FAWM: "The Ghost of Crystal Springs"

The Ghost of Crystal Springs

Liner Notes

Going away over the weekend (again) and finished this in a hurry. Perhaps I would have needed more time with the lyrics, noting that "my body stiff like a bone" sounds a bit strange, given that bones are indeed part of the body. Anyway, recorded quickly, first takes except an abandoned mandolin take where I dropped the pick. Vocals and guitar simultaneously into one mic, as usual. Anyone who can tell the real identity of the ghost? #folk #acoustic #mandolin #harmonica #ghost

Lyrics

Outside the window The pines are dark and still Somebody's singing Somewhere down below the hill

My mind is racing My body stiff like a bone I'm drifting away Into a world unknown

The candles flicker There's a stranger in my room Small guitar in his lap Pale like risen from the tomb

Long boney fingers Move across the strings Must be the fingers Of the ghost of crystal springs

They say he went to the crossroads Made a deal with a man in black And played the guitar like the devil himself Once that he was back

The seventh of thirteen children The son of a white man's slave Soothing his soul with canned heat Heading for an early grave

Long boney fingers Move across the strings Must be the fingers Of the ghost of crystal springs

Comments

@rocketgrrrl 2d

I'm so glad I happened across this! Mandolin, harmonica, and ghost stories? With vocals like you sing? Such a great combo. Pines and dark hills make for great ominous moods. Are we talking about Tommy Johnson? I had a lot of fun doing research on him. I love the imagery of the fingers across the strings.

@oldlostjohn 2d

Congratulations, pre-war blues legend Tommy Johnson is indeed the correct answer!

@nancycunning 4d

Your playing on all three instruments feel so comforting. Combined with the repetition in the verses, this lands as a meditation about the way that playing music alone can be a place to abide. The ghost for me is the singer himself. Finding comfort in making music after so much and many are gone from the world.

@odilongreen 5d

I really like the old-timey, dark, and deeply rustic folk feel of the music, and your vocals have the perfect gritty, almost kind of bluesy feel for the lyrics. There's a powerful aura of mystery and disquiet... very effectiove!

@coolparadisoMod 5d

if you interested i would use post or even corpse! the lyric is very good and worth doing something with! Has that old euro folk story feel! maybe that's the mando great story well delivered +1 harmonica

@richardmasters 5d

Captivating and beautiful - there's a tenderness to the tale, rather than anything creepy - all too often ghosts get the tarred with the same brush. You build worlds, and it makes me want to know more!