FAWM: "The Soft Animal"

The Soft Animal

6 days ago by @alyxanderjames

The Soft Animal

alyxanderjames

00:00

Liner Notes

And somehow, impossibly, we're at 14? What a wild month it's been so far. My goal is to see how far I can get before I go out of town at the end of next week, and if that break causes me to lose momentum, oh well!

This song started with pulling this tarot card (The High Priestess from the Yukika Tarot, here recast as The Druid) twice in the last three days:

It made me think of one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems, "Wild Geese", and also of Peter Mulvey's song "Soft Animal", inspired by the same poem. (This is actually not the first song I've written inspired by this poem, either...I wrote another to kick off FAWM in 2022.) Once I started riffing on the idea the whole song came together pretty quickly.

I got a new guitar this week (a Taylor Academy 22e) and have had it tuned in DADGAD for a cover I was working on, and it sounds so great in this tuning that I decided to leave it there and mess around for the accompaniment. I think it worked well.

#Folk #SingerSongwriter #PersonWithGuitar #MaryOliver #Poetry #AcousticOneTake #DADGAD #AlternateTuning

Lyrics

The soft animal of my body Loves cuddles on the couch Loves wrapping its arms Around those in its care

The soft animal of my body Loves petting the dog Loves those who it loves Almost too much to bear

The soft animal of my body Loves what it loves And that includes you Yeah, that includes you

The soft animal of my body Loves looking like this Loves the sound of its voice And its long, braided beard

The soft animal of my body Loves all its tattoos Loves being a person Its friends never fear

The soft animal of my body Loves what it loves And that includes me Yeah, that includes me

We just want to belong Find our place in the family of things We already belong We have a place in the family of things

The soft animal of my body Loves what it loves And that includes me And that includes you

Comments

@sunnymae 1d

this is such a beautiful piece! a perfect spirit cleanser to start my day. simple truths wrapped in DADGAD, a flowing river of sound. calming, truthful, bare bones. a tender heart speaks the truth. thank you for sharing yours...

@wynia 5d

This is cozy AF! I like the contrast between “soft” and “animal”…so often the animal is depicting a wild thing, but the softness you include here gives that lyrical animal a more approachable and open personification. Which indeed as the song goes on, I am appreciating, all of the self-reflective appreciation of the beauty of the body. The bridge chords were musically interesting to me and contrasted well with the rest of the song. Loved this, I can see why you pinned it 💚

@gordon 5d

This is like getting wrapped up in a warm blanket on a cold day. Really love the soundscape on this, not to mention the wonderful lyrics. Now sitting in Amsterdam with my cat beside me and a big smile on my face. Great stuff

@fearlessflight2014 5d

This is just so warm and fuzzy and gentle. The soft animal of my body is enjoying it very much indeed.

@pocketmoo 5d

waaah i love this so much, i'm tearing up. this is my fav you've made, I'm too blubbery to write skdjfhsdkfh

@pippa 5d

I love how the story unfolds, slowly and so graciously, with a melody to match. And I really enjoy the sentiment. Thanks for sharing this.

@bethdesombre 5d

What a great direction to take this inspiration. (and of course the soft animal loves petting the dog!). I love the melody of the B-section (chorus?) and the sentiment of it . . . and the change to "and that includes me." The guitar arrangment is perfect for this.

@skylermf 5d

I’ve always been a fan of the Soft Animal poem. I love this take on it! I love the idea of finding your place in a “family of things.” Congrats on getting to 14 already!

@coolparadisoMod 6d

that tuning can be compelling - some artists historically almost never moved a way from it! Good lyric - certainly feels like a positive self reflection piece - which is very important sometimes

@bradbrubaker 6d

Oof, that shift from "that includes you" to "that includes me" hit me. An ear worm, that line. The music and melody of the bridge were another highlight.

@skyezor 6d

The sweet tenderness here is so palpable- this feels like a guided musical meditation for moments when we need to remember the soft animal of ourselves! Life get hard- soft songs like this are like warm hugs. Thank you for this! My heart is very much soothed!!!

@nwhosings 6d

Love, love, love this image🩵 I can see very much how this song grew out of that card's image. Beautiful melody, undulating and embracing, so fitting.

@alyxanderjames 6d

I don't often associate the High Priestess with physicality (I think of the Empress as more embodied), but I really love this deck's take on the card, and I'm glad it popped back up again today to inspire this song!

@nwhosings 6d

Me either. It's neat that this deck is so different. I also like that your song contains themes I would normally associate with The Lovers card.