The Kitchen Musician ~ October 2023
Hello friends,
I have always taken issue with the way Shel Silverstein portrayed the relationship between a boy and a tree in his famous children’s book, “The Giving Tree”. This month I offer an alternative. Join me in the kitchen for “Wings and a Dream.”
Index
NEWS:
THIS MONTH’S MUSIC: “Wings and a Dream”
UPCOMING SHOWS
FEATURED NON-PROFIT: Greater Boston Food Bank
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 2023
Photo © 2023 Bob Cleary
News:
Checking off one of my bucket list items, in July I played the Thursday Stage at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (see above photo). Even a microburst in the middle of my set couldn’t dampen my spirits!
Some great shows coming up! Share with your friends who may be in the area.
Hancock Depot, NH
Saturday, Oct. 7th at 7:00 pm. Joining my talented friends Cosy Sheridan, Charlie Koch and Doug Farrell for a songwriters-in-the-round session at this terrific intimate venue .
First Church, Dedham, MA
Friday Oct. 20th at 7:00 pm I am really pumped to share the evening with Cosy Sheridan at the Friday Folk Coffeehouse at First Church Dedham Unitarian Universalist. Cosy will be joined by Charlie Koch and Seth Connelly with join me.
House Concert, Newton, MA
Saturday Nov. 5th at 2:00 pm. House concert in Newton, MA. Opening for the amazing Brooks Williams. To receive an invitation and details , send name and email to: sailingintosong@gmail.com.
…and there are more shows in November. All details can be found at upcoming shows.
This Month’s Music:
“Wings and a Dream”
“Wings and a Dream”
© 2023 Tom Smith (ASCAP)
Lyrics in comment below.
Probably Shel Silverstein’s most famous children’s book is “The Giving Tree” – a story about the relationship between a boy and a tree. Although this book is endeared by many, I have always been very uneasy about it because the tree gave literally his entire self to benefit the boy, and the boy kept on taking with no consideration for the tree. This month I offer an alternative to “The Giving Tree”, inspired by my personal experience.
When I was about nine or ten years old, I was a quiet, thoughtful boy. I always felt like I was a little “different” from the other kids I knew in my rural Pennsylvania area. For example, I loved visiting my favorite apple tree in a remote orchard. It was one of the old fashioned kind of apple trees – tall with a thick trunk and sprawling branches. I used a rope to weave a hammock between two of the branches. It was more like a spider’s web than a hammock. I’d lie in that web, rocked by the wind for an hour or more – my mind imagining far away places and a future that was very different from my simple, isolated life. When it was time to go home, I’d unstring my web so no-one would know I was ever there.
Over the years, I came to know that apple tree as a kind of friend or mentor – someone with whom I could think of things and say things out loud that I couldn’t share with the people in my life. At sixteen years old, we moved out of that farmhouse, and I couldn’t visit with “my apple tree” any more. Yet over the years, the memory of those visits still occupy a very warm spot in my heart. As a man in my late sixties I made my way back to the orchard to visit. Although it had a few hopeful apples, my tree was very old, cracked and split. My familiar hammock branches lay rotting on the ground. We sat together for a while, in our final silent conversation.
My song this month is an imagined retelling of that conversation – an expression of mutual gratitude. For me, this also serves as a metaphor for the relationship I have had with many teachers in my life, and the reflected gratitude that teachers often feel for their students.
Say thank you to someone today.
Steady on!
Tom
Video photo credit:
The Old Apple Orchard at Wisbech St. Mary in Cambridgshire, UK, January 16, 2008. Photo by Mark Shirley
Permission to use granted by Creative Commons License. No modifications were made to the photo.
(If so inclined, I invite you to leave a comment by scrolling to the end of this page.)
Featured Non-profit
The Greater Boston Food Bank “works passionately to end hunger across Eastern Massachusetts by providing our neighbors in need the healthy food and resources they need to thrive… Your support enables GBFB to distribute healthy food to neighbors in need as well as nutrition programs and resources for sustained, healthy lives and healthy communities.”
Please join me in supporting The Greater Boston Food Bank, or click to find a food bank in your area.
Tom
October 2, 2023Wings and a Dream
© 2023 Tom Smith (ASCAP)
Hello my old friend
It’s been a lifetime
Since I ate your apples
Climbed on your knees
When I was young
Your broad burly branches
Cradled my body
Set my mind free
There from your shoulders
This child’s eyes could see
Hope, promise
Mountains of green
As I reached for those mountains
(I knew) my roots would sustain me
The gift that you gave me
Wings and a dream
The gift that you gave me
Wings and a dream
—–~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello my old friend
(Yes) It has been a lifetime
Since you ate my apples
Climbed on my knees
When you were young your
Your arms around my branches
Lifted my spirit
Set my heart free
There from my shoulders
I knew you would see
Hope, promise
Mountains of green
When you reached for those mountains
(Though) My roots did constrain me
(It was) a gift that you gave me
Wings and a dream
The gift that you gave me
Wings and a dream
Paul Weilage
October 2, 2023I am so glad that apple tree was still there, so many of our places that our memories are based on are no longer there to revisit
Tom
October 2, 2023Yes, have experienced that as well. Most sad when it is the people who have passed on.
Virginia Amsler
October 2, 2023Thank you Tom. You had a loving and excellent mentor and guide. Thank you for sharing its story. Thank you for being our musical mentor and guide. We climb in and rest in your music.
Tom
October 2, 2023Thanks for the kind comment, Miss Ginny. Hope all is on the mend on the island.
Margaret Hooton
October 2, 2023This beautiful song resonates with me — for me it was the lilac tree that grew so beautifully outside my parents’ back door — gorgeous, fragrant deep purple blossoms in the spring and a hidden shade shelter in the summer just right for tea parties! A dear friend for more than 60 years! Thank you, Tom!
Tom
November 9, 2023Thank you for listening, Margaret. Yes, we have a lilac just outside our back door. Easy to grow attached to these things.
Kim Moberg
October 2, 2023Thank you!
Tom
October 2, 2023Hi Kim. Thank YOU for listening!
Gary
October 2, 2023Hi Tom:
What beautiful sentiments as well as a great song. Thank you as well as I saw your picture and remembered how you made the commemoration for Phylis so very special with your wonderful songs and a tremendous presence. You are such a good man. Thank you for your extending and generous soul that you are.
Tom
November 9, 2023Hello Gary. Thank you for your very kind words. It was obvious that Phylis was a very special person who loved and was loved by many.
Betsy Trimble
October 3, 2023Love this, Tom. Thanks for sharing it with everyone.
Tom
November 9, 2023Thanks for listening, Betsy!
Elaine
October 10, 2023Wonder-ful ! ?
Erik likes your song too, ( saying it’s like a poem! )
Feeling thankful for The Apple Tree.
I did not know …
Cousin Elaine