THE STORY:

Out of the the Ashes was written about a month after the Gatlinburg Fire took our beloved mountain home.  If you’ve been reading these stories, you know what happened.  If not, you can read the story for “Go to the Mountain”, or you can read my blog detailing the stories: Pt.1: The Kids Escape and Pt. 2: Mike’s Discovery.  Needless to say, it was a traumatic event for our family.  

My good friend Britt Savage, was sweetly suggesting that I write a song about it, but for some reason I was a bit reluctant. I guess I didn’t want to be one of “those” songwriters. You know, the kind who seem to use traumatic events as a way to bring the spotlight on their careers.  I know sometimes it comes from a real place, but more often than not, it can appear a little self-serving.  I certainly didn’t want it to come across like, “Hey guys, my life is falling apart, so I wrote a song about it.  And you can buy it on iTunes tomorrow!”  LoL   Again, I don’t mean to sound like I’m judging… because I know that writing can truly be cathartic for us creative types, and this was definitely healing for me to write this one. 

Like I said, Britt was nudging me and I was hesitating.. and then she called and sang this chorus to me over the phone. It touched me so much that I immediately said, “Get over to our house NOW and let’s finish this!”.  I think she came over the next day and she sat down with me and Mike in our living room.  Mike and I had gone up to the area twice with our cameras to document the damage.  We drove all around the area and in the process met so many folks who had lost SO MUCH MORE than we did. However, the spirit of the East Tennessee people is STRONG. And you could tell that they weren’t going to let those fires take their town!  They were praising God for what was left and trusting God to help them rebuilding what was lost. It was truly inspiring, and those images were in our heads as we finished “Out of the Ashes”.

So, this song is dedicated to all the people in East TN who truly suffered loss on Nov. 28th, 2016… yet came through it with grace, forgiveness and strength of spirit.  I am so proud of my fellow Tennesseans, who bonded together and got through such a life-changing event…..and I can’t wait to be back up in the mountains again with you soon!

 

THE LYRICS:

Out of the Ashes

Writers: Marcia Ramirez/Britt Savage/Mike Waldron

 

CH: Out of the ashes — your name will rise

With hearts that are broken

With tears in our eyes

We raise you up with a song of your praise

Trusting in you Lord, all of our days

 

Dark days have come Lord

to our sweet mountain town

Dreams have been shattered

Memories burned down

 

But we’ll stand together

And hold on to our faith

Believing you’re here, ever so near

Right here in this place

 

CHORUS

 

Everything may seem different

But you never change

We know that you hear us

When we cry out your name

 

Dear Jesus these hard times

have brought us down to our knees

Make new life appear, when all the smoke clears

We pray and believe — that  

 

CHORUS

 

CREDITS:

Drums-Tim Grogan

Upright Bass-Rod Lewis

Bouzouki-Mike Waldron

Electric Guitar-Greg Foresman, Mike Waldron

Keyboards-Dane Bryant

BGV’s-Britt Savage, Mike Waldron

Recorded at Studio 515, Nashville, TN