In 2017 I boarded the 127 meter long Reykjavoss ship carrying cargo from Portland, ME to Reykjavik, Iceland for a journey across the North Atlantic Ocean with just myself, my guitar, and 9 Russian and Icelandic crew members. The journey was to take between 8 and 21 days depending on the sea ice, it took us 9. I was brought on this journey as an artist to capture songs while at sea, in the Skaldic poet tradition. As the days and waves rolled on the adventure and loneliness lead me to write nearly 9 songs, 5 of which are finally coming together in an EP bringing this experience through to it's listenable form. Though communication with the crew was limited due to language barriers and my relative feeling of interloping these songs capture a kinship I felt with this style of life where beauty and freedom are matched with loneliness and longing. If one song captures this the most it is this one, Chasing Horizons.

 

Chasing Horizons

Away boys, away boys

We’re chasing horizons

It all looks the same

Between the blue and gray

So pray somebody waits for you

 

Somewhere somebody’s drinking coffee in a car

Somewhere somebody’s answering the phone

Somewhere somebody is picking kids up at school

Somewhere somebody’s sleeping all alone

 

Away boys, away boys

We’re chasing horizons

It all looks the same

Between the blue and gray

So pray somebody waits for you

 

I have spent the better part of the better years

Missing the better moments of life

But I have seen an entire ocean of ice

Illuminated by the northern lights

 

Away boys, away boys

We’re chasing horizons

It all looks the same

Between the blue and gray

So pray somebody waits for you

 

It’s a fair life for a man like me

The kids have all grown and left the home

I’d rather they forget me if I’m far away

I’d rather have my sunset on the sea

 

Away boys, away boys

We’re chasing horizons

It all looks the same

Between the blue and gray

So pray somebody waits for you

 

Away boys, away boys

We’re chasing horizons

The ever-rolling sea

Is ever lonely

So pray somebody waits for you

And pray somebody waits for you