Wandering Wednesday
What happens when you've never experienced the harsher side of life?
There are songs about innocence. And others about suffering. Every once in a while, there is a song that asks what happens when someone has been protected from both.
From Brinker James' debut album, Wooden Shield, comes “Under the Leaves,” a song about innocence, shelter, and the painful realization that the world is not always as kind as the one we know.
The song begins with a child who has never experienced a bitter winter, an icy road, or an unforgiving summer. His world has been gentle. He climbs trees, plays among the leaves, and believes there is no reason for anything to change.
“His world is kind,
Why should he stop?”
That line captures the heart of the song. There is nothing wrong with the child's happiness. The question is what happens when that sheltered world can no longer protect him from everything beyond it.
The original poem that became “Under the Leaves” explores this contrast even more directly. The boy beneath the leaves cannot hear the screaming world around him. While people outside experience pain, hardship, and loss, he remains protected by the leaves above him. Eventually, the song turns that image upside down.
“There’s a world outside
That screams so loud
Death and sadness
All around
A pile of leaves
Upon the ground
The boy inside them
Hears no sound”
Suddenly, the leaves are more than part of an autumn scene. They become a kind of shelter. They represent innocence itself, protecting the child from a world he does not yet understand.
That is what makes “Under the Leaves” particularly interesting to me as a piece of songwriting. It does not simply tell us that the world can be cruel. Instead, it lets us experience that realization through the perspective of someone who has never known anything else.
When I created the cover artwork for Wooden Shield, I spent a great deal of time thinking about the relationship between nature, innocence, change, and the experiences that shape us. The forest became a place where beauty and difficulty could exist together. “Under the Leaves” feels like another part of that same world.
If you've been looking for thoughtful indie folk that goes beyond simple stories and explores innocence, experience, suffering, and the complicated ways we come to understand the world around us, I hope you'll spend a few minutes with Brinker James.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1KKilptxV6SgKDI0cGea29
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/under-the-leaves/6795075056
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/tracks/B0HBQJ3BWV Deezer: https://link.deezer.com/s/34yvG17aRuOnIA4xYuNDc Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/artist/brinker-james/wooden-shield/under-the-leaves/TRtqJqPhfq9vzdP
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brinkerjamesmusic
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