cold for september

French Quarter – Build Fires

Nothing much here — it’s too simple. The nineteen year old who wrote this song and who is singing it reminds me of Jim Guthrie through and through. They sound almost the same, and I’m okay with it. We could all use another Jim Guthrie.

And while Stephen Steinbrink — the youngling behind French Quarter — is a sprout or a bud or a seed maybe, his song is a song for cornstalks at harvest time. It’s a celebration even though the season was terrible — and we’re going to survive the winter but it’s going to be harder than last year. But let’s forget about that. It’s harvest time. Let’s drink wine and spill it on our shirts and make the here and now a happy here and now. Bring your sister into the barn and let her jump from the rafters. Let’s transform the tractor from a tool into a toy. Let’s move the dinner table outside and clothe it in the best linens, and let’s be closer to the smells of September. Let’s forget what the neighbours think about fences. Let’s sing John Denver to our marshmallow ashes. Let’s build a fire to warm our feet.

(Photo by cycoze on deviantART)