Story Behind The Song

I used to go to Jamaica every winter for a couple weeks with the handsome, talented, sensitive man who was part of my life for many years. One day I was watching him react to the surf as if he were approaching a dear friend. The verses were born then and I used to perform the song with just the verses. Decades later, when I brought the song to the studio to add to my musical memoirs, Bill Bentley suggested adding a chorus. We traded ideas on what that might be like and, before you know it, we had a chorus written that pulled the verses together and felt like it had always been part of the song.

Song Description

Marveling at a lasting relationship.

Lyrics

Seventeen Summers

I watched you walk down to the water
And she met you as if you belonged
The two of you silently embraced
With a mixture of awkwardness and grace
Until she finally chased you back to me
That's why the ocean is my favorite place to be

You heart beats in rhythm with mine now
And your voice harmonizes so well
Just when I think that we've become
As close as two can be to one
You promise me someday we'll be even closer
That's why the ocean is my favorite place to be
She always kicks it out and throws it back to me

Seventeen summers have come and gone
Hard to believe it's been that long
Did you ever think that we
Could ever possibly
Keep this love going so strong?

My thoughts filter through in slow motion
It's such a fine line between right and wrong
Sometimes the line, it disappears
Suddenly nothing's very clear
And I feel just like a teardrop in the ocean
And still the ocean is my favorite place to be
She always kicks it out and throws it back to me
Oh, yeah, the ocean is my favorite place to be
She always kicks it out and throws it back to me