Story Behind The Song

I?ve always loved this song, and had wanted to record it for some time. There is for me a kind of sadness or homesickness to it which actually chronicles some things then going on in my personal life, namely, the rather unhappy prospect of moving from Pennsylvania to Florida. The relocation was imminent (within hours of running the final mix, I?d begun dismantling the studio) but fortunately not permanent. To celebrate my having finally recorded Shenandoah, I treated myself to a drive through that magical region for which the song is named on my way to Florida. Even now I sometimes wonder if I might wind up there...

Song Description

With the traditional song ?Shenandoah? as the main subject, my little composition called ?Last Ship Home? is used in the beginning and again at the end to frame out the arrangement. The piece starts slowly and quietly with an acoustic guitar playing a lilting piece of melody over a wash of floating harmonies. This segues into ?Shenandoah? itself-a modified version as I used delicate percussion (becoming less delicate as it goes on) in a rather untraditional time signature (7/4) for such a traditional song. A grand piano takes the very recognizable melody here, adding some synthesizer for the second verse. At the bridge section (which makes a reference to ?Last Ship Home?) a bass and full drum kit are added. Together they with some lush string parts provide a background for a piano solo followed by a return to the Shenandoah theme, this time played by the violin and backed by the full band. After the climax, the intensity gradually diminishes until we are at the end left with the same simple, plaintive acoustic guitar we started with. The piece ends as it began-slowly, tenderly?and maybe a little sadly.

Lyrics

With the traditional song ?Shenandoah? as the main subject, my little composition called ?Last Ship Home? is used in the beginning and again at the end to frame out the arrangement. The piece starts slowly and quietly with an acoustic guitar playing a lilting piece of melody over a wash of floating harmonies. This segues into ?Shenandoah? itself-a modified version as I used delicate percussion (becoming less delicate as it goes on) in a rather untraditional time signature (7/4) for such a traditional song. A grand piano takes the very recognizable melody here, adding some synthesizer for the second verse. At the bridge section (which makes a reference to ?Last Ship Home?) a bass and full drum kit are added. Together they with some lush string parts provide a background for a piano solo followed by a return to the Shenandoah theme, this time played by the violin and backed by the full band. After the climax, the intensity gradually diminishes until we are at the end left with the same simple, plaintive acoustic guitar we started with. The piece ends as it began-slowly, tenderly?and maybe a little sadly.
I?ve always loved this song, and had wanted to record it for some time. There is for me a kind of sadness or homesickness to it which actually chronicles some things then going on in my personal life, namely, the rather unhappy prospect of moving from Pennsylvania to Florida. The relocation was imminent (within hours of running the final mix, I?d begun dismantling the studio) but fortunately not permanent. To celebrate my having finally recorded Shenandoah, I treated myself to a drive through that magical region for which the song is named on my way to Florida. Even now I sometimes wonder if I might wind up there...