Dandelion
by @davidtaro
Liner Notes
This one was sparked by my son, Daniel, berating me for having too many silly nicknames for him (it’s true, I do). I’ve written quite a few ‘isn’t it sad that you’ve got to grow up’ songs in the past, and initially this was another. But it’s kind of morphed into a more general meditation on, well, I suppose death. So a very cheerful number.
It’s not quite the song I had in my head when I was writing it. And it’s a little too earnest for my liking, in retrospect. But I’ve given up tweaking for now and am offering it up to the FAWM Gods. Do your worst…
#folk #harmonies #fingerpicking #mellotron #overlyearnest
Lyrics
Dandelion, look at you grow
Dandelion, wouldn’t you know
So strong and proud in the summer meadow
Dandelion, yellow as the sun in the August sky
I’m happy and I’m sad, I don’t know why
Oh dandelion
Dandelion, when do we learn
Dandelion, seasons will turn
Like time-lapse memories, we flicker
Dandelion, mellow as the light of a dying star
This spirit in our lungs only goes so far
Oh dandelion
Dandelion, look at you now
Dandelion, you made it somehow
Still strong and proud in the fading echoes
Dandelion, scatter your seeds on a passing wind
One story ends and a new one begins
Oh dandelion
Comments
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Also - love that "bad" note in the pause. (On purpose or accident and then you held it because that's what jazz bands do🤣).
Great chord changes and truly beautiful as well.
Ah!! That note was on purpose. LOVE IT. Especially the second time. And those dissoant keyboards underneath. Ooof.
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Depending on the age of your son, I wonder about encouraging him to scatter his seeds. If he's a teenager....ooof! :)
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The symbolism of the dandelion is one of hope, strength and transformation...very apt I think, after reading your liner notes...
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Mine are both in college, the youngest turned 20(!!), and the nest is empty most of the time. The ephemeral image of the dandelion scattering in the wind is all the more powerful for how fleeting our time together with our kids really is. Everyone says that, but you can't know until it happens.
The unexpected notes in the "yellow/mellow as" phrases was jarring to me at first, then I realized how you were capturing something musically to pair with the lyric. Bittersweet, ya dig?
As for over-earnest, I struggle with that myself. Especially in my folk-ier writing, sometimes I think earnestness is one of my strengths and even I cringe away from it sometimes. Why are we so culturally conditioned to fear/mock earnestness? What is it about genuine human emotion that makes us so uncomfortable?
And that's a good "I love my kid" song, that can lead to me to thoughts like that.
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Love this one, David--more "acoustic-y" than I think I'm used to hearing from you. Less "rocky", I guess. Hmmm...I think that might make it a new favorite of yours for me. ❤️
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Gorgeous picking. The chord sequence on the chorus(?) just took me somewhere else entirely. Wonderful.
Lastly, your instinct that it needed something but not a big something was bang on. Enter the mighty mellotron as a lovely worm midrange shelf right out of the seventies. Superlative stuff.
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love the harmonies. love that guitar picking. my favorite parts of the chord changes are those moments right before you stop, it’s like a minor chord? or something. some kind of unresolved note (i can’t read music, sorry!) really nice. makes it extra sad. it’s always such a joy listening to your stuff dude
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This spirit in our lungs only goes so far"----brilliant lines. And even worse...this is so you, those Taro harmonies, tamed nuances and seeming over-fluffiness, it's YOUR fluffiness, and who doesn't go nutso in love over their kids??
And my very last and worst comment of all is this...you had a plan. Your muses had another. You let go and took the ride. You're the worst!!! :0))
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