Empty Seat Beside Me

Sometimes a song begins with heartbreak.

Sometimes inspiration strikes in the middle of the night.

And sometimes your friends tell you that your dating problem is your problem and leave you to figure it out yourself.

That's pretty much how “Empty Seat Beside Me” started.

I had been invited to a water-ski meet with some old competition water-ski teammates and friends. Somewhere in the conversation came the suggestion: “You should bring a date.”

Okay. One small problem.

Where exactly was I supposed to find the woman I wanted sitting in that seat?

I've spent a lot of my life around water. Boats, early mornings on the lake, skis in the rack, and getting up before most sane people because that's when you can find that beautiful water we call glass.

Then there are the cars.

And, of course, the guitars. Lots of guitars.

So I wasn't looking for somebody who needed to change herself to fit into my life. I wasn't trying to invent some picture-perfect woman.

I just wondered if there might be somebody out there who would look at this slightly crazy combination of boats, cars, guitars, music, water and early mornings and think:

While discussing my little dilemma with Beth and Heather, Heather offered approximately the amount of sympathy you would expect from Heather:

Thank you, Razor Tongue.

Beth, on the other hand, had an idea. Why don't you write a song about the girl you're looking for? Maybe she'll hear it and come find you.

At first I laughed. Then the wheels started turning.

That's how “Empty Seat Beside Me” was born.

The first part of the song is playful because that's how the conversation started. Five in the morning. Boat hooked up. Coffee in the console. Skis in the rack. Everything ready to go.

Except for one thing.

But somewhere along the way, the song stopped being only about finding somebody who likes the same things I do.

The bridge changed it.

Because eventually the boat goes back on the trailer. The old car goes into the garage. The last guitar chord stops ringing.

And that's when you discover what the empty seat really means.

It's not about finding somebody who loves everything you love. It's about finding somebody you still want beside you when all those things are put away.

Someone you can make laugh. Someone who can make you mad. Someone you miss when she's gone for half a day.

Someone who doesn't need to become part of your world because somehow she already fits there.

So yes, “Empty Seat Beside Me” started because I needed a date for a water-ski meet.

But somewhere between the boat, the cars, the guitars and three guitar solos, it became something a little more honest.

Until then...