From the recording The Light Still Shines On The Main (WAV file)
In May 2024 I was doing some songwriting at a cabin in the woods near Kinmount, ON and I saw a red fox jumping/playing/hunting in the field nearby. I thought about how quiet those woods are in winter and how things “come alive” in spring. It was an obvious metaphor for the state of my musical career and the music and lyrics came quickly, the only song in this collection completed in just a few hours. I also specifically set out to not include the words “I” or “me” anywhere in the lyrics.
Lyrics
Dance as you do little rogue, little fellow
There in the field where the red maple stood
Early in Spring when the moon is straw yellow
And the air smells clean and the water is good
Late Winter stung like the widow’s dilemma
Snow piled high and a cold setting mood
Then out came the sun with its radio antenna
And the animals woke just to scavenge for food
They come alive
Come alive
Come alive
Here in the dark it’s too soon to remember
All of the people you think that you should
Days go by: not a single burning ember
And your heart slowly hardens like petrified wood
Come alive…
Silence seems like poor rumination
And screaming’s no better than speaking in tongues
But if you dream of a meaningful salvation
Then you take what you need and you fill up your lungs
And you come alive…