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Kay-lynn Carew recently explained in a thread here why her signature line on this website - and on her checks and emails – is “It mattered to that one.” She mentioned that she wished it could be a song as well, and then shared the story behind the phrase:

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “it mattered to that one!”

I found that story deeply inspiring and turned it into a catchy country song.


It Mattered To That One (Carew / Baitinger)
https://soundclick.com/song/15169419

[Verse]
There’s an old man with a pen by the sea
Walks the shore where the tide runs free
After the storm, in the early sun
Starfish scattered, more than one

[Verse]
Down the beach came a barefoot boy
Stopping to throw what the waves destroyed
Old man said, “Son, what’re you tryin’ to do?”
Boy said, “Send ’em home before the daylight’s through”

[Chorus]
He said, “It mattered to that one, back in the blue
Might not change the world, but I changed a few
When the odds are heavy and the right feels small
You just do what you can — that’s all
I ain’t savin’ everything under the sun
But it mattered… yeah, it mattered to that one”

[Verse]
Old man said, “Son, there’s too many here
You can’t fix it all, that much is clear”
Boy bent down, tossed one more
Watched it disappear past the shore

[Chorus]
It mattered to that one, back in the blue
Might not change the world, but I changed a few
When the odds are heavy and the right feels small
You just do what you can — that’s all
I ain’t savin’ everything under the sun
But it mattered… yeah, it mattered to that one

[Final chorus]
It mattered to that one, back in the blue
Might not change the world, but I changed a few
When the odds are heavy and the right feels small
You just do what you can — that’s all
I ain’t savin’ everything under the sun
But it mattered… yeah, it mattered to that one

[Outro]
Old man smiled, turned back slow
With a brand-new story he already knows

Great lesson that I am going to repeat....thank you

Hey,, it can't be a co-write if I didn't get to change any words!!! hahhaha

You're welcome.... Good luck!

Kay-lynn, this one took me less than 20 minutes to write. Your story had the lines already written. Feel free to change whatever you want. I can always do another cover. Andrew Gold once told me, even good songs can always be improved.

My wife just listened to this one... she said it's beautiful. That says a lot. Well, at least to me it does.

Well dang Rob I knew you were good............. but that's pretty impressive. I know when you first write down a lyric everything sounds great until you listen 2-3 times... and pretend you are not the writer. I try to do that with my song..... "if I were a listener would I need that line,that word/" MERRY CHRISTMAS

I would make Verse 3 a bridge, just to be able to change the music, drive home the point and then big build to finish.

And I would probably sing the tagline different, not paused. Still listening but that chorus is great.

It mattered to that one, back in the blue <<now back in the blue
Might not change the world, but I changed a few
When the odds are heavy and the right feels small <<<<not sure what this lines means.

You just do what you can — that’s all
I ain’t savin’ everything under the sun
But it mattered… yeah, it mattered to that one

“When the odds are heavy and the right feels small” means:
- “The odds are heavy” → The problem feels overwhelming, stacked against you, or too big to fix.
- “The right feels small” → The good thing you can do feels tiny, insignificant, or almost pointless by comparison.

Put together, the line is about that moment when:
Doing the right thing feels too small to matter against such a big problem.

In the song, it captures the old man’s doubt:
- Thousands of starfish
- One kid, one throw at a time

So the right thing (throwing one back) feels small — but it still matters.

The interesting thing here is that Suno didn't make Verse 1 and 2 identical. Who knows why. Verses 1 and 3 have the same music. Verse 2 is different but somehow sounds good. At first I wanted to fix it but now (I heard it so often) it actually sounds good. If you do major changes like you suggested I can't use Suno because I'll get a different song.

Ok I get it now................ just seemed like a complicated way to say it. Because If I had to ask (and it's my favorite story).. others might not pick up on it either.

Odds are against you<< I've heard that but I've never heard odds are heavy... MmMMmM and since it's a young boys words, I don't think he would put it that way.

That's the only line that bugs me.

And the first two lines need to be very important... here... old man with a pen (?) why does he have a pen? walks the shore....., beach might be a better word. Maybe he walks there everyday................. I'm thinking it needs a better two line set up.

Yes, you are right.


Those were your words, not mine: Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing
Sure, we can change anything and everything.

yes, that was the story, but this is a song. Him writing at the beach doesn't push the song forward. We have to use what lines we have sparingly

there's an old man clears his mind by the sea?

Do like the visual of walking with something real in hand...with a stick in his hand? A pen needs paper...does refer to the story at the end.....

And I had my wife listen and see this...she heard the story from her sister who lives in Malta....seems my SIL was cleaning pop bottles off the beach...left by uncaring vistors..local and off Island I expect...and she was asked by someone who thought she could not make an impact cleaning up what was left behind...she told them this story and I am making a difference with this one

Love these "folk stories" and I have one we can work on

clears his mind by the sea<<< I like it, it's simple

what else ya workin on?

I'd like to update this one in Suno and use some of the suggestions already made here. I'd also like to change the outro to this. Any thoughts?

[Final chorus]
It mattered to that one, now back in the blue
Might not change the world, but I changed a few
When the ocean’s big and you feel small
You just do what you can — that’s all
I ain’t savin’ everything under the sun
But it mattered… yeah, it mattered to that one

[Outro]
Old man smiled and he reached down low
To toss one back where the deep waters flow
He looked at the boy and he said, "You're right...
We're gonna save a few more before the night."

I"m looking at the final chorus.......... I don't think it really needs an "outro"............... (?)

I thought this outro would complete the arc and show the lesson taking root.