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DOVER BEACH​/​OUT IN THE COLD (a free download this evening​.​.​.​)

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

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about

I read Matthew Arnold's poem, "Dover Beach," back in college.
Honestly, it overwhelmed me then and does now.
It was written 1851, although early notes suggest a date as early as 1849.
The cosmology of the poem seems light years ahead to me. Big, timeless themes for a world and humanity that was beginning to sense that it was losing it's anchor. The voices of the "old faith" & belief were dying out and a new world (one with perhaps more frightening voices) was emerging...

TRACK NOTES: 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 the early demo (track 11). 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 or re-inforce. Now ya' know... ~ bill mallonee

lyrics

DOVER BEACH (Out In The Cold) words/music; by Bill Mallonee
published by "Once More, This Time With Feeling" Music BMI 2014

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 the promise 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 may be empty, but my heart overflowed it's banks
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, till i don't know what it means
Caught between a heart that's all at once both holy & obscene
out in the cold

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

To have travel for these many years knocked on many doors
i got tired of tryin' to bend an ear; i got tired of keepin' score
sometimes a son of heaven; but a son of hell even more
out in the cold

I can show you where my heart was broken there on Dover Beach
Truth receded 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
Bill Mallonee: electric, acoustic, high-string & baritone guitars, vocals, bass drums
Muriah Rose: piano

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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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