Swan Song

by The Small Kingdoms

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$0.99 USD or more

about

I wrote this song in reflection of the painful hours in late December 2021 following the email from my closest friend and music collaborator of nine years telling me that she was ending everything: our friendship, our music, our collaboration. I was staying on a remote farm in the Skagit Valley during a rare snowfall in Western Washington when I received the message. This special place has the largest concentration of wintering Trumpeter Swans in North America, numbering well over 25,000 in the Pacific Coast population, most of which winter here and southern British Columbia. There are literally thousands upon thousands of Trumpeter Swans as well as thousands of Tundra Swans, Snow Geese and Canada Geese between November and March. When I ventured out into the cold, snowy night, I heard them calling, which was both haunting and magical.

lyrics

On a cold eve
The snow was falling down
I read the words you wrote
I was all alone

And the wind rose up
Outside the darkened room
Beckoning me
I didn't know what to do

So I put on my coat
I went into the night
And I started to walk
With tears in my eyes

And I heard you call
From the darkness, surrounding me
And I saw your wings
White, against the fallen,
Against the fallen snow

I walked for hours,
A bottle in my hand
I lost my way
And I could barely stand

But I heard your voice
Piercing the storm
Guiding me home
the embrace of the warmth

I heard your call
From the darkness
Surrounding me
And I saw your wings
White, against the fallen snow
And I heard your call
From the darkness
Surrounding me
And I saw your wings
White, against the fallen
Against the fallen
Against the fallen
Snow

credits

released February 23, 2024
Musicians: Dave Bush and Lori Goldston (drums, cello). Engineering by Floyd Reitsma of Studio Litho and mixing/mastering by Don Gunn. Cover art by Ayhan Yavuz. Graphic design by Lisa Guyaz of Plume Graphic Design.

license

about

The Small Kingdoms Seattle, Washington

Inspired by artists such as Agnes Obel, Tori Amos and Gregory Alan Isaakov, The Small Kingdoms is genre-defying music which emanates a lush elegance and rich depth superimposed with powerful lyrics, radiant harmonies, and stirring melodies.

contact / help

Contact The Small Kingdoms

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like The Small Kingdoms, you may also like:

Some Day
by Dt/IG

The instrumental ensemble Dt/IG straddles the line between folk and classical, stirring acoustics augmented by sumptuous arrangements. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 29, 2023
go to album
String Of Pearls
by Annabelle Chvostek

Buoyant songs that summon the spirit of New Orleans, with beautifully bleary brass, light up the latest from Annabelle Chvostek Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 27, 2021
go to album
No Branches Without Trees
by Steven van Betten & Andrew Rowan

Tender acoustic songs built on folk & guitar intermingle with field recordings from the small town of Blue Diamond, Nevada. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 20, 2021
go to album
So Romantic
by Allie Crow Buckley

L.A.’s Allie Crow Buckley comes to Bandcamp, with moody songs that combine R&B with Laurel Canyon in the ’70s. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 6, 2020
go to album
Immanent Fire
by Emily Jane White

The Oakland singer's latest album imagines the power struggle between man and nature as a slow, steady tempest of dark folk. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 20, 2019
go to album
Fair Maiden
by Fair Maiden

featured on Bandcamp Radio Dec 16, 2014
go to album
Requiem for a Planet
by Beams

The Toronto-based sextet make moody, cinematic sounding music that blends psych-folk and post-rock. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 27, 2024
go to album