The girls filmed the classic Gordon Lightfoot song “Home from the Forest” for Paul’s Christmas dvd. They learned the song from Tony Rice, who did a lot of Lightfoot songs.
“Home from the Forest” is a hard song to sing because it has so many words crammed into it. Those words tell a great story.
Oh the neon lights were flashin’
And the icy wind did blow
The water seeped into his shoes
And the drizzle turned to snow
His eyes were red, his hopes were dead
And the wine was runnin’ low
When the old man came home
From the forest
His tears fell on the sidewalk
As he stumbled in the street
A dozen faces stopped to stare
But no one stopped to speak
For his castle was a hallway
And the bottle his only friend
When the old man stumbled in
From the forest
Up a dark and dingy staircase
The old man made his way
His ragged coat around him
As upon his cot he lay
And he wondered how it happened
How he ended up this way
Getting lost like a fool
In the forest
And as he lay there sleeping
A vision did appear
Upon his mantle shining
A face of one so dear
Who had loved him in the springtime
Of a long-forgotten year
When the wildflowers did bloom
In the forest
She touched his grizzled fingers
And called him by his name
And then he heard the joyful sound
Of children at their games
In an old house on a hillside
In some forgotten town
Where the river runs down
From the forest
With a mighty roar the big jets soar
Above the canyon streets
And the con men con but life goes on
For the city never sleeps
And to an old forgotten soldier
The dawn will come no more
For the old man has come home
From the forest
It took the girls all morning to get one take of the song. I said “Why in the world did you pick something so hard?” Chitter said she just loved the song and wanted to sing it. They almost gave up, but persevered till the song was captured forever.
The word persevere always reminds me of Chatter. When she was in Kindergarten she came home one day telling me she had learned the best new word: persevere. She said “Momma it means you just keep on doing something till you finally get it done.”
I’m thankful I’ve got two girls who know how to persevere in this ole world.
Tipper
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I enjoyed this so much. Very talented young women. I love Katie’s voice.
I really enjoyed this post and song! The girls are amazing!
I really enjoyed the song, as I like Gordon Lightfoot.
I gotta say that when you decided to flat-pick, you went straight to the top for inspiration; Tony Rice is one hard act to follow! Goodonya! Now go to Youtube and listen to Molly Tuttle to expand your knowledge on the subject.
I knew you had it in ya, was wondering when you were going to let it come out…
Loved the words and the post, but could not get the taped music to play! Maybe my computer’s “on the blink” for receiving such that I would dearly like to hear! Thanks, Tipper, Your posts are superb. And you persevere (as do the twins!)
Good. Am a Lightfoot fan. Was backing ’50’s rocker Buddy Knox and when Buddy heard some of my songs, he turned me on to Lightfoot who was not know outside of Canada at the time. I went out and bought his first two albums….just Lightfoot on guitar, an upright bass player whose name I don’t remember(without looking), and a guitar player named Red Shea….all acoustic. On those albums were “Ribbon of Darkness”, a hit for Marty Robbins, and “In The Early Morning Rain”, a hit for George Hamilton IV. “Early Morning Rain” stayed on my set list for years…I toured western Canada myself but every night Lightfoot was appearing near me, I was booked too. So we never met…..Another one of the songs from those albums was “Bitter Green”…..it went on my songlist also.
Love this! those young ladies sure do favor their mama!
Tipper,
Your twins have surely made you and Matt proud. I didn’t know Chatter was so persistent. The girls almost never look at the left hand to see what it’s doing, and that makes me Proud. …Ken
Perseverance. James 1:12-Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. Don’t forget to thank the Lord today!!
When I bought my little property way back when, I named it Perseverance.
Did I ever peg that right!
Corie’s guitar skills are shining through here! Excellent!
Enjoyed. Chatter good job on that Taylor. Like those Taylors better than Martins.
Perseverance is truly a great trait. I also wondered why one might try so hard on a song so difficult. They were not going to let it outdo them, and another wonderful accomplishment by two very lovely young ladies.
Never heard that sad song but it tells a story and the girls did a great job. I love that word “persevere” too. I always figured that was a good trait I inherited from my dear parents.
The girls do a great job of telling the story in a song.
Good Job, girls! That is a long song and you did it proud!
Nice Song, good Job.