Watermelon Seeds Stephen Michael Camp*

Watermelon Seeds is the title song of the last album recorded by my husband Stephen before together we entered a watershed of healing for his hoped-for recovery from what turned out to be a life-ending illness.

In my memoir, A Flower for God, six chapters are our “Saga of Six Years.”

“Love, Serve, Forgive” is the fifth chapter.

The way morning sun struck brightness to the New Mexico desert was how Stephen loved his
motto, “Love, Serve, Forgive.” It inspired his living and performing. At sixteen, he had asked his father “What is truth?” and been told there was none. As a young man, he’d hugged a tree and heard, Knowing the truth is not a virtue, living it is. Now he belatedly answered his own question, telling me all he wanted was to sing his songs to God.

And he did.

Soon after I was alone, my life took a dramatic turn. I had recognized the reality that to go forward meant that I had to let go of his music because it still had such a powerful grip on me. As a result, his music was no longer available.

But in the recent past, a friend shared her cassettes, and Stephen’s oldest daughter sent photos of each. I had not listened to his music for years. As I now listened again—still magnetically drawn, as before—I knew that I had made the right decision. There was no going back, but in a moment of inspiration, I realized that I now wanted to share his words.

Watermelon Seeds was inspired by an early morning conversation at our friends’ home in Gray, Maine. We were fixing lunch to take to a workshop. With my back to Stephen, who was in an opposite corner of the kitchen, I heard him ask, “Do you want a piece of watermelon?” Without turning, as his back was also to mine, I answered, “Yes—and take out all the seeds.” Then he was singing—“Everybody wants a piece of watermelon, but nobody wants the seeds.” Later, he finished the song.

Listening to any of Stephen’s songs, the fullest beauty comes from hearing both his voice and his guitar delivering his lyrics, but I have recognized that his lyrics alone are worth sharing for their deeply spiritual message about life’s happenings—here delivered with humor.

Watermelon Seeds

Everybody wants a piece of watermelon;
Nobody wants those seeds.
We all want fresh greens from the garden,
But nobody wants those weeds.

Everybody wants to have a perfect lover;
We don’t want to meet their needs.
Lately I’ve been working on this broken heart,
Didn’t know I’d have to grieve.

We’ve got to love one another,
Take the bad along with the good.
You got to jump right into that cold, cold river
With every tender wound you have.

Now you know that life is meant for living;
You can’t hide from your tears.
You got to put your troubles in the bright sunlight,
Walk right through those fears.

And everybody wants to be happy,
Ah but first you got to get real.
You’ve got to be your true blue self,
If you really want to heal.

Everybody wants a piece of watermelon;
Nobody wants those seeds.
And we all want fresh greens from the garden,
But nobody wants those weeds.

Everybody wants to have a perfect lover;
We don’t want to meet their needs.
Lately I’ve been working on this broken heart,
Didn’t know I’d have to grieve.

Would you pass another piece of watermelon,
And take out all those seeds.
Well, I didn’t know I’d have to grieve.

My realization is, “Music can bring a smile even if the words of the song are about the joy and suffering of relationship.”

* Stephen Michael Camp, lead vocals and guitar performance of “Watermelon Seeds” by Stephen Michael Camp on Watermelon Seeds, Mirror Image Studios, cassette.