“Simple Folk Roads” is out today. This is the last post in the series and the last track on the record.
After all the roads, escapes and returns, the record ends in one place, standing still: someone in the morning sun, giving thanks.
First Light
The first lines: “First light touches my skin… / like fingers of an old friend…”
And further on: “No walls, no clock, no hurry… / just this quiet gift again…”
In “Burn the Map” and “Drop Everything,” the clock and the walls were what you had to walk away from. Here they appear for the last time — as something that is no longer there.
Nothing Is Mine
The pre-chorus: “I don’t own the morning… / I don’t own the flame… / I just open my arms… / and whisper your name…”
Whose name is that “your name”? The lyric does not say. Maybe the sun’s, maybe that of someone standing nearby. Everyone will hear their own answer here.
In the second verse: “I breathe you in… I breathe you out… / in this moment I am free…”
Borrowed Light
The third verse: “Roots run deep beneath my feet… / holding stories I can’t repeat…”
And a line that is easy to miss: “I borrow light, I borrow sorrow…”
Even sorrow is only borrowed here, not owned. Like the morning and the flame. Nothing has to be held onto forever — neither the good nor the bad.
Thank You
The end of the third verse: “Thank you for this breath… / thank you for this skin… / thank you for letting me begin… again…”
It is the only verse on the record with seven lines. The last of them is a thank-you for a new beginning.
The record began with tiredness and a wish for something honest. It ends with gratitude and two words repeated at the very end: “Sun… praise…”
You can hear the whole record from today on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.
This is the last post in the series about “Simple Folk Roads.” Ten tracks: about simplicity shared by two, about breaking away, and about how one does not rule out the other.
Thank you for being here.
Adam Smentoch Creator of the Dust Anthem project
