Solo | Tim Wilson | Geoffrey Hamilton | Gerald Young | Charles Hannah
Here and There | Stepping Out | Wrap Me Up In Shadows
Stepping Out © 1985 & 1990 Gerry Davenport & Tim Wilson
In 1982, when I was a Junior in high school, Tim Wilson asked me to put music to his lyrics or his song as he put it, titled, “Stepping Out.”When I first looked at the lyrics I pondered what kind of music he may want. I asked him and he said, What ever you think. Knowing what styles of music he likes, or at least I thought I knew what styles he likes I went ahead and worked on it. It took me six years and twelve different arrangements before I was happy with it.
Of the twelve different arrangements, I can remember two that I thought would be the final arrangements of the song. The first one was a slow, building ballad that sounded similar to. “Let it be” by the Beatles; which is why I decided to scrap it.
The second one I can remember had a running base line underneath a rhythmical percussion section. I like the music so that I rewrote new lyrics for it; it wasn‘t the music for stepping out even though this one was the arrangement for about 4 years.
I finally got tired of it and did a major rewrite that lasted about 18 months, in which the song was dissected into millions of pieces and slowly assemble back together; this has been the case with most of my older material.
Tim Wilson: Lyrics
Gerry Davenport: Music and Lyrical arrangement
Four years in the making, putting it all together.
All of us giving and taking. Reaching out now and forever.
All those books upon the shelves looking hard at who we‘d be.
Telling us about ourselves, what out there we might see.
Touch me is it real? Where have the days gone by?
I‘m a long robed figure now and I can reach the sky.
I‘m stepping out into the world.
I‘m stepping out to make my life.
I‘m stepping out into the world.
I‘m stepping out into this world I'm on my way.
Different roads and distant fields. In ourselves we sought who's who.
We pulled together to catch our yield. Won a lot but lost a few.
Memories were jotted down.
The day came when we could fly, high.
We strode forth to that familiar sound
Smiles, Kisses, and sad goodbyes.