Written during my first days living in the woods, this song captures the absurdity of trying to learn survival while carrying a life in transition. The smoke was real, but it also became a metaphor for all the things I couldn’t quite outrun. Sometimes meaning arrives through a campfire, a bad decision, and a sense of humor.

Lyrics

Verse 1

The first fire wasn't good

Let's start there

Too much smoke

Not enough patience

I killed the little teepee

With a giant log

Like somebody trying to skip

The learning part

Verse 2

The funny thing

Was the smoke

It kept following me

I would move my chair

Smoke

Move my chair again

Smoke

Move my chair again

Smoke

Like the forest had assigned me

A personal weather system

Chorus

Smoke kept finding me

No matter where I went

I pointed toward the trees

Like somehow it would listen

Smoke kept finding me

And I kept laughing too

Because I could move the smoke

But not my life

What do you do with that?

Verse 3

I used to hate smoke

My lungs hated smoke

My whole childhood was

Wanting the fire

And paying for it

Every single time

The warmth was worth it

The breathing wasn't

Verse 4

Now I'm sitting in the redwoods

Homeless

Talking to a cloud

Like it's a stubborn dog

Go that way

No

That way

Thank you

Chorus

Smoke kept finding me

No matter where I went

I pointed toward the trees

Like somehow it would listen

Smoke kept finding me

And I kept laughing too

Because I could move the smoke

But not my life

What do you do with that?

Bridge

Maybe I'm high

Maybe I'm exhausted

Maybe I'm a windbender

Maybe I'm just lonely

Maybe meaning appears

Anywhere it can fit

When your whole life

Has fallen off its hinges

Final Chorus

Smoke kept finding me

And I stayed anyway

Built my first fire

At forty-five

And loved it

Way more than I expected

Smoke kept finding me

And so did the heat

Outro

Maybe that's enough

For tonight