Today is day 8 in the studio.
We're working on a song called "Better Not to Know" that Cindy Morgan and I wrote.
My Grandmother Grant died in the spring of 1988 when my first child was 5 months old.
We planted a field of fruit trees in her memory....little leafless sticks with promising root balls.
I lived on that farm another ten years... Had two more children there, and then life took a few unexpected turns.
When I left the farm I left behind the shade of those 75 trees that had grown into a thick canopy over our heads
They never had any fruit.
Evevtually, the farm was sold.
Then this past summer I got a phone call.
The current owner of the property had had the surviving fruit trees pruned, the farm next door had started keeping bees.
My grandmother's trees were loaded down with peaches and pears and apples.
When Cindy came to my house last fall, I had just made my first batch of pear preserves
We talked and ate and wrote this song:
We sowed our seeds
Watered with tears
Waiting for signs of growth
Took months of days
And then took years.
We took our steps
We took our falls
Somewhere along the way
We just got lost
And we lost it all.
Nothing ventured nothing gained
The risk of living is the pain
And what will be will be anyway
Oh, it's better not to know
The way it's gonna go
What will die and what will grow
It's better not to know
Those tiny stems became these trees
With dirt and storms
And sun and air to breathe
Like you and me
And some fell down
And some grew tall
And those surviving twenty winter thaws
Have the sweetest fruit of all
But innocence and planting day
Are both long gone
So much has changed
And if we got to do it all again ...
Oh it's better not to know...
Amy-
It was great to hear you sing this song last fall. It's always great to know the stories behind the songs.
I hope you are having a blast being back in the studio!
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew | January 28, 2009 at 12:03 PM
...simply beautiful...hearing your music is like getting a letter from a long-lost friend...all a twitter with anticipation of what you'll say next...your music has an amazing way of mirroring so much of what i am going through...keep growing sister...
Posted by: James | January 28, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Wow, Amy. Great story and very moving lyrics. I look forward to knowing how it will sound with music, etc.
Happy new year -- hope the weather in TN is alright with all of these storms.
Take care!
Merrie
Posted by: Merrie | January 28, 2009 at 12:59 PM
o that is so thoughtful and deep. Thank you
Posted by: Moore Family | January 28, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Amy you always have known the right things to say. Putting your thoughts w/Cindy, another of my favs, you can only get brilliancy. I don't know exactly how this song will sound, put i can honestly say it's one of the most truthful things i've ever read. I love my little life that i had, but if i had known ahead of time some of the things that would've been,i probably would have taken a different path. It's definantly better not to know.
Posted by: Angela Setzer | January 28, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Amy, wow, it is so amazing to be able to have a conversation with you. Thank you for sharing what you are up to - you are in my thoughts - I hope you are having a fab time.
As for your beautiful words and the thoughts they form - it's really encouraging to think of the tenderness that there is in surviving and stepping on.
Posted by: Zoe W | January 28, 2009 at 02:08 PM
Amy I'm really looking forward to your new music, these lyrics are beautiful. I'm also hoping you put What Angels Hear and Threaten Me with Heaven on the CD.
Posted by: Laura | January 28, 2009 at 02:44 PM
I can't WAIT to hear the new cd!!! :) Please hurry! hahaha xo...I know it'll be worth the wait. I'm 26 years old and have loved you since I was little...if you could come back to ontario again that would make my entire life...seriously lol...please and thank you :)love ya xo
Posted by: Jennifer Bowers | January 28, 2009 at 03:31 PM
Wow, I really can't wait to hear that song. I think the lyrics have so much more impact when you know the story behind it. Maybe someday I will right one of my own, because I know we all have a story to share. SB Wichita, Kansas
Posted by: Serini Betnacourt | January 28, 2009 at 03:42 PM
That's why I admire you so much. Amazing depth, incredible talent.
Posted by: Julie Fidler | January 28, 2009 at 05:05 PM
This was my favorite song of all them that you performed during the LMO anniversary tour. Just love it....the imagery gives me chills...Cant wait to hear it fully produced!!
Posted by: Kelley | January 28, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Amy,
Wow,That just pricked my heart. I had a rough week and it was like that said what I was thinking.
I am looking forward to your new CD.
Your songs bring me back to a place of honesty and truth when I have faltered.
But isn't great to know God gives us grace and mercy when we fall.
Also if anyone is looking for encouragement
check out www.authenticlifesite.com.
Paul
Posted by: Paul Martin | January 28, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Amy,
I love the lyrics to this song and look forward to hearing it on your new CD! You just write the BEST songs!!!
My Christmas present to myself and a friend was to come to Nashville to hear you and Vince sing in your holiday concert. It was {{{ wonderful }}} and we both enjoyed it so much.
Enjoy your time in the studio. God bless, Jan (Oak Ridge, TN)
Posted by: Jan | January 28, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Amy,
I love the lyrics to this song and look forward to hearing it on your new CD! You just write the BEST songs!!!
My Christmas present to myself and a friend was to come to Nashville to hear you and Vince sing in your holiday concert. It was {{{ wonderful }}} and we both enjoyed it so much.
Enjoy your time in the studio. God bless, Jan (Oak Ridge, TN)
Posted by: Jan | January 28, 2009 at 07:10 PM
Amy,
I love the lyrics to this song and look forward to hearing it on your new CD! You just write the BEST songs!!!
My Christmas present to myself and a friend was to come to Nashville to hear you and Vince sing in your holiday concert. It was {{{ wonderful }}} and we both enjoyed it so much.
Enjoy your time in the studio. God bless, Jan (Oak Ridge, TN)
Posted by: Jan | January 28, 2009 at 07:11 PM
Amy,
The lyrics are so beautiful...thank you for sharing your heart and the story that inspired this song. I can't wait to get your new record.
Catherine
Posted by: Catherine | January 28, 2009 at 08:01 PM
Amy...the words to that song are like a lace strung through the rivets that hold the last 20 years of my life together. They tug at my heart, both holding it together in strength and providing a slightly-uncomfortable tension. I'm not a famous singer, but you once again make me feel like we must have so much in common.
Jen
Posted by: Jen Norton | January 28, 2009 at 08:20 PM
And this is why I LOVE you. :) This is why you are my favorite. I love these sweet and honest songs you write about the good and the hard times of life. I love how you write about change. When I met you in Wichita you told called me a "baby" (and you're right, I'm young!), but these are the things I've loved about you since I went through PUBERTY (years and years ago!!!) and even before that (because I'm wierdly sentimental like that). You'd better never stop writing songs because I don't know what I'd do without you! Can't wait to hear it. I know Wichita was kind of a dull crowd but PLEASE come back!!!
Posted by: Christine | January 28, 2009 at 08:37 PM
Beautiful. Your story reminds me of when I was a kid and my family moved from the country to the city and filled our fairly tiny, new suburban yard with fruit trees- also apple, plum and pear I believe. I remember laying under them and day dreaming. I still love the blooming fruit tree blossoms in the spring- nothing like it!
Posted by: Rebekah | January 28, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Hi Amy,
We'll I just turned 45 in December and these past couple of years has found me just looking back at all the memories made in my life thus far. Great memories, and not so great memories. So, I like your line
"What will be, will be anyway"! Because as I've gotten older, I know that's it. So very true and freeing!!
I'm happy if God just has me on an "as need to know basis! Ha Ha!)
Did I say that right?
Anyway, great song!
By the way, part of my "great" memories has you and your music in them, so thanks for all the years of great music and continuing to stay "Real". I'm always looking for the neat things you bring to the table.
Can't wait for your new album.
Keep them coming, you still have alot of us "old fans" out there.
God bless,
Kim
Posted by: Kim Robles | January 28, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Wow! Great song! Just reading the lyrics gave me goosebumps! Lifevis something that changes on a dime and I think it is better not to know what's coming. Better for God to know so it can work out according to his plan.
Can't wait for the new record!!!
Posted by: Janice | January 29, 2009 at 07:29 AM
Beautiful.
Posted by: cindy | January 29, 2009 at 09:00 AM
What a insightful, beautiful "planting" of memories and timeless truths inspired by God's creation and timing.
..Reminds me of the tall tree talking to the seedling of "How Can We See That Far"
Posted by: Mindy | January 29, 2009 at 09:48 AM
Just beautiful, simple, yet meaningful, it is better not to know God's plan, life should be lived to the fullest know matter what, what a great way to say it, can't wait for the new CD.
Marilyn AKA Sassy
Posted by: Marilyn Soper | January 29, 2009 at 10:22 AM
The words and the story are beautiful! You and Cindy Morgan are both great songwriters. Can't wait to hear it with the music. Looking forward to the new album!
Amy
Posted by: Amy Autumn Brooker | January 29, 2009 at 11:02 AM