Hardscrabble from Birdsong by The Original Digits
On lyrics:
Hardscrabble is a small county park near my home place in Delaware County, IA that hugs a couple miles of the Maquoketa River. When I felt worried, upset, or just longed for some time in nature, I often followed the creek bed behind my house all the way down to Hardscrabble. As a child, my neighbor Harold would take my whole family down there in his wagon pulled by a beautiful and well-loved team of horses/mules. It was an impressive 3-4 mile ride. I liked to imagine that we were traveling west on the Oregon Trail. I hope I'll still be visiting Hardscrabble when I'm 80, if I'm lucky enough to make it that far: to muse and process as I so often do.
The song, itself, has evolved over a long period of time. I started working on it about 15 years ago. I felt stressed about "finding my calling," Iowan water quality, birds I hadn't noticed in a long time, and my own health (I was much later diagnosed with lupus & MCTD).
The creek bed has periodically been damaged by too much erosion and run-off. I started writing this during a spring when the water looked downright terrible. I suppose I also felt kinda angry about nutrient pollution. In any case, Hardscrabble, the song, just welled up inside me. Now, all this time later, I return to it, with a final verse (carry on, carry on) and some new layers by Tea So Cold and my husband who adds mando when we play this live.
A couple other shout-outs: Over the years, different people in my county have risen to the challenge of caring for our suffering rural watersheds. Some are private landowners. Some are local volunteers. A special thank you to Laura Vaske and Shirley Gates who both donated a considerable amount of time and effort to improving and supporting Hardscrabble - one of my favorite places in Iowa and the greater United States! In my dream world, all watersheds would be surrounded by sizable buffer areas and protected as public spaces: accessible and safe for all creatures to swim in and drink from. Free from the chemical-runoff that eventually winds up in the Gulf. Love, Leah
Tracklist
| 1. | Hardscrabble | 3:34 |
Lyrics
We’re going back down to hardscrabble.
Taking a wagon ride.
I’ve never seen ya so scared -
like a deer in the headlights.
Limestone bluff -
It was never quite enough
This river of mud
couldn’t quite satisfy
Satisfy…satisfy.
Here are the artifacts
And here’s my rhyme:
We can sing our hearts out, break our backs
but it won’t buy back the time –
those hard times – those tight-knit times.
those hard times – those tight-knit times.
Ashes, bones, and cinder cones,
a volcano of exhaust.
The canary in the coal mine
is always choking on our dust.
So go ahead and leave this place
If you must…
but the guilt is here to stay
it is rooted to this rock:
this old rock….this old rock….
this old rock....this old rock.
refrain.
Vultures on the horizon,
the smell of carrion.
A dream has to start somewhere
and it started in this dirt, poor ground
Carry on…Carry on…
Carry on…Carry on….
Carry on....
Credits
Leah Nichole - Main Vocals, lyrics, Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Bird recordings
Tea So Cold - Strings/Bass, End Harmony, Final Mix, Production
Vulture recording - Vultures Flying over Hardscrabble Park, Hopkinton, IA
Canary - A petshop canary
Ben - On Mando during live sets
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Hi there. You've reached Leah Nichole & The Original Digits (formerly TQLM). I love to make new sounds & harmonize. Sometimes I compose by myself. Sometimes I collaborate with Tea So Cold as I did on "Birdsong" & "Attention Rebellion." Sometimes I spend hours making music with my husband, my kids, or my neighbor, William...
Hope you can find something you enjoy here!