A Song My Brother Sam and I Wrote that Feels Appropriate After the Nashville Tornado

My younger brother Sam, who is a professional musician, suggested a few years back when Ray and I were visiting him and his then girlfriend Jaime in Nashville that he and I should write a song together. We agreed that I’d write the lyrics and he would add the music and do the singing. I had never written a song before, but he told me to just jump in and do it. I agreed to the plan since I thought it would be fun, plus it would give Sam and me a way to work together.

Given the terrible tornado that tore within a mile of Sam and Jaime’s house just a couple of days ago which left them unhurt but devastated so many lives, I was thinking about that song. It is about a totally different subject but is entitled “Just a Little Hope.” Somehow that song seems appropriate right now given all the sadness that has occurred in East Nashville and several Tennessee counties.

Here’s the song. It makes me happy hearing Sam’s voice as he sings, especially since that tornado came so close to where Jaime and he live in East Nashville. Nothing like a reminder of how fragile life is.

Just a Little Hope by Len and Sam Leatherwood

Here are the lyrics:

Just a Little Hope

Cruising the drag in your prom gown

Circling the square, going round and round

Laughing with your friends with lilies in your hair

Smiling at that boy standing there

Hometown girl, you’re a step from freedom

Your head is full of big, big plans

Dreaming of adventures in foreign lands

But that boyfriend of yours tugs at your heart

Your whole world shifts in the starlit dark

So long palm trees and sun-warmed sands 

Just a little hope

is what you need now to get your through

To help you see the future’s bright tomorrow

Just a little hope

to push away this touch of blue

and see that time

does not define,

but really only borrows.

Life passes in the wink of an eye

Little girl grows up and says goodbye

And before you know it, it’s time to go

Down to the beaches of Mexico

To live dreams that are never-ending

Just a little hope

is what you need now to get your through

To help you see the future’s bright tomorrow

Just a little hope

to push away this touch of blue

and see that time

we can’t define,

we really only borrow.