new one from Cam and me.

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=75132

Hickory Hill


Set the phone back down beside my bed
Wiped my cheeks and tried to clear my head
Made sure my suit was packed
Got my truck and tossed my tools in back

And with the morning highway stretched ahead of me
Somehow on that blurry blacktop I could see

Hickory Hill and a grove of crooked trees
Old bluegrass songs still ride the evening breeze
Summers with my granpa there
Pipe smoke in the mountain air
And the sound of midnight whippoorwills
Granpa was the handy type
And he carved his fav’rite pipe
From a tree up on Hickory Hill

Like granpa I’m a carpenter by trade
And the cross I wear is one I made
So I understood gramma’s request
How it might relieve her loneliness

So I set up in their dusty old garage
and I swore in her eyes I could see a sad mirage

Hickory Hill and a grove of kissing trees
Lavender moons and a bed of fallen leaves
Evenings with my granpa there
Dancing in the mountain air
To the sound of distant whippoorwills
They raised seven kids
And my granpa made their cribs
From a tree up on Hickory Hill

Black umbrellas on a rainy morn’
Preacher talked of grief and life reborn
I held gramma in the misty chill
Sunshine split the clouds above the hill

Native soil upon the hand carved casket lid
It was part of him and now he’s part of it

Hickory Hill and a grove of lonesome trees
Old memories hang beside the haunted leaves
Watchin’ over granpa there
While he said his nightly prayers
With the ghosts of midnight whippoorwills
O and just like gramma said
I made his eternal bed
From a tree up on Hickory Hill

Sometimes I touch my cross with a shaking hand
And I see him walking on that sacred land

Hickory Hill
Hickory Hill
Up on Hickory Hill
Hickory Hill...


Copyright 2009
by Robert George and Cameron Earnshaw

Robert/ Cameron,

Let me kick the reviews off with a smiley!

They say the best country songs are like reading a lifechanging novel in 3 minutes, and this certainly has got the novel part.

I'll let others be the judge of the lifesaving part, but I enjoyed listening to this :-)

I like the vocal, the lyric reads long, but it works well. The melody is great, I like that very much.

The first time I tried to play it, it played the song, but started again, after about 20 seconds, I knew I'd probably managed to do something wrong, so I had to replay it.

I love the song, the chorus' are great, I think. Great work guys!

Professional from start to finish ...
you should be on the Opry ... This like everything I hear from you is superstar quality ... Nashville guys . If you don't sign him now you are nuts cause I don't know what more you could ask for.

thanks everyone...Cameron did a great job with the music and arranging on this. a lyric with this structure would mess up a lot of composers but he made it seamless.

Beautiful music. Would have downloaded it if it'd been on soundclick (and play it in my car, like your Roadside Rest ;-))

sparrow, for some crazy reason soundclick rejects my uploads of Cam's demos. it's really frustrating. I can e-mail you an mp3 if you like.

Great story song! Love the way that "Hickory Hill" ends the verse and starts the chorus. Strong melody lines and vivid images. Well done.

Robert and Cam...

Great work here...The imagery in your lyrics and your talent for story telling are always elegant.

Fine production, great vox.
Really nothin to nit...

Larry

YAY! Thank you very much, I WOULD like a copy :-D Will send you my email :-)

I know I've said it before elsewhere but I've been back to listen again so many times I feel like I should comment again. You both did such a great job on this one, as I listen in my mind I'm right there on Hickory Hill. As a writer you can't do better than that IMO. The way every verse leads right into the hook with a lift, and every chorus changing slightly as the story unfolds is perfect. Thanks for sharing this beauty. Best of luck with it.

thanks again everyone...this is one of the best tunes I've ever been involved with.

I love everything about it except it being 4 and a half minutes...it will always be a nice song, but i know you and Cam ain't just tryin' to stuff your catalog, simply-it needs a trim...anyway, nice write,nice demo, good luck with it...mj

MJ, lots of modern country songs are well over 4 minutes. this got a strong review from NSAI, real strong...the length was never mentioned.

like i said , good luck with it, i hope it pays for your retirement