From the Archives: "The Bee Song" (Patreon)

If you've ever popped an old cassette into your boombox (surely you still have a boombox?), you've likely heard for yourself how poorly tape holds up over time, what with the warp and warble and the way it sometimes snaps right off the rollers at the end of a rewind. Tape is fragile. It was a good idea back in the day. But it is anything but stable, even when stored under pristine conditions.

After the ADAT studio tape transfer that yielded LITTLE BLUE EGG and JOY MY LOVE in 2012, I gathered up all the remaining tape media in my possession -- cassettes and DAT, mostly -- and had it professionally digitized in order to preserve whatever fidelity might be left in what were then 10-year old tapes. As I just found out earlier this month, however, I missed a few. While searching for a piece of gear in a studio closet, I came upon a small plastic box containing demos. Some Dave & Tracy stuff, some by our five-piece band, and some ... even older. 

My heart bounced inside my chest. Treasures, sure, but what state were they in? How on earth did they get separated from the scores of other tapes? And most importantly, as I considered these unlabeled cassette cases -- what do we have here?

I borrowed a studio-quality cassette deck from Dave Chalfant of the Nields, connected it to my Apogee Quartet using an RCA-1/4" splitter, and began recording the cassettes directly into my iPad-based studio software. So far, I've got two live D&T sets from 1999, a couple band demos (one tape broke so I need to fix that), a really random recording of people sitting around swapping songs, and this absolute beauty of a song that I'm sharing with you here -- something I never in my life expected to hear: "The Bee Song."

If you are longtime devotee of the duo's music, you'll recognize the opening riff: this is "Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love" in its earliest incarnation, with a simpler structure and a completely different set of lyrics but that same beautiful counterpoint melody. Performing are Kelly Mulholland (now of Still on the Hill; then 19 years old) and Karen Kitchen, Osage singer. The performance on this 40-year old tape is extraordinary; the tape's fidelity seems to add to its magic.

Jim Henry's grandson, Rohman, was almost as transfixed as me...

I am sharing this unpublished work with Patrons because a) you are funding exactly this sort of discovery and preservation; b) I'm so thrilled about it I can't keep it to myself; and c) I know many of you are songwriters. As a writer myself, I find the lyrical transformation of the song fascinating. Note: I can't share this more broadly until I have permission from the performers and the family to do so. Let's keep it to ourselves for now.

Below are the two sets of lyrics. "The Bee Song" contains a few mysteries yet because the male part is a bit garbled. Kelly and I discussed it a bit and he suspects he may have sang some of the lyrics incorrectly. I've done my best to transcribe them -- let me know if you hear something different!

Thanks as ever for your support of the writing, archiving, storytelling, recording, touring, and more. Your monthly patronage gives me a level of stability I have not  known in all my 24 years as an artist. I remain grateful and at your service. xotg

--

The Bee Song (UNPUBLISHED)© 1982? David Robert Carter (BMI), administered by Tracy Grammer MusicPerformed by K. Mulholland and K. KitchenSeed, sun, all is done in this way I knowWater, air, all things rare and wonderful growBut cold as the touch of doom when two winds blow, ohFlower, fawn, all is born in this way I knowIn times of joy I do not think of the fading of the earthIn times of darkness I dream deep of the meaning and rebirthAnd though I know my life is as the grass and dies awayI feel the sun in me nowAnd in this moment do not think of the fading of the earth

Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love (hear it here)© 1997 David Robert Carter (BMI), administered by Tracy Grammer Musicsweet kate, open your gate, here i stand in the windthreadbare, snow in my hair, how i need you againfor lone stalks the hunter's moon, Ime takes her tolllove, please, mercy on me and my poor wand'rin soullove is a star that will not shine Ill the hour of your returni count the days in cups of wine and the candles i have burnedand sunrise comes only when i am faraway in dreams or when the black thunder rollsi cannot save my own sad heart nor your poor, poor wand'rin souli heard the grey wolf sing her serenade at nightbut you never held me by the light of dayi climbed the redwood tree and caught the wren in flightbut her wings were soft as morning and the morning slipped away(duet)open the gate, loveso many candlessuddenly morning slips away from meand the wax heart weeps and blistersand it's burning where he kissed herand the ghost of lost love whispers, "sweet Kate..."