Every Moment Has A Song

Over the Rhine: “My Father’s Body” (2014)

Blood Oranges in the Snow was the third holiday-themed release from prolific Ohio-based indie folk group Over the Rhine.

As so-called “Christmas music” goes, their homespun, thoughtful Americana–touching as it does only lightly at times on holiday themes–is as far from the Mariah Carey scene as one can get.

Refreshingly honest. Devastatingly real.

My father’s body lies beneath the snow
High on a hill in Holmes County, Ohio
From there you can look out across the fields
A farmer guides his horses home as day to darkness bends
And finally yields

Dad’s gravestone holds the words Be Still My Soul
A song we sang together long ago
And there were times we even shared one hymnbook
His right hand and my left hand side-by-side holding pages
Of music

But now his hands hold nothing but the earth
Hands that held me moments after my birth
And so we must all finally surrender
As we release our grip upon whatever we hold dear
And call familiar

My father’s body lies beneath the snow
And I’m still learning how to let him go
I’ve come to know him better since he’s gone
And often wondered if or how I could’ve been a different
Better son

My father’s body lies beneath the snow
Sometimes on Christmas Eve that’s where I go
I hear faint Christmas bells from far away
Ring out all the unspoken words I’ve never found within myself
To say

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2016/12/09/songs-you-may-have-missed-604/