Hills of Peace

Notes on "Hills of Peace"

This was one of the fifteen songs I wrote during April of 2008 as part of the Songwriters Challenge. It was written in a country house near a road of the same name, and I was very much under the influence of what was happening around me. It was a week when the ice was finally melting on the lake nearby, and you could begin to hear the stream trickling beside the house.

It happened incredibly fast once it started. After months and months of deep winter, suddenly there were new birds arriving, and on the lake you could literally see the ice melting hour on hour. Very quiet, very still, but finally starting to move again. The red-winged blackbrids arrived one day .... open water could be seen the next. It was a magical time, and there really was little to say about it. All I really wanted was to be quiet and listen and watch.

So this is basically an instrumental. The words are meant to sound like little haiku, resting below the music like water droplets on a branch.

And yes, that's not a red-wing blackbird in the picture - purple finch.