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DOVER BEACH (DEMO mix 4)

from Winnowing (2014) by Bill Mallonee & The Darkling Planes

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about

Lyrically, I knew this song was a "hit." At least the way I define "hits." Melodic, visceral, religious, transparent; The struggle of doubt & faith always tugging at the sleeve of reality.

Musically?
It started out more "folky," as you can hear it in this early demo. There's a quality I try for, when demo-ing a song, that will allow what's truly vital to a song to "reveal" itself. Every demo is in some ways a "quest." I'm a self-taught guitarist and very limited in some ways.
However, I do take time to let my "ear do the thinking" when it comes to motifs or passages elevate a song & make it something special.

I rather like how this song evolved. In this case the album version of Dover Beach happened" because I didn't ask one part to "carry the whole thing," but spread out the musical chores to many parts allowing them to interplay & re-inforce.
"Now ya' know..." ~ bill mallonee

lyrics

DOVER BEACH (Out In The Cold)
words/music: bill mallonee

If there ever was a smile that stopped me in my tracks
one that filled up the ocean of everything I lacked
and brought the stars a little closer so there was no turning back
out in the cold

Every conviction that I lived by, every truth that I was taught
Every sermon that i heard; well, it was all for naught
I was always pretty bad at carryin' my cross
out in the cold

And our tears? they speak a language uniquely their own
And every laugh? It holds a promise that past the grave there's something more
Be it laying upon Jesus' breast, or terrible swift swords
out in the cold

No, I am not a scoffer withholding his thanks
My purse? It is empty, but my heart overflows it's banks
I heard a different melody swelling from ragged angelic ranks
out in the cold

Was that your voice cascading through all that is unseen?
I sorted through the implications, still I don't know what it means
Caught between a heart that is at once both holy & obscene
out in the cold

From the doors that never opened by prayer or skeleton key
Aren't our feet always searching for a home we've never seen?
I have glimpsed it once or twice ah, but it might have been a dream
out in the cold

To have traveled for these many years & knocked on all these doors
I got tired of tryin' to bend an ear; I got tired of keepin' score
Sometimes a son of heaven, a son of hell even more
out in the cold

I can show you where my heart was broke there on Dover Beach
Truth receding like a wave, too farther out of reach
Love may bring the tide back in; hard to live, easy to preach
out in the cold.

If there ever was a smile that stopped me in my tracks
one that filled up the ocean of everything I lacked
and brought the stars so close i touched them;
honey, I'll never forget that...
out in the cold

credits

from Winnowing (2014), released August 20, 2014

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Bill Mallonee

Bill Mallonee is an Americana artist w/ 80 plus albums over a 30 year career. Voted by Paste Music Magazine #65 in their "Top 100 Living Songwriters" poll. He was the
founding member of Vigilantes of Love. He has worked with Mark Heard, Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, & Peter Buck from REM.
His most recent work, "Lead On, Kindly Light" is a 23song double Cd released Feb 2020. ... more

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