Oak, from Spell Songs II: Let The Light In

‘Oak’ from Spell Songs II: Let The Light In
Released December 2021

Featuring Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter, Jim Molyneux. Inspired by the creatures, art and language in the acclaimed The Lost Words and The Lost Spells books by renowned author Robert Macfarlane and award-winning artist Jackie Morris.

Poplar is the whispering tree,
Rowan is the sheltering tree,
Willow is the weeping tree,
and Oak is the waiting tree.

For this song I wanted music that had life and a sense of still, woody, wisdom, like the tree at its heart. So I used my old-fashioned sounding guitar, put on my wellworn trad music boots, closed the door on my humdrum trivia and played ‘til it felt about right.

Some things are hard work, but that tune was unbidden. It could have been ‘written’ in any number of centuries. The incantation from the Oak spell wrapped itself so easily around the melody that we had to keep it.

Rob and I started the lyric by exploring the number of uses that humans have now, and have had through time, for the oak’s timber. In the writing it left me with a real tangible idea of symbiosis; how far would we have gotten without this tree? Without ships, tools, ink, shelter, furniture, wheels, toys, cradles, caskets and on and on and on.

I think the oak at this point might just be waiting for us to come to our senses.
Kris Drever

Oak:

The hull of the ship that ploughs the sea
The ink that keeps our history
The axes haft that fells the tree

The Poplar is the whispering tree
And the Rowan is the sheltering tree
The willow is the weeping tree
And the Oak is waiting
The fire burns and it makes this home
Built around these seasoned bones
The chair pulled up beside the hearth
And the sleepers of the iron path

(Chorus and the sound of the Edinburgh School’s Climate Strike 2019)

The wheel that makes the seasons turn
The beasts that shelter in the barn
This table that we sing around
And the casket we put in the ground

The Poplar is the whispering tree
And the Rowan is the sheltering tree
The willow is the weeping tree
And the Oak is waiting

Sanji saba ea kan balu
Sanji nani ea man balu
Sanji kononto ea man balu
Iyeh iyeh

Sanji kononto ea man balu
Sanji nani ea man balu
Sanji saba ea man balu
Sanji nani ea man balu yeh
Sanji kononto ah Iyeh iyeh
Sanji kononto ea man balu
Iyeh iyeh yeh
Sanji sama ea man balu
Sanji saba iyeh iyeye

Three hundred years to grow
Three hundred more to thrive
Three hundred years to die
Nine hundred years alive

Translation from Mandinka:
Three hundred years to grow
Three hundred more to thrive
Three hundred years to die
Nine hundred years alive
Indeed, yes indeed

To learn more about Spell Songs go to www.thelostwords.org/spell-songs

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