"Chasing The Deep©"
Lyrics by M. S. McKenzie (Unless Otherwise Noted) | Music Performed by Songs Across America or American Storyteller Music, All Songs Are Protected by Copyright
~ Associated State Links ~
"Chasing The Deep"
I wrote "Chasing The Deep" for the people who keep a home running while someone they love disappears underwater for weeks at a time. Groton is submarine country, and I wanted a song that didn't glorify the boat so much as it honored the person standing on the pier watching it leave. She clocks in under cranes at Electric Boat, name on a hull, paint on her coat, and I wanted her work to matter as much as the submarine's mission does, because in this town it genuinely does. The whole song is built on a kind of marriage that most love songs don't know how to describe, one partner going dark and silent under the ocean while the other keeps the ordinary world turning until she surfaces.
The story behind the song is the chorus, and specifically that it never resolves into one person being the strong one. Steel below, heart above, you carry us, I carry us. I wanted both halves of that partnership to be equally difficult and equally necessary. She holds the depth and the dark; he holds New London, the pizza left on the windowsill, the porch light on for a return that has no set date. Neither of those is the easy job, and I wanted the song to insist on that rather than pick a hero.
The bridge does the same work as it does in "Beacon on the Sound," letting Connecticut's own history walk into the song, Charter Oak roots, Hale's last words, because I think the courage this Navy town runs on didn't start with submarines. It's older than that, and the boat is just the latest place it shows up. I built the ending around the first snow and the kids' hand-lettered welcome home sign because I wanted the song to end exactly where these separations always end for the people who wait, on the pier, watching for a silver spine to break the surface. Songs Across America has room for the biggest landscapes and for one small window with a light left on in it, and this one belongs entirely to the second kind.
Anthemic maritime rock in the same vein as "Beacon on the Sound," built on a steady, chantable chorus and a drum-and-clap bridge invoking Connecticut history. Verses grounded in specific Groton and New London geography, alternating between the submariner's world and the partner's daily rituals of waiting, building to a joyful, wide homecoming in the final verse.
Military and submarine-family separation, love sustained through absence, small-town Navy life along the Connecticut shoreline, inherited regional courage, and the equal weight carried by those who serve and those who wait for them.
Primary Subject:
A submariner stationed out of Electric Boat in Groton, and the partner who keeps their New London life running through every long, silent patrol, and the reunion on the pier when she finally surfaces.
Mood:
Tender, steady, and quietly aching, with warmth running underneath the separation throughout. Rising into joyful, communal celebration by the final verse's homecoming.
Some of the deepest love stories are built on absence and endurance rather than presence. Holding down an ordinary life while someone you love disappears into danger is its own form of courage, and no love song is complete until it honors both the one who goes and the one who waits.
[Intro – ambient pads + toms, distant foghorn]
Periscope dawn on the Thames runs cold…
Rivets sing where the weld arcs glow…
[Verse 1]
She clocks in under cranes at Electric Boat
Name on a hull, paint on her coat
Coffee in steam by the river rails
Blueprint hands and a ring that tells
"Two more trials, then they take her down":
I kiss her cheek in New London town
"Run your depth, love; I'll hold the shore:
I'll keep the lights in our window warm"
[Pre-Chorus]
We learned to read the weather by a buoy bell's cry
Count the quiet seconds when the gulls drift by
[Chorus]
Steel below, heart above
Cold gray water, wildfire love
From Groton slips to the Sound at night
You chase the deep, I guard the light
When the world goes dark and the charts get rough
You carry us; I carry us:
Steel below, heart above
[Verse 2]
Nautilus sleeps by the museum glass
First to the ice, first through the past
She runs a hand on the rivet seam
Says "Every boat starts as somebody's dream"
I drive to Wooster Street:pizza to go
Folded like letters I used to know
I leave one slice on the window sill
For when your footsteps top the hill
[Pre-Chorus]
The radio low, I hum your name to the dial
Tide turns twice; I wait a while
[Chorus]
Steel below, heart above
Cold gray water, wildfire love
From Avery Point to Stonington light
You hunt the hush, I fight the night
If the beacon fades and the wind gets tough
You carry us; I carry us:
Steel below, heart above
[Bridge – drop to drums/claps, chant builds]
Oh:Charter Oak roots, hold fast, hold fast
Oh:Hale's last words still cross the mast
Oh:black hull breathing, silent and proud
We're one small vow said clear out loud:
[Lift – big toms + "whoa-oh" gang]
Whoa-oh, I'll leave the porch light on
Whoa-oh, till periscope meets dawn
[Verse 3 – band back in, wider]
First snow flares by the Shore Line East
Kids make signs: "Welcome home, at least"
You break the surface, a silver spine
Sirens and cheers on the winter tide
You climb the brow with your helmet low
Grease on your sleeve, a grin I know
You say, "Depth was dark but we never gave up"
We fall into one long, unbroken hug
[Final Chorus – higher key]
Steel below, heart above
Cold gray water, wildfire love
From Mystic masts to Saybrook light
You kept the watch; I kept it bright
When the seas rose up, it was not enough:
But you carried us; I carried us:
Yeah, steel below, heart above
[Outro – held vocal + guitar swell]
Periscope dawn… window light…
Two steady hands on the same tide
Overview:
"Chasing The Deep" is an anthemic, pop-rock love song set in Groton/New London's submarine world:a duet-in-spirit between a sailor who "chases the deep" and a partner who "guards the light." It pairs stadium-size drums and soaring hooks with intimate New England details (Electric Boat, the USS Nautilus museum, Wooster Street, Avery Point, Stonington light), turning a local shoreline into a universal portrait of devotion under pressure.
Narrative & Point of View:
Told in first person from the partner at home, the lyric traces a full deployment arc: launch ("Periscope dawn… rivets sing"), the long vigil ashore (buoy bells, radio hum, porch light), and the winter-bright homecoming ("silver spine" surfacing, kids' signs, the unbroken hug). The voice is steady, practical, and quietly heroic:matching the submarine ethos of doing vital work out of sight.
Core Themes / Subtext:
-
Two kinds of service. "Steel below, heart above" frames military duty and home-front caretaking as equal acts of courage.
-
Faith in the unseen. Counting seconds between gulls, leaving a slice on the sill:rituals that keep love tangible when contact is impossible.
-
Community & lineage. Charter Oak, Nathan Hale, and Nautilus appear as a lineage of endurance; the song suggests today's vows are grafted onto older ones.
-
Ordinary details → epic meaning. Pizza boxes, frost, and shore-line trains become anchors for waiting, resolve, and reunion.
Setting & Imagery:
-
Industrial-poetic: "Rivets sing where the weld arcs glow," "black hull breathing" blend shipyard steel with heartbeat language.
-
Navigation metaphors: "Read the weather by a buoy bell's cry," "hold the shore," "guard the light" recast domestic life as seamanship.
-
Circular structure: The opening "Periscope dawn" returns in the outro, closing the deployment loop.
Musical Character:
Arena-ready pop-rock (Imagine Dragons/OneRepublic lane): floor-tom stomps and claps in the verses, four-on-the-floor choruses, gang "whoa-ohs," and a key-lift finale. Ambient pads evoke sonar hush; chiming delay guitars sparkle against a warm piano/bass foundation. The bridge drops to drums + claps for a chantable oath, then surges into an ecstatic lift.
Why it resonates:
This isn't just a "military song":it's a partnership anthem. The refrain "You carry us; I carry us" lands as a thesis: love is logistics, patience, and shared endurance. The hometown markers keep it firmly Connecticut, but the emotional blueprint fits any family that's ever waited through the dark for safe return.
Notable Lines / Hooks:
-
"We learned to read the weather by a buoy bell's cry" : maritime craft as emotional literacy.
-
"You chase the deep, I guard the light" : the central vow, simple and unforgettable.
-
"A silver spine" : the submarine surfacing made mythic and tender.
Placement in Songs Across America:
Pairs naturally with your Coast Guard cut ("Beacon on the Sound"). Together they form a coastal Connecticut diptych: one outward-facing rescue, one inward-facing resilience:both celebrating quiet American courage.
Production Notes:
-
Tempo ~106 BPM; verses sparse (kick + floor tom + pad), choruses wide with stacked harmonies.
-
Add distant foghorn/SFX in intro and a subtle sonar ping before the bridge; mute them for the key-lift to keep the vocal center stage.
-
Consider a final a cappella repeat of "Steel below, heart above" before the last instrumental swell for goosebumps.
.jpg)
