Free

SOMEBODY GETS IT
Blue Wave Revival
Written by Rick Gaspa
Sometimes the most important thing you can tell another person is, "I understand. I've been there. You're not alone."

"Somebody Gets It" is a very personal song about why I'm changing the direction of Blue Wave Revival. I spent years writing songs about politics, anger, and the things I believed were wrong with our country. But after living with PTSD, depression, and the memories of two tours in Vietnam for more than fifty years, I started asking myself a different question. What if our music could help someone who is fighting the same invisible battles I've fought?

I know what it's like to lie awake at two in the morning, struggling with memories that won't go away. I know what it's like to smile on the outside while fighting something nobody else can see. And I know there are thousands of veterans, along with their families, going through those same experiences every single day.

This song is about reaching those people. It's about putting aside our political differences, listening instead of arguing, and understanding that sometimes people don't need advice or answers. They just need somebody who understands what they're going through.
It's also about the families, doctors, nurses, caregivers, and friends who stand beside us, even when they don't completely understand what we're carrying.

"Somebody Gets It" represents the heart of our new direction and The War Followed Me Home Initiative. If this song reaches just one veteran sitting alone tonight and helps them realize that somebody understands and that tomorrow is worth seeing, then every hour I've spent writing music has been worth it.

I can't change what happened in Vietnam. I can't erase more than fifty years of memories. But maybe I can use those experiences to help another veteran feel a little less alone.
That's why I wrote this song. That's why Blue Wave Revival is changing. And that's why this music matters so much to me.

The music is free. The message is what matters.
- Rick Gaspa
Founder, Blue Wave Revival
The War Followed Me Home Initiative
TheWarFollowedMeHome.org

Lyrics

Lyrics
Lyrics
[SOMEBODY GETS IT]
[Intro — piano, acoustic guitar, soft strings]

[Verse 1]
I spent a lot of years with something to say,
Angry at the world, trying to find my way.
I wrote about the things that kept me up at night,
Every wrong I saw, every argument and fight.
But somewhere along this road I started asking why,
What do I want these words to leave behind?
Another line that draws us farther apart,
Or something that might reach somebody's heart?

[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause somewhere there's a veteran
Wide awake at two,
Staring at the ceiling
Like I've spent nights doing too.

[Chorus]
Maybe he just needs to hear
That somebody gets it.
Somebody knows the weight
Even when nobody sees it.
Somebody's walked through the darkness,
Somebody's made it till dawn,
Somebody can sit beside him
When the strength to fight is gone.
We don't have to fix each other,
Sometimes knowing is enough.
Sometimes all a hurting heart needs
Is somebody who gets it.

[Verse 2]
I've carried Vietnam for more than fifty years,
Some nights it comes in memories,
Some nights it comes in tears.
I've lived with the nightmares,
Depression and the strain,
And learned you can be laughing
While you're carrying the pain.
But veterans are more than wars
And uniforms we've worn.
We fall in love, we lose our way,
We break and we are born.
We remember being younger,
We watch the years roll by,
And sometimes waking up tomorrow
Is reason enough to smile.

[Chorus]
Maybe we just need to hear
That somebody gets it.
Somebody knows the weight
Even when nobody sees it.
Somebody's walked through the darkness,
Somebody's made it till dawn,
Somebody can sit beside us
When the strength to fight is gone.
We don't have to fix each other,
Sometimes knowing is enough.
Sometimes all a hurting heart needs
Is somebody who gets it.

[Bridge — music drops to piano and cello]
I don't care how you voted.
I don't care where you were born.
If you've ever stood beside someone
When their world was being torn,
Then you already understand
What I finally came to see:
Maybe we've spent too much time talking
And not enough time listening.

[Key Change #1]
[Verse 3]
So now I want to write the songs
I wish I'd heard before,
For the one who's sitting silently
Behind a bedroom door.
For the husband, wife, or family
Who doesn't understand
Why someone they love came home
But never fully left that land.
For every doctor, every nurse,
Every friend who stayed nearby,
For every veteran who whispered,
“I'm just trying to get through tonight.”

[Key Change #2 — full band rises]
[Final Chorus]
I want them all to hear
That somebody gets it.
Somebody knows the battle
Even when nobody sees it.
Somebody's walked through the darkness,
Somebody's waited for dawn,
Somebody will stand beside you
When you don't feel very strong.
You don't have to explain everything.
You don't have to act so tough.
Sometimes making it till morning
Is more than enough.
And if one song makes somebody think,
“Maybe I'm not alone...”
Then every word was worth it.
Yeah...
Somebody gets it.

[Final Refrain — soft]
Somebody remembers.
Somebody understands.
Somebody's still here.
So take my hand.

[Outro — no more lyrics]
[Long piano, cello and clean electric guitar outro]
[Soft 3- and 4-part male harmonies]
[Strings slowly rise and resolve]