right palm on the back of my neck I would sneak a peak at the floor to ceiling bank of windows that would become deadly shards in an explosion...sigh...you can survive a nuclear explosion...really? Children of today face a different death potential with the environment and the global warming controversy. When I wrote this song I was thinking of my own little boy with his leaning toward life working out even though it did not look like it could, or would. I was always optimistic. I wanted the listeners to know that there was always a possibility that it would be OK. I couched it in the Root Chakra key of C as that is the survival chakra, where basic needs get met. I washed it in sweet sounding, expansive, and etheric major seventh chords that lift one out of discomfort or limiting beliefs. That filled the verses. When it came to the chorus I went to the solid major chord because I wanted that grounded and connected to the Earth like one in their power is... Yes, maybe is a weak word, just a bit north of try...but in this case it leaned into a different future that in 1989 I wanted to project, because, as we know, the world was really beginning to change for the better. I wanted to have a song that was like an inside joke to the children who still had a vesceral memory of life working out in a beautiful interconnected way...you older people talk about the way it's gonna be...I don't believe it...I don't believe it... We need the forward thinking with the grit to put that into action. Reminding children of their power and holding out the knowing that... it's gonna be alright...we're gonna make it...seemed like the right thing to do back then...and even now. |
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SONG LYRICS: MAYBE WHEN I GROW UP Maybe when I grow up There will be an earth for me Maybe there’ll be rivers Maybe there’ll be land Maybe there’ll be air to breathe The older people talk about The way it’s gonna be It scares me Maybe when I grow up There will be an earth for me With lots of different flowers All kinds of animals And forests all packed with trees You older people talk about The way it’s gonna be I don’t believe it I don’t believe it It’s gonna be all right We’re gonna make it We’re gonna grow up Big and strong Earth she’s gonna be all right She’s gonna make it The one’s who say Well, they’re all wrong Hey, I know I’m just a kid But I’ve got lots to say Gonna make this world A better place I know I can, I know we can I know we will someday Maybe when I grow up There will be an earth for me The one you’ve always dreamed of Better than today A place for my own family Let me tell you people ‘Bout the way it’s gonna be Believe me, believe me I know that... ©1989. Music for Every Soul. All Rights Reserved. |
08 Maybe When I Grow Up
