This song opened my 1987 album, Time for Us All, which was recorded in the guest house of my friend Georg in Muskogee Ok.
The song was written on a trip to a beach somewhere near Boston. I had spent the day walking the sands, looking for shells and skipping stones. The lyric is obscured by our impulse to take the idea of throwing stones as negative- as in “casting the first one,” or “living in glass houses.” This song bypasses those ideas, emphasizing, “every stone” not just the bad ones. I was thinking how all we do and all we contribute- good or bad has wider impact than we imagine. The stone we throw could sink a steamer or scrap a rowboat, cause sea levels to rise, and wash back up to us. Beyond this, the stones we throw, will outlive us. I hope this song causes us to reflect on how our choices and actions affect and contribute to the world we share.
Instrument notes: yes, that is a 5 string c-banjo playing the rhythm!