Well, I’m going down to Seaside
Seaside Heights, here I come
Well, I’m going down to Seaside, baby
Seaside Heights, here I come
Well, I left my old world behind
Back where I started from.
Well, I left my woman behind
You know she was no good to me
Well, I left my old woman behind
You know she was not good for me
All these fancy ideas she learned in college
Hit me upside my head, knocked me down on my knees.
Well, I’m gonna get a job
On them rides, arcades, and games
Yeah, I’m gonna get me a good job
On them rides, arcades, and games
But the kind of thrills I’m looking for
Ain’t the kind of thrill I can ever name.
Well, I tried to sing the blues
But the blues been beaten to death
Well, I tried to sing them blues, baby
But the blues been beaten to death
But I was born with the blues
And I’ll live ‘em till my last breath.
Well, I’m going down to Seaside
Seaside Heights, here I come
Well, I’m going down to Seaside, baby
Seaside Heights, here I come
Now I ain’t ever gonna go back
To that place I started from.
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
Seaside Heights, NJ ... I don't think there's anyplace quite like it, even among the beach towns spread up and down the East Coast like dirty little jewels. I have played there, hung out there, performed there, written songs there, brought my children and significant others there, and lamented when fire devastated a large part of the boardwalk in 2013. I have run away from my religion there, only to find my similarly nonobservant co-religionists running many of the stores on the boardwalk. Some call it "Sleazeside" and it may be reputed to be the white-trash capital of the Jersey Shore, but I love it all the same. Gimme a slab of pizza, a giant-sized lemonade, a frozen custard, and the heavenly aroma of treife sausage and peppers pervading it all, and I am in paradise.
As for the song ... it is a Soul In Exile outtake, from when I was thinking of making one of the albums a musical map of the Shore, with a song about each of the significant destinations. It was written in the classic 12-bar blues style, which the structure of the verses all but give away; however, after consulting with fellow singer-songwriters, I came to the conclusion that there really is no way to say anything new in that old style.