“Here Be Dragons” written by Devin Gackle, November 2015

I mostly wrote this song because the phrase “here be dragons” fascinates me (can you tell?). It basically means uncharted, sometimes dangerous waters; the term developed from the work of medieval cartographers, who would would place images of dragons or sea serpents in areas that had not yet been explored.

So much opportunity for metaphor!

Heck, maybe you could take this literally and decide to travel around the world—in which case, you should definitely bring me along.

In previously unexplored situations of life, it’s easy to feel stuck or lost. It’s easy to be afraid of a big change or a new direction. Sometimes there’s a lot of confusion.

So this song is about being brave when exploring those new waters. It’s about your friends or someone else you love having your back no matter what, and you having theirs.

If you take a leap of faith, whether with someone or alone, you just might find something you didn’t know you were looking for. You might realize a part of you that was broken has healed. You might even discover something new about yourself.

You’re braver than you think.

Sometimes you have to let go of what you know, or think you know. Answers won’t come if you don’t face the dragon. Nothing will change if you pass up opportunities, if you don’t take the occasional risk.

It’s no small thing to let go of the past, to be a part of the present, to not fear the future. But if you want things to be different, you have to have faith in yourself, and the people you love. Corny as it sounds, it’s still true. We have to have faith in each other.

In short, this is a song of friendship, hope, and possibilities.

So go.

There’s world out there waiting, just for you.

Lyrics:

Here we are at the edge of uncharted waters

Letting go of everything we know

A blast from the past, a glimpse of the future

Where do we go from here

I’ll save you from drowning if you’ll save me

Let’s set sail on this journey

I’ll swim off the edge of the world with you

I’m tired of just navigating

There’s a whole world out there waiting

So let’s set sail

Here we are on the brink of discovery

How do we know what is real

Whether by design or unintended

Somehow we’ve ended up here

I’ll save you from drowning if you’ll save me

Let’s set sail on this journey

I’ll swim off the edge of the world with you

I’m tired of just navigating

There’s a whole world out there waiting

So let’s set sail

I don’t need you to hold my hand, but I’d like it if you would

I wish we knew for sure, but it wouldn’t matter if we could, ‘cause

I’ll save you from drowning if you’ll save me

Let’s set sail on this journey

I’ll swim off the edge of the world with you

I’m tired of just navigating

There’s a whole world out there waiting

So let’s set sail

Let’s set sail