Wednesday, January 4, 2023

“Crumble” by Thomas LaVine – A Song Feature

 

     The songs released by Thomas LaVine in anticipation of his upcoming EP “Idle Daylight” are each vocally enticing, lyrically insightful, and instrumentally lush. The most recent of the releases is “Crumble,” which showcases LaVine’s comfort in residing in the upper vocal register. His voice effortlessly pilots the melody from its falsetto-assembled cockpit.
 
      The instrumentation within “Crumble” is a blend of traditional acoustic Folk and sophisticated soundscape. At the outset, gentle guitar and light percussion sit atop peaceful synth. The vocals soon enter (the lyrics are included in this post). Just beyond the first 30 seconds, a kick drum seems to signal an upcoming change. An electric guitar then delicately joins. It would be interesting to see a performance of “Crumble” to determine whether it is a pedal steel guitar – sliding notes are heard during the song.
 
     "Crumble" is the fifth song from my upcoming "Idle Daylight" EP. Thomas LaVine explains:
  I consider ‘Crumble’ to be the sister song to another song from this EP, ‘Giants.’ While ‘Giants’ explores the dreamy and carefree time spent in adolescence, ‘Crumble’ is the result of the aftermath once you come of age and begin to form a real and more seasoned perspective on life. My footing in the things I believe became a lot shakier in my early twenties. While I've come to understand myself and my spirituality more as I have aged, I also understand I may never find the answers to the questions I have, and the path ahead has become more about finding peace with that rather than answers themselves.”
 
     It is with that explanation that we appreciate the lyrics repeating the line “Hanging on the callow.” Because “callow” is not a term we often encounter, we went to an on-line dictionary: as a noun, a callow is “someone who is callow behaves in a way that shows they have little experience, confidence, or judgment.”
 
      The bio of Thomas LaVine is interestingly informative:
  Born in Brandon, Florida, and raised in the small town of Blacksburg, South Carolina, Thomas LaVine blends the organic textures of his indie folk roots with ethereal nuances. LaVine is a producer and songwriter who creates music in a tool shed he converted into a home studio. He is at heart a minimalist, even while building vast soundscapes to get lost in as one would a lush forest on a warm evening just as the sun sets. LaVine is a songwriter who uses captivating metaphors to convey emotionally honest ideas about love, existence, and connection to a place, memory, and nature. Known to be abstract, LaVine likes to treat songwriting like a canvas on which to paint with many colors.
 
     “Crumble” by Thomas LaVine

Lyrics of “Crumble” by Thomas LaVine
Staring in the silent cold
Are you frozen?
Are you broken?
The valley showing down below
Are you floating?
Are you hoping?
 
I’ve been living on the edge of
Somewhere I don’t know
And it feels like it just might crumble
I’ve been looking at the outside
Fire and snow
Searching for my young soul
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
Staring at an empty place
With a blank face
In a blank space
And holding on for better days
That you can’t make
So you dream chase
 
I’ve been living on the edge of
Somewhere I don’t know
And it feels like it just might crumble
I’ve been looking at the outside
Fire and snow
Searching for my young soul
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
You’re my harbor
It’s getting darker without you
You’re my harbor
It’s getting darker without you
You’re my harbor
It’s getting darker without you
 
I’ve been living on the edge of
Somewhere I don’t know
And it feels like it just might crumble
I’ve been looking at the outside
Fire and snow
Searching for my young soul
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
Hanging on the callow
Hanging on the callow
 
     “Giants” by Thomas LaVine


Lyrics of “Giants” by Thomas LaVine
Learned everything about love
In the early days
Somewhere we just messed it up
And we lost our grace
 
Now we know we’d give it all
Just to see that place
The sadness, we had this
We knew
 
We were giants
We were free
We’re the ocean
We’re the sea
 
Smell of the evening air
Will you take us home?
You’re a candle that burned in the night
When we were lost
 
We were giants
We were free
We’re the ocean
We’re the sea

We were giants
We were giants 
 
There inside a picture frame
Where everybody looks the same
Dirty clothes and dirty feet
That was happiness to me
 
We were giants
We were free
We’re the ocean
We’re the sea
 
When we felt right
When we knew
There’s a skylight
Breaking through

No comments:

Post a Comment