While gigging with The Tomatoes in Gulf Shores, AL, we were staying at an excellent beachfront hotel, Young’s-By-The-Sea. I had a desire to play guitar, so I picked up Hank Becker's Guild jumbo acoustic and stepped out on the balcony. As I sat down, I saw a girl standing on the beach looking out over the water. The wind was blowing through her long dark hair and ruffling her flowing dress, but she was standing as still as a statue. I played a kinda dark chord, and was transported to another place and time where she was bidding farewell to the love of her life as he sailed away on a Spanish galleon. Though she had seen him leave many times before, somehow she knew that this time he wouldn’t return. I felt her sadness and resignation, and her loving hope that someday they would meet again. And with the help of that wonderful guitar, my notebook and a Bic pen, Sail Away was born. This version was recorded on my 4-track cassette recorder shortly after it was written. Though it was really just a "scratchpad" version, it captured the moment's mood and I like it. Hopefully I’ll be able to revisit it at some point and record an updated version. Sail Away © 2024 - Joey Arata