Twin Pines
Twin Pines
We walk through the twilight woods
You slip your hand in mine
Wrap your arms around me, babe
Sing to me in rhymes
Chorus:
Aspen leaves are gently falling
Walked here many times
Now we stop to share the beauty
Of our home Twin Pines
We laugh as we lose our step
Sunlight through the trees
Quiet on the trail ahead
We feel the autumn breeze
Chorus:
Tracks are in the snow so close
We hold our breath to see
Several deer are walking by
They are wild and free
Repeat Chorus:
This progression, when I was first working on it, was called “Buckets” because the first two chords are from a Bob Dylan song, Buckets of Rain. Once I played those and liked them I turned on the Voice Memo app on my iPhone and started recording me just messing around with a progression. Leslie immediately heard lyrics and started writing them down even before I locked down the progression. I have her on the recording saying that she had something and I reply, “write it down” while I continue to play. Other than the cool chords on the verse it’s a pretty simple song. I used a chord analyzer on the internet to try to name the chords I used and it’s just a mess. In the studio I was counting on Jack Maynes to figure something out on the keyboard that I could sing to and eliminate the guitar part, but I decided to leave the guitar in. The melody and the guitar progression (and fingerpicking style) closely follow each other and I was a little worried that was too much, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. This song might have needed a bridge, but I didn’t write one for it. It’s a very simple short song. It’s about our home here outside of Durango that we named “Twin Pines”. Leslie wrote many of the lyrics on this song. I added “sing to me in rhymes” and “feel the autumn breeze”. I love the collaboration with Leslie. I know songwriters who only work alone, but I find that bouncing ideas for lyrics off Leslie is the best way to find the best lyrics. We are very comfortable working with each other – with humor and respect. The level of trust has to be deep in order to be free to say things, even if we know they’re not the right words. Sometimes I’ll say “this is only a placeholder”, and she knows what I’m saying is that “I can’t come up with it, but it will fit here”. This song had some editing after it was “finished”, like all songs do. Only a few words were changed, but sometimes those changes are what makes a song awesome.