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Running Down the Storyline

Lyrics ©2018 by Bill, Gretchen, and Julie Roper
Music ©2018 by Bill Roper


Fourth grade was the first time that Julie had a teacher that Katie hadn't already had, so we wrote a song for Mr. Becker too. While Katie's song was about reading, Julie's was about writing.

  G              D              C              G
A single word is lonely as it’s hanging in the air.
   C                G            C                   D
We may not know who said it – we don’t know why it’s there.
      G               D                     C                   G
Let’s add the words together, ‘cause that’s what you’ve come to teach,
     C                  D                 C    D       G
Then learn to write the language down and multiply our reach.


(Chorus)
G                   D
Six plus four makes ten.
C                    G
Word plus word makes speech.
C                    G             D
Noun plus verb makes a command and then
C               G                Em7          A7
Add the words together, like the numbers on a line,
           C             D             C        D    G
And you’re building up a story running down the storyline.


Noun plus verb’s a sentence, but a sentence that is spare.
Let’s add a line of adverbs running swiftly through the air.
Adjectives together paint a picture we can see.
The subject is a pronoun standing in for you and me.


(Bridge)
        D             C              D             C
When we write what we think, when we write what we feel,
       D             C            D
We can share, we can care, we can hope, we can heal.


Each of us has stories that we have the need to tell.
Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine, and we’ll wish each other well.
We’ll add the words together, as we’re building something grand.
Language is the gift that helps us all to understand.