This is my first crack at songwriting. My production skills need polishing but I am generally happy with the song and it’s structure. I played around with playing it slower but it sounded like a dirge. It was important to convey that “life goes on” and so while the lyrics lament the loss of this giant old oak tree in the woods behind my house, the tempo is upbeat.
When we first saw our home many years ago, it was part of what made me fall in love with this house. A 250+ year old red oak with a huge canopy that dwarfed all the other trees around her. Much of the land around my house was used for farming so this tree must have been kept for shade near the property edge. It was one of the few trees I have actually hugged, but I was unable to get my arms halfway around her trunk.
In 2019-2020, gypsy moths decimated many of the great oaks around my area, including this one. She still stands as you can see in the video, but all her bark and branches are slowly falling off now. I hope you enjoy the song.
“Old Oak Tree” Lyrics:
Verse 1:
No more sweet breezes through her leaves,
Down by the edge of the pasture lawn.
Her last leaf picked and stolen by thieves,
The old oak tree is dead and gone.
Verse 2:
Wrens curve and dart through empty boughs,
Sunlight echoes through her bones at dawn.
From winter’s sleep she will not rouse,
The old oak tree is dead and gone.
Bridge:
Side by side building dreams in her shade,
Can we keep the promises that we’ve made?
Interlude
Verse 3:
Her seeds will root and reach for the sky,
Memories feed her young to carry on.
On her the birds will perch and sing their goodbye,
For the old oak tree is dead and gone.
Outro:
I know the birds will perch and sing their goodbye,
For the old oak tree is dead and gone.