571-355-4343            paige@paigepowellmusic.com

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Roller Coaster

words and music by Paige Powell      ©2007 Paige E. Powell

1. Life is a roller coaster

The ups and downs and turnarounds

Life can be so exciting

Our eyes wide open to the sounds

Let’s ride the roller coaster

Especially when you’re feeling down

Each turn is so surprising

And at the top, you’ll see the whole town

Chorus: Climbing the hill, up over the hill

Oh, the thrill!

We go on the ride just for the thrill

Climbing the hill, up over the hill

Oh, the thrill!

Riding through life, up or downhill

Bridge: Catch your breath ‘cause there’s a new curve you didn’t see

Lift your hands if you dare let go of me!

2. Life is a roller coaster

Those happy, thrilling days will arrive

Ride through life’s disappointments

And soon you’ll feel free and alive

Let’s ride the roller coaster

Just let your screaming out

Let’s feel our hair go flyin’

And laugh for me when you shout   (Repeat Chorus)

Believe it or not, Paige is playing the slide electric guitar on the studio recording of this song!

​Scroll down to see a video of Paige playing this song, accompanied by Deborah Cosimo playing spoons, in front of a live audience!

The Story Behind the Song,
"Roller Coaster":

After I moved back to the D.C. area from Oklahoma, I had times of depression, and one evening it was pretty bad. Somehow, I climbed out of myself to become an observer: "Yes, I am depressed, and I'm at the bottom of a hill, the bottom of — a roller coaster, and that means there's going to be an UP — a climbing out of the bottom, when the roller coaster goes back up." I saw life itself as a roller coaster, and that it would take me up in the near future. I would not be going up by my own strength, but by life's "roller coaster" ride with both ups and downs. Believing that there would be an "up" coming in the future helped me to endure the down I was experiencing. The other word for this is "hope"!

To cheer myself further, I wrote "Roller Coaster" and when I recorded it in the studio for my CD, "Time's Up — Your Move" I emphasized the "up" by playing slide on my seldom-used electric guitar (a gift from my cousin, Joel Pitts!). You can listen to it every time you are feeling a little low.

In the video to the right, the woman playing spoons is my cousin, Deborah Cosimo, Joel's sister. She was in town visiting, getting an award from the Office of Inspector General for her work against fraud, waste and abuse by Medicaid providers.