In the aftermath of losing two loved ones within months of each other, writing was the needle I took to the knots of my tangled heart. The first song I found was pulled from the rubble of Mid-World–the world of the gunslinger in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. There, Death was a face you couldn’t shy from. Some part of me needed to look it in the eye. To stare down the fear and the finality of it, and to speak to the one thing every living creature on this earth has in common. And to honor the ones who have stepped into the clearing.
The notion of a good death is a hard one to process. The truth of dying itself is beyond our ken until we get there. The hope is to face it, if not in your own time, then on your own terms.
lyrics
Don’t say I lost the battle
On the day I lay my weapons down
I made this peace with my own hands
I take it with me to the ground
And I laugh because I know
That when he finds you in the end
You see that Death is not a stranger
He's an old, old friend.
Death is not a stranger
He's the brother at your back
The striking hawk, the wolf that runs
Beside you when the moon is black
So follow close, and follow fast
Gone is gone and past is past
Right here and now, and nothing else remains
And the horn is the only refrain
Don’t grieve that I have fallen
When the hour has grown late
I will rise and give my greetings
To the bringer of my fate
And I stand because I know
That when she finds me in the end
I’ll see that Death is not a stranger
She’s an old, old friend
Death is not the robber
She's the shepherd in the night
Standing in the clearing
Keeping everything in sight
See her there and see her well
And take her hand and let her tell you
All you fear and all you long to know
Then take up your banner and go
See the roses in the ruins, see the endless singing sky
Hold steady to the faithful heart
That's not afraid to die
Set your sight on the fields of the blood of the ages
And reap every seed you have sown
Hear your enemy cry for the face of his father
And remember the face of your own.
Death is not a stranger
Just the last long ride you make
To some new world when this old world
Has taken all the worlds can take
Or else into the silent dream
Of shadow-light along the Beam
To watch and rest and rise to watch again
I will seek for that grace
I will welcome its embrace
And I’ll see you, I’ll see you, my friend
credits
from Courage, Dear Heart,
released November 3, 2023
Summer Russell - lead vocals, guitar
Peter Alway - mountain dulcimer
Eric Distad - bass
Dr. Cat Faber - mandolin, harmony vocals
Sunnie Larsen - violin
Lauren Oxford - banjo, harmony vocals
Brenda Sutton - bodhrán
I could listen to Lauren sing forever. Her writing is vivid and sensitive, sweetly and painfully human--never apologizing for sharp corners and rough edges. The beauty of her spirit shines through. Summer Russell
Singer-songwriter Henry Parker puts his own spin on the classic sounds of '60s and '70s British folk on this wilderness-inspired new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 9, 2021
