The Farallons

by Steve Snelling

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about

The Farallon Islands lie 30 miles off the California coast near San Francisco. Designated an official National Wildlife Refuge, on a clear day you can just see the rocks jutting up from the sea. It's a bit mysterious and something like a Galapagos of the Bay. I've often thought, in those darker moments hiking the cliffs near my home, "Maybe I'll just swim to the Farallons..." This song is a salve against such nihilism, and a pledge to nurture and honor the wounded part in our psyche that longs for healing.

lyrics

Standing in the rain out in the parking lot
I feel like I'm a million miles from you
Afraid I'll never get there
After all the miles I dragged you through

Maybe there's forgiveness in this ritual
Writing in the grey and drizzling morn'
Remembering that moment when
I met the dark that always seems to come with dawn

Beware the darkness in the morning
It snarls at love and hope to "just move on"
To make believe the sun was never shining
That' the demon's hippest con

I thought I might just swim out to the Farallons
Out beyond the surf so far from shore
You begged me not to go there
So it remains a place I've never been before

I pray for creatures stranded by the rising tide
I pray for all these seals washed on the shore
Maybe they were swimming from the Farallons
When called by cold steel cargo ships
To take their final bow and swim no more

I promised I'd not go beyond the shallows
Nor blithely follow crows into the clouds
I weave these melodies to free us
Not to be our burial shrouds

Maybe there's forgiveness in this ritual
Writing in the grey and drizzling morn'
To find sweet incantations for this wounded child
And walk you through the dark that always comes with dawn.

I'll hold you in the darkness of morning.

credits

released February 1, 2021
Steve Snelling - piano, vocal
Tod Dickow - soprano saxophone

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Steve Snelling San Francisco, California

Starting piano at age 3, as a lifelong musician Steve has been nourished by jazz, pop and folk, gospel, country and rock. His new single "The Farallons" reflects a love of melody and lyric honesty influenced by the music of Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and Michael Franks. ... more

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