Bare Bones of Winter
I wrote this January 2022. Recorded with incredible vocalist Mia Bertelli, whose harmony makes the bare bones shiver.
Bare bones, bare bones of winter
Bare bones of winter time
Can you hear the wind a-howlin'
Can you hear the wind a-howl
Can you feel, can you feel the ice a cutting
Can you feel the ice a cut
Have you seen, have you seen the snow fall
Have you seen the snow fall down
Can you hear, can you hear me callin'
Can you hear me callin' out
Can you feel, can you feel the fire
Can you feel the fire glow
Can you smell, can you smell the spring a bloomin'
Can you smell the spring a bloom
Bare bones, bare bones of winter
Bare bones of winter time
In the depths of winter I can't remember the brutal heat of summer. And here, during the sweatiest week of July, I can hardly conjure the cold bones of January. This song popped out one January as I pondered the bare tree limbs against the gray sky.
Sometimes I sing this one with guitar as a driving country-type song, and it's really cathartic that way, too. One day I'll record a little video of it that way so you can hear how I do it.
But I feel the song is at its essence a plaintive plea, a melancholy midwinter prayer and that's how I opted to record it first. I knew when I wrote it I wanted to sing it with Mia Bertelli, and hear what she would add. Of course, she came up with the most amazing way to move through the harmony. Listen closely, you'll hear those bare bones shiver, and in those shivering bones you'll feel the desperate hope that spring is right around the corner.
Looking forward to singing it with you.