The Story
I have been near the water my whole life but always thought of myself as high tide guy. Low tide was something to be avoided. Then I moved into a home on the Hood Canal near an estuary and on a sand bar, so when the tide goes out, it sometimes goes way out. And in this area, a very low tide means amazing wildlife scenes, including one occasion where we had 20 bald eagles in our field of vision from our living room window. I came to realize that there are lot of hidden and profound truths revealed in a low tide, just as in life we tend to discover things about our character and our strength and our priorities when times are tough and when life's tide ebbs - and it's at the low tide in our lives when we can proudly write our names down in the sand. The concept and title had been in my head and in my phone notes for over a year before I made any progress on the song. it was a songwriter festival hang with my friend Eric Erdman and a great singer songwriter who I had just met named Caitlin Cannon that it took shape and came to life. We parted without having finished the song, but Caitlin's mantra during the song - WWJTD (What Would James Taylor Do?) - kept coming back to me to lead me to the finish line on this JT-influenced tune. I am super proud of the music video for this song, shot at Ruby Beach in the Northwest corner of the Pacific Northwest. It's not a flip flops and bikinis kind of beach, but it's a beautiful, photogenic beach - in fact the ONLY beach in the US included in Lonely Planet's recent list of the 25 most beautiful beaches on earth. The video stars my lovely daughter Ruby (No, she was not named after the beach!) Here's a link to the video: https://youtu.be/JtbooZYst4s?si=dXWc8ZuWaVhUrF1w
Lyrics
New moon coming up I can feel it in my blood Pulling me the way it does the water line When the crowds have disappeared Buying cotton candy and souvenirs I’ll be looking underneath the pier for mine Searching the high side of low tide Gonna find what I’m looking for When the waves give up the shore And leave the treasures of the ocean floor alone Ain’t no ship that’s coming in But tomorrow I’ll be here again At the deep end of emotion, skipping stones And walking the high side of low tide And all my failure and regrets Gonna leave them at the water’s edge Here, where the mighty ocean meets the land ‘Cause when the tide is rolling out That’s the moment I can proudly Write my name down in the sand And it’s good to be alive When you’re living on the high side Gonna find what I’m looking for When the waves give up the shore And all the treasures of the ocean floor are mine Here on the high side, on the high side I’m living on the high side of low tide