It was the Summer before I started freshman year
I was invited to go on a week-long religious retreat
Thought it was neat that my church sponsored me
Maybe Jesus Christ was who I would meet

A small group including my best friend and me
Got on that jet plane and flew through the sky
And we ended up at a college campus in Ohio
It was then, when I discovered my own why

It was bright green
and it was fun
It was peaceful all around
And I loved
When we sang
I’d close my eyes
And hear the sweet harmony
I knew right then and there
On that glorious grassy hill
I’d remember those moments spent
In Steubenville, Oh, Steubenville…

Met a tall girl there who I really liked a lot
She had bright blue-green eyes and a pixie cut
Her name was Tracy, she was from Toronto, Canada
She held my hand tight and I hoped it was love

We kept in touch by mail after we both got home
But we slowly stopped writing letters as much
And when I started my awkward Freshman year
I started longing for another young girl’s touch

Who I had seen
In PE class
And I saw her
At every Sunday mass
And as we sang
I’d close my eyes
And hear the sweet harmony
I knew right then and there
It gave me a familiar thrill
It was like when I was with my friends
In Steubenville, Oh, Steubenville

It was on a December night out on the road
When he decided to pull over to take a nap
See, he’d been driving all night with a load
And in an instant, something fell into his lap

He was distracted and the ice hit his tires
He swerved, his truck wound upside down
I was asked to be a pallbearer at his funeral
So I flew out there to our humble hometown

We all wore black
I hurt inside
His Dad and Mom
and his little sister cried
But as we sang in harmony
I knew right then and there
I’d find comfort and always will
cherish all those memories we made
In Steubenville, Oh, Steubenville

It was the Summer before my Freshman year
I was invited to attend a week-long religious retreat
Thought it was neat that my church sponsored me
Maybe Jesus Christ was who I would meet
in Steubenville… Oh, Steubenville.

August 5, 2018

Lyrics Notes: In these lyrics, I explore the time I went to a Charismatic Youth Group Conference in Steubenville with a small group of High Schoolers and our Youth Group leaders. In this case, I wanted to add in a couple things. I fell for this girl there from Canada and that was pretty neat but I wanted to add something into the story that kinda brings it all together and the only thing I thought of was to add in a death of someone who went with us. This is a character but it has someone I deeply relate to… and it does reframe what happened on that trip but the idea is still the same and I look to move people and find common themes for people to relate to. It’s kind of a Christian “growing up song.” It is supposed to prompt the listener maybe into calling that person who impacted your life when you were young. Life is too short to not reach out to people who are special to you.