Song 24 of 27 · From Darkness Into Light
Cedar, Corn and Snow
Composer's Blueprint
- Signature motif
- D-F#-A-B-A-F#, fiddle-friendly pentatonic.
- Harmonic engine
- D-G - Bm-A; half-time bridge Em-G-D-A.
- Prosody — lyric emphasis
- CEDAR/CORN/SNOW/GROW are hook syllables; verses should sound spoken over pulse, not rushed.
- Emotional-frequency automation
- 285 buoyant picking; 396 half-time bridge creates release; 639 three-part harmony lands on final chorus.
- Transition — ending cue
- Fiddle takes living-land motif as tag, then single acoustic chord.
Instruments
- Vocal design: D3-F#4. Use 285 as buoyant renewal, 396 as release in the half-time bridge, and 639 as three-part communal harmony. Keep the tone natural and smiling, but never squeeze the top. Drop the tempo if the poetry stops sounding conversational.
- Arrangement: Flatpicked guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, foot percussion. Use a half-time bridge before the final fast chorus.
The notes and instruments stand exactly as created — skilled musicians can already play this music as written.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Cedar on the ridgeline, corn beside the road,
Apples in the market and a truck with winter load.
Guide boat in the morning, ski wax in the night,
Everybody has a trade when the town is doing right.
Chorus
Cedar, corn and snow,
Let the local good things grow.
Fish the lake and walk the trail,
Feed the guest and tell the tale.
Keep the water, keep the tree,
Build a living carefully—
Cedar, corn and snow,
Let the local good things grow.
Verse 2
Blueberry and salmon, onions, greens and bread,
Stories from the farmers and the rivers where we fed.
Five-star does not have to mean imported from afar,
Sometimes world-class means remembering exactly where you are.
Bridge
Slow the wheels and hear the wind,
Every season starts again.
What we keep is what we give
To the ones who come to live.
Final Chorus
Cedar, corn and snow,
Let the local good things grow.
Keep the river, keep the trail,
Feed the guest and tell the tale.
Work with pride and spend it near,
Give the next generation years—
Cedar, corn and snow,
Let the local good things grow.
Download & Print — for the studio
Download this song’s sheet (PDF)
This song’s sheet as held in the collection — its lyrics, its notes, its frequency arc and its instruments. Print this page or the sheet and take it into the studio.