Timberline

(Emmylou Harris / Paul Kennerley)

Oh the stars they did shine
The night you swore that you'd be mine
And you promised always to be true
And to be kind
On that Shenandoah Hill
Where our love bloomed until
I went away and left those
Promises behind

But when I rise from the timberline
And call your name will you remember mine
And the sweetest kiss will be the tie that binds
Like the wild, wild rose and the columbine

To that place I will go
Where the wildwood flowers grow
With a ribbon in my hair
And a grown of calico
To those Shenandoah Hills
I'll go back I swear I will
To the sweetest kiss my lips will ever know

Every once in awhile, a song becomes a studio song--played over and over until somehow the words and music weave in and amidst the work being made; the reasons are not always transparent.  I'm stuck on this Emmylou Harris song this season--struck by the evocative, liminal place she sings of so hauntingly.