Story Behind The Song

When she first heard this song, my mother asked me if it was about her and my father. After I got over my astonishment, I asked her what about the song reminded her of Dad. She replied, ?Well, your father watches football, and tracks dirt on the floor, just like that guy in the song.? ?Salt & Sand? was inspired by a late night looking out the window at the snow covered lake one Christmas Eve. The midwestern characters leapt out at me as I stared hard into the bright white. This song is much like a ?choose your own adventure? book. The listener is free to decide what the final words of the verse mean. Each night I sing it, it?s a new story, though the words remain the same.

Lyrics

after the snowfall he?s still watching football
while she?s watching ice on the lake
she hears it breaking without even taking
a step from the house to the shore

one cool sheet only inches deep
will support a full grown man
thinking he walks on water
somebody?s daughter
dissolves in the salt & sand

wishing to shatter, a break that would scatter
her far from the life that she knows
but supper was thankless
cold pigs in a blanket
and he tracked more dirt on the floor

one cool sheet only inches deep
will support a full grown man
thinking he walks on water
somebody?s daughter
dissolves in the salt & sand

a candle is glowing; she puts it out
and leaves a pot pie on the counter
ice needs no kitchen to carve up a mountain
finally her courage has found her

just before midnight she pads through the moonlight
the keys to his pick-up in hand
when at the lakefront, the weight makes the ice grunt
as she steers toward center

one cool sheet only inches deep
will support a full grown man
thinking he walks on water
somebody?s daughter
dissolves in the salt & sand