Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer

[butterfly]

There's a website up for their work and now for her continuing work, right here.

I first encountered Dave and Tracy's music years ago. My mom wanted to take me to a music store to hear them play. They'd only recently started working together. There were only about twenty or thirty people listening. I was amazed by how beautiful they sounded together. Back then, Tracy's hair was shorter and she wore glasses. They were both very nice people.

I saw them one other time in person, probably a couple of years later. It was during their release of Drum Hat Buddha. There were a lot more people at that.

They had such a unique sound. Dave was the writer and some of his lyrics are so incredibly breathtaking. He died on July 19th, 2002 at age 49, of a heart attack. It's so odd to listen to his work, because so many of his songs do dance around death and dying.

I will fly like the falcon when I go...

On Sunday, the first thing I did after coming home from VividCon was to go to the 2nd Annual Dave Carter Memorial Tribute, as hosted by Tracy. Her hair is longer now and she wears contacts. I could only stay for an hour, after that, I had to leave. I hate crying in public.

He wrote such beautiful words, created such beautiful music. I only saw him in person twice, but he made a big impression.

Even now, I hate that I'll never hear him perform a new song.

Comments

Tanglewood Tree

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

love is a tanglewood tree in a bower of green
in a forest at dawn
fair while the mockingbird sings, but she soon lifts her wings
and the music is gone
young lovers in the tall grass with their hearts open wide
when the red summer poppies bloom
but love is a trackless domain and the rumor of rain in the late afternoon

love is an old root that creeps through the meadows of sleep
when the long shadows cast
thin as a vagrant young vine, it encircles and twines
and it holds the heart fast
catches dreamers in the wildwood with the stars in their eyes
and the moon in their tousled hair
but love is a light in the sky, and an unspoken lie
and a half-whispered prayer

i'm walkin' down a bone-dry river but the cool mirage runs true
i'm bankin' on the fables of the far, far better things we do
i'm livin' for the day of reck'nin countin' down the hours
i yearn away, i burn away, i turn away the fairest flower of love, 'cause darlin . . .

love is a garden of thorns, and a crow in the corn
and the brake growing wild
cold when the summer is spent in the jade heart's lament
for the faith of a child
my body has a number and my face has a name
and each day looks the same to me
but love is a voice on the wind, and the wages of sin
and a tanglewood tree

love's garden of thorns, how it grows
black crow in the corn hummin' low
brake nettle so pretty and wild
and thistles surround the edge of the
dim dark hour as the sun moves away
lamenting a lost summer day
who nurtures the faith of a child
when nothing remains to cover her eyes?

my body has a number, maybe my face has a name
each hour like each hour before
this longing is a voice on the wind
she cultivates the wages of sin
in a tanglewood tree

©2000 Dave Carter/Dave Carter Music (BMI)

Re: Tanglewood Tree

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

That is such a beautiful song. So beautiful.