This track comes from Aaron's military service — Air Force enlisted, Army Infantry officer, DoD civilian at SPAWAR/NIWC. It tackles Finding your home port after years of wandering - Folly Beach as the place where the sailor finally drops anchor permanently. The lyrics get specific — "But none of them had this, the sound of Folly waves" — because personal tracks on Majik's are personal for real, not performatively. The R&B production matches the energy of the confession. It hits tender and safe, in that order. Every personal track in the catalogue comes from a real moment, a real feeling, a real person. This one is no exception.
[verse 1]
Every sailor has a home port, that's what the old chiefs say
A dock where the lines are cleated and the gangway meets the day
I've been to ports in countries I can't talk about
Ports where the water's warm and ports with ice throughout
But none of them had this, the sound of Folly waves
Hitting the shore like a heartbeat that forgives and saves
The wandering man from himself, from the drift
Home port found me when I needed the lift
Out of the open ocean of not knowing where I fit
[chorus]
Home port, I finally found my dock
Where the salt air heals and the palmetto talks
To the wind about the ones who stayed
Home port, no more drifting, no more trade
Winds pulling me to somewhere new
Home port, Folly Beach, I'm anchored to you
[verse 2]
The house ain't much but the porch faces east
First light hits the railing like a daily feast
For the eyes of a man who's seen too many horizons
From the wrong side of a ship, always rising
But never landing, never staying, never home
Now the coffee steams at sunrise and I'm not alone
With the ocean's sound, the neighbor's wave, the sandy floor
This is what the deployments were fighting for
Not the geopolitics, not the rank, not the rate
But the right to come home to a place this great
[chorus]
Home port, I finally found my dock
Where the salt air heals and the palmetto talks
To the wind about the ones who stayed
Home port, no more drifting, no more trade
Winds pulling me to somewhere new
Home port, Folly Beach, I'm anchored to you
[bridge]
I've got the tide chart on the fridge
The surf report's my morning bridge
Between the sleeping and the waking world
The beach flag's flying, half unfurled
And every evening when the sky turns pink
I walk down to the water's brink
And thank whatever current brought me here
To my home port, crystal clear
[verse 3]
The tourists come and go like temporary moorings
But the locals know each other, know the stories
Of the hurricanes survived, the floods, the nor'easters
The price of living on a barrier island, these are the features
Not the bugs, the salt corrosion and the sand
In everything you own, that's just the hand
You're dealt when paradise is your address
And I wouldn't trade a grain of this for anything, I confess
Home port Folly Beach, where the CTO meets the sea
Where the unconventional technologist is finally free
To be exactly who he is without pretending
Home port found, and this story's never ending
[chorus]
Home port, I finally found my dock
Where the salt air heals and the palmetto talks
To the wind about the ones who stayed
Home port, no more drifting, no more trade
Winds pulling me to somewhere new
Home port, Folly Beach, forever anchored to you
[outro]
Drop the anchor
Secure the lines
I'm home
For good this time
