Alabama
Sunset
Another celebration of a small moment, this one comes from a beautiful
riverside sunset in October '98. Each autumn in Columbus GA, largely due
to the hard work of Buddy Nelms, operator of the Loft, a local music venue,
there is a music festival called Uptown Jam. This past year, i was invited
to play there. i was set up on the eastern bank of the Chattahoochee River,
which separates Georgia and Alabama and was scheduled to play during the
early evening, as the sun was going down.
i wrote this song on the day before the event. i checked the time
of the sunset so that i would be singing this song at exactly the moment
i could honestly say "over my shoulder is an Alabama sunset." On the evening
i played, the weather was flawless, so much so that it hardly felt like
the autumn should.
The song is an encouragement, to overly-busy ones like myself, to
make much of the blessings under our feet. One of the verses speaks of
the way that some experiences escape our attention and move irretrievably
past us. Each sunset is a one-time performance. To miss it at all is to
miss it once and for all. Those colors and cloud patterns and nuances
will never be exactly the same. "The treasure disappears before it's found."
But every now and then, we do slow down, and really do "count the colors
on the west horizon." And it seems we're always glad we did.
My thanks to Buddy, for all he's done to keep acoustic music
alive and well at the Loft in Columbus.
Over my shoulder is an Alabama sunset
Under my feet is a Georgia Saturday night
In between is a river running slowly
Down in my heart there's a sense everything's alright
It's nice to be among familiar faces
With voices that are music to my ears
i travel to some far and friendly places
But i love the road that leads me right back here
It's a nice place to end the day
It's a nice place to hear the music play
We cast our nets in hopes we'll catch a smile
We will sit here watch the sun go down
As autumn sneaks into the town
And stroll beside the river for awhile
Everybody's sure to catch a smile
These simple moments pass us much too quickly
The treasure disappears before it's found
So we'll count the colors on that west horizon
And just for these few minutes we'll slow down
There are postcard moments on this eastern shore
Every single ticket wins a prize
Just look around you, who could ask for more
Underneath these sweet October skies
It's a nice place to end the day
It's a nice place to hear the music play
We cast our nets in hopes we'll catch a smile
We will sit here watch the sun go down
As autumn sneaks into the town
And stroll beside the river for awhile
Everybody's sure to catch a smile
It's a nice place to end the day
It's a nice place to hear the music play
We cast our nets in hopes we'll catch a smile
We will sit here watch the sun go down
As autumn sneaks into the town And stroll beside the river for awhile
Everybody's sure to catch a smile
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