Strings
Created in the imagination and anticipation of the arrival of a new life.
For now, hear an clip!
The beautiful string arrangement was created and played by Matt Walker who, at that time, played for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. All four parts are played on cello, giving it a dark, thick feel as compared to a traditional quartet.
Matt Walker
During the pandemic, Matt plays
for a quarantined neighborhood.
Song Lyric
Fighting strings sharpening my knife
Trying not to cut the ones that gave me life
When I find my freedom can’t be had for free
No, I must be tied to see
CHORUS:
With no doubt, you are my reason
And though I’ve yet to see you now
Your vision’s in this poem
And It’s about you that I’m singing
For that’s the way I pray today
These strings will bring you home
And so I’ll wait to see your open eyes
And your angel’s wings to part these hazy skies
And when you fly too high I’ll play here on the ground
With these strings to help you down
CHORUS
Fighting strings sharpening our knives
Trying not to cut the ones that gave us lives
And when we fly too high will you play here on the ground
With these strings to help us down
CHORUS
Extended Chorus:
To me, our reason
And though we’ve yet to see you now
Your vision’s in this poem
And It’s about you that we’re singing
For that’s the way we pray today
For strings to bring us home
To you, my reason
© DNR Records / Tom Acoust 2000 “all rights reserved”
Fighting strings sharpening my knife
Trying not to cut the ones that gave me life
When I find my freedom can’t be had for free
No, I must be tied to see
CHORUS:
With no doubt, you are my reason
And though I’ve yet to see you now
Your vision’s in this poem
And It’s about you that I’m singing
For that’s the way I pray today
These strings will bring you home
And so I’ll wait to see your open eyes
And your angel’s wings to part these hazy skies
And when you fly too high I’ll play here on the ground
With these strings to help you down
CHORUS
Fighting strings sharpening our knives
Trying not to cut the ones that gave us lives
And when we fly too high will you play here on the ground
With these strings to help us down
CHORUS
Extended Chorus:
To me, our reason
And though we’ve yet to see you now
Your vision’s in this poem
And It’s about you that we’re singing
For that’s the way we pray today
For strings to bring us home
To you, my reason
© DNR Records / Tom Acoust 2000 “all rights reserved”
About the Song
This song was written on the pathway to my son’s birth. My daughter before him had taught me well to write such a song. This feeling of being anchored to the earth, rather than trapped or hindered by family, is one of many threads running through our lives. Our human-connection ties, biological or not, give us purpose and meaning.
About the Recording
When recording began for this one, the song had been played a bunch solo – one guitar / one voice. The initial concept was to add only strings( a quartet) to the stings (acoustic guitar). While working with Matt Walker, cellist for the Nashville Symphony, on another tune, he suggested using four overdubbed cellos – and that’s what we did. Matt showed up a few days later with all four parts written out in pencil, of course. The results were stunning.
As with many of these new DNR releases, we finished this for release in June 2021. The original guitar was a Martin HD-28V recorded with several mics and a pickup. The cellos were recorded with a Sony C-48. In 2020, piano was added, vocals were replaced, and a bit of other subtle production magic
Matt Walker
Cellos & arrangement