Rock & Roll Literacy Theme Song
Would you be able to help me with something...?
If I visit your school, I hope I'll have a chance to play the "Rock The Boat" music video at the end of the presentation. The first reason is that the video introduces Jim Webb, who is the main character in my novel, Devil's Pass. Jim will show up again in the sequel to Devil's Pass, and in a third novel also called Rock The Boat, where you find out how he reached his dreams as a musician and put his band together, called mile oneTwelve*.
And that's the second and bigger reason I hope I can play the "Rock The Boat" video for you in the gym—to reinforce the theme of Rock & Roll Literacy, which is that all of you have the potential to do amazing things. (This is why parents and teachers care how well you do in school and care that you develop great reading and writing skills to help you reach your dreams.)
The story behind the theme song is that our family lives in Red Deer, Alberta for part of the year because that’s where I was born and for me, it will always be home. We spend the rest of the year in a small town outside of Nashville, Tennessee, because my wife Cindy Morgan, who is a recording artist and songwriter and she needs to work there.
Cindy is in a band called St. Lola in the Fields, with a great Nashville producer named Jeremy Bose. St. Lola in the Fields' songs have been featured on television shows like One Tree Hill and Pretty Little Liars. (Jeremy also wrote and produced a Billboard Top Hundred hit called "Smile", by Uncle Kracker.) I asked Cindy and Jeremy if they would like to help put together the theme song for Rock & Roll Literacy. They wrote the song called "Rock The Boat", performed by Jim Webb’s band, mile oneTwelve. It’s now on iTunes, along with three other songs by the band.
So here's where I'm hoping you’ll help:
Could you listen to "Rock The Boat" a few times here and learn the words to the chorus?
Chorus:
Yeah we’re gonna rock the boat
That’s the only way to know
We’re gonna have to rock the boat
Yeah that’s the only way to go
This is the time we’re living
Let’s live it so loud
This is the world we’re given
Let’s bring the roof down
And we won’t be looking back
Only wishing that we had
This is the time we’re living
The time of our lives
I promise that when we're in the gym with the lights down and the music cranked, it will be amazing to rock along with the song.
*The name of the band comes from the novel Devil’s Pass, because at mile marker 112 of the trail he has to follow through the northwest Arctic, Webb finds something that changes his life forever.
Get the Songs!
mile oneTwelve
St. Lola in the Fields, High Atop the Houses and the Towns
About Devil's Pass
Seventeen-year-old Webb's abusive stepfather has made it impossible for him to live at home, so Webb survives on the streets of Toronto by busking with his guitar and working as a dishwasher. When Webb's grandfather dies, his will stipulates that his grandsons fulfill specific requests. Webb's task takes him to the Canol Trail in Canada's Far North, where he finds out that there are much scarier things than the cold and the occasional grizzly bear. With a Native guide, two German tourists and his guitar for company, Webb is forced to confront terrible events in his grandfather's past and somehow deal with the pain and confusion of his own life. Devil's Pass is part of Seven (the series): Seven Grandsons, Seven Journeys, Seven Authors, One Amazing Series. Learn more about all the books in Seven (the series) at www.seventheseries.com