"They Name Boats After Women"

(Song being re-recorded, no link)

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG:

In early July of 2004, about 8:30 AM, I was lying in bed (relax, it was my day off) telling my wife, Kathy, about how I got the idea for another song when she said “You should write a song about your boat.” She was referring to my fishing boat which had been an 8-year source of frustration and financial drain, always requiring work and TLC to keep it floating and running. At first we thought it might be clever to let the song start out sounding like a relationship with a woman before it became obvious it was about a boat. We brainstormed and I wrote ideas down. At first I thought maybe I’d make it unclear whether I’m talking about a boat or a woman; then I thought maybe I’m describing how she’s like a boat I owned; then in the middle of this muddling a random thought hit me – so I said to Kathy, “you know, they name boats after women.” DING! (songwriter alarm going off) - that became the first line of the chorus and as I worked on it, it became the complete chorus in 5 minutes! Then I pulled from our earlier list of ideas to work on the verses and bridge. Keep in mind, we've been happily married for over 20 years - the inspiration for the song was MY BOAT not my wife!

"I approved the words of this song." - Kathy Marlin

Last night I finally sold my boat

And it made me think of you

‘Bout all the mental anguish and

The trials you put me through

I spent a lot so it would run

And be prettiest on the pond

But when the moment of truth arrived...

I couldn’t turn her on

They name boats after women

There’s a reason why that’s true

Your pour time and money into them

They give grief and pain to you

There’s only two days of real happiness

When all boaters wear a grin

There’s the day that you hook up with her

And the day you trade her in

Yeah I was the captain of my boat

But it was no big deal

After starting to sink a time or two

It lost all it’s appeal

My friends said I should dump her

Cause she always let me down

It was déjà vu all over again...

Now that old boat ain’t around

(CHORUS)

Now I don't want to hurt you

And I don’t mean to gloat

But life is so much better

Since the day I sold that boat

(CHORUS)