Song Lyric Sunday – Jump Right In

Happy Sunday and welcome to Spring!

This week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompts, from our host Jim Adams, are Hop, Jump, Leap, Pounce and Spring. I came across this fun song from the Zac Brown Band. I hope you enjoy it along with the video.

Zac Brown penned this Caribbean-infused tune with his frequent songwriting partner Wyatt Durrette and pop singer-songwriter Jason Mraz. Durrette told the story of the song to Roughstock: “I was down in Anguilla, which is one of the islands way down there in the Caribbean, with our guitar player, Coy Bowles,” he recalled. “He and I went on a seven day disappearing act. It was just a beautiful place. It was a 16×4-mile island that has like 35 beaches on it or something like that. All of them are just the purest, white sand and the most blue water with basically nobody around. Every beach is your beach, pretty much. It’s just a gorgeous place. That’s where the first verse came from … the baby powder beach under my feet. It was a real-life experience.

“Then, right after that, I went to the Keys because the band was recording [their second album] You Get What You Give,” he continued. “We got there and hung out with Zac and the band. We were hanging out, and I told him about what I had so far. We started adding to it, and then left it alone, like usual. We start on them, and then when it runs out, we put it to the side and wait. We had written the melody to the first verse and pretty much all the first verse.

“I guess about a year later, Jason Mraz came down to Zac’s house,” Durrette added. “They were sitting around one night messing with the song, and when Jason heard the first verse, he was like, ‘Man … I just want to jump right in.’ Zac was like, ‘That works!’ They kind of put together the chorus, and then we kind of wrote the second verse together.”

Durrette penned the song’s bridge on a different occasion: “The bridge was something that I wrote completely to the side,” he noted to Roughstock. “I was having sushi with Jimmy, the fiddle player, and something came up about the music meeting the ocean. I was like wow, I need to write that, thinking for a different song … it just being an idea. I played it for Zac, and he was like, ‘That goes with that!’ It all kind of worked out. It took about two years to finally finish, but I guess that’s how we always work.”

Durrette explained the song’s meaning to Roughstock: “The idea behind the song is just another escapism song,” he said. “It’s a song about taking in everything around you and leaving everything else behind for a minute ….just enjoying the moment and not thinking about anything. Just jump on in, even if it’s cold. It will be worth it. That’s kind of the idea behind it. Just let everything else go and live in the moment, whatever that moment may be. Whether it’s listening to music or laying on a beach … that’s kind of the idea behind the song.”

Zac Brown Band Artistfacts

The country/folk band is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, where frontman Zac Brown was born in 1978.

They gained notoriety with the 2008 single “Chicken Fried,” an earlier song re-recorded for their major-label debut album The Foundation. It would be the first of many #1 country singles.

Before joining Zac Brown, multi-instrumentalist Clay Cook was a member of The Marshall Tucker Band. Before that, he was part of a duo called the Lo-Fi Masters with John Mayer. He also co-wrote songs for Mayer’s debut EP, Inside Wants Out, and his debut album, Room For Squares.

They won Best New Artist at the 2010 Grammy Awards, the third country act to win the award (behind Carrie Underwood and LeAnn Rimes).

One of the earliest members of the band was Zac Brown’s dog, Pete. Between high school and college (University of West Georgia), Zac went on a Southeast tour with a drummer and took Pete along.

The video for their 2013 single “Sweet Annie” contains snippets of footage from Coy Bowles’ wedding.

Zac Brown wed Jewelry designer Shelly in 2006 after being introduced by a friend. They had five children together: son Alexander and daughters Joni, Georgia, Lucy and Justice. The couple announced in October 2018 that they were separating after 12 years of marriage.

LYRICS


The Southern wind sings again an island lullaby

Baby powder beach under my feet has got me rolling
And the breeze through crackling leaves like a daytime campfire burning
And the ship is off to sea
And the wake it is a churning
As the Southern wind sings again an island lullaby

You can jump right in
Let the music pull you in
You can jump right in
Oh and lose yourself again
As the Southern wind sings again a island lullaby

There's a place the locals go and no one knows where to find it
And the river starts to flow inside the clouds of Misty Mountain
The water from this stone below becomes a blue-green fountain
As the Southern wind sings again an island lullaby

You can jump right in
Let the music pull you in
You can jump right in
Oh and lose yourself again
As the Southern wind sings again an island lullaby

You can find me where the music meets the ocean
If you get the notion, stop on by and play a while
Simple tune to get your love light glowing
Keep your heart wide open
Disappear just like the tide
Let it roll on by

And jump right in
Let the music pull you in
You can jump right in
Oh and lose yourself again
As the Southern wind sings again an island lullaby
The Southern wind sings again an island lullaby
Island lullaby



Courtesy of Songfacts