In songwriting about the North Bay fires, it's the simple things and everything
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- How often in the last six months have we shown pictures of a husband and wife on a burned home sight, dealing with memories and sentiments? We did so again, today, with Jordin and Michael Cirner. When the Tubbs fire roared through Riebli Valley, they had barely unpacked.
"On our eighth night we were evacuated," said Jordin, a nurse at Kaiser Hospital.
"How cruel is that?" I asked Mike.
"That's what we wondered."
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The family sent us a photo of the day they drove away with their kids Rylin and Reid tucked into the back of a SUV. "It was everything we had. Everything," said Jordin.
'Everything' is a non-descript word, but we all know the meaning. For Jordin's father, Mark Beyon and her cousin Joe Label, it was enough to inspire a song. "We did it because it was possibly the only thing we could do to help," said Joe.
Maybe you have already heard and seen the song they wrote and put up on YouTube. The message has moved beyond family and touched a region.
---
Everything
by Mark Benyon, Joe Label
Got out with just the clothes on our back
In the rearview mirror, all that we had
Up in flames, couldn't save a thing
Then your hand, touched my shoulder
And when we turned to see them both, in the back seat
Safe and asleep, we had everything
Through all that was lost, what we found
A family foundation won't burn to the ground
The more it took, the more we had left
Knock us down, we'll come back stronger
It's just a house, a car, even your wedding ring
How much would they mean, without everything
The love we share, is all that we'll ever need
Baby we still have our dreams, we have everything
---
"It says there is hope," said Joe. "That there can be life after tragedy."
Writing music has always been a family tradition---a way to express the peaks and valleys of life. But this?
"I was just crying," said Jordin. "I could not see through my tears."
Something beautiful, rising from something horrible, and oh so personal. A gift of everything.
VIDEO: "Everything" by Mark Benyon and Joe Label
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