Your Desert Snow

Well, we've had a fresh snow fall today, whitening the eastern Iowa landscape again, so perhaps its time to post the lyrics to Your Desert Snow. The inspiration for this is taken from two sources, the main one being Isaiah 35:1-10, which foretells a day when the desert shall bloom; the other inspiration is the likening of a winter snowscape to a desert, as suggested by an old jazz-rock fusion track by Bill Bruford's old self-titled band, Bruford, and the twins tracks: The Sahara of Snow, Part I and Part II. The music is nothing like Bruford's. Would that it were (but don't judge by the samples). His album One of a Kind is brilliant, but I can't find it on Amazon to show a link. The closest may be his compilation Rock Goes to College. What a great title, eh?

Meanwhile, the opening vibe sequence on my little track is an intentional quotation of one of several phrases woven together in the complex long fade from Imago Dei, a shameless (if perhaps too subtle) attempt to remind the friendly listener of the modest album that emerged a decade earlier and provide this link to the past.

The straight acoustic demo of this track is not too bad. I played it for a worship class last year, and they did not run from the classroom shrieking in horror, so I take that as a fairly good indicator of its non-crappiness. If I can figure out a way to upload the whole MP3 thing here, I may do so in future. Meanwhile, the recording that made it onto The Word in the Wind is another demo of sorts. Originally begun as test track for working out how to use ProTools LE (and for which I did not bother to change my guitar strings), the guitar track came out with sufficient accuracy I decided to keep it. At which point I changed the strings, which sound discernibly brighter in the closing "take off" section. The contrast is what Ringo Starr would call a "happy accident," one of those unplanned moments that just seemed to work.  

As far as the lyrics go, I suppose this could be construed as a worship song in the simplest, purest sense in that it is addressed to God and is based (mostly) on scripture. While the idea of a frozen snowscape is not (or is not likely) what the prophet had in view, I do like the idea that a heavy snowfall can impose a certain sabbatical pace on life and play a constructive, if restrictive, role in keeping those who might be tempted to indulge in all sorts of foolishness from going astray (Isa 35:10).

To be honest, I did not intend "a fluttering token" to bear any eucharistic significance, but should anyone read that into this song for Advent, I would not be inclined to protest. I hope you like it.

Your Desert Snow

1.  Desert dawns her wedding gown today

Streets and lanes gleam white and holy

Towering ice tree-lanterns play

Luminous with your gentle glory

2.  Rooftops melt into seamless sky

The snowy virgin’s cloak’s unbroken

Everything glows in the Sun’s goodbye

Each flake nothing, a fluttering token

3.  Not even fools will go astray

This shining morning when its 10 below

Sorrow and sighing shall fly away

At the joyful sound of your Son’s hello

The sweet smile of your desert snow

New Kensington, PA;  January 3, 1999

(Tuning: DADGAD; capo on 2nd fret)