From the August 17, 2021 Blog:  The Story Behind the Song, "We Missed the Boat"

On rare occasions, I'll wake up with a dream still in my mind, and that's how "We Missed the Boat" was born. I dreamed that a couple was standing on a beach with suitcases in hand, staring out at the ocean in disbelief that they had indeed missed their ride home. It was funny, but I also felt their horror and panic — that sinking feeling in my stomach saying "This is bad. This is a permanent mistake." I think that strong emotion was what woke me up and kept the dream in my mind.

After I wrote the first draft of "We Missed the Boat," I played it for the monthly Songwriter's Toolbox meeting (from

the Songwriters' Association of Washington, SAW – saw.org). Before playing it, I didn't introduce the song or tell them anything about it, which turned out to be a smart move. When someone hears a song, they don't know anything about it beforehand.

After I finished, my fellow songwriters asked, "Where were they? Were they on their way to go on vacation, or were they already there?" Somehow, I had failed to establish PLACE in the first verse! No wonder they were confused! But they really liked the song, and one songwriter, the late, great Joel Pomerantz, suggested the line, "We're beached like a whale" which I gratefully added to the last chorus. Audiences smile or laugh when I sing that line.

After editing the lyrics, I created drums, bass, and steel drums for that "beach" sound using GarageBand. I recorded it at Assembly Line Studios with engineer, Kevin Gutierrez. Many months later, I was about to add it to my CD, "Time's Up—Your Move" when I lucked into a mistake. Every time I had been singing, "We've got a suitcase in each hand, but we're standing here on land" but I accidentally sang, "...standing here on sand". So much better!

So, at my next studio appointment, I told Kevin that I wanted to change just that one word in the chorus. I was ready to step up to the mic when he said, "No, I can fix it". He copied an "s" sound from somewhere else in the song and pasted it over the "L". When he finished, I couldn't hear the edit at all. Can you? Hear "We Missed the Boat" from its page. Just for your entertainment, I added the original manuscript, written in a notebook in pencil. When you click on the pages, you can see them enlarged. It's interesting to see that about 80% of the song is in that first draft!

Please add "We Missed the Boat" to your Spotify or Apple Music playlist. See if Alexa will play it. And please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Paige Powell Music, if you are a "You-Tuber". Thank you in advance for your support!