In wintery fields of silver sheen, there stands a mulberry tree/Where me and my true love did lay/And he was all to me//
Late one night, one wintry night, a knockin’ at my door/His face was black and his eyes were white/I’d seen him there before //
A face in shadow turned to me/ “My darling, you must know; I am your dearest Emory/ Returned from Mexico”//
Then through the kitchen to the door, my husband standing by/”Who’s this a knockin’ at this hour?/Ain’t seen you here before//
He caught my eye then turned to him/ “I fear I am mistaken/ The one I loved and left behind/ Has since this place forsaken”//
Winter passed, then come the spring, my husband said to me/ “I’ve need of men and company/ To break the ground for me”//
“Help from the boy from Lexington, help from the miller’s son/And what of that boy Emory?/ Has he but come and gone?”//
So Emory returned to me, but to my husband owing/And late at night when all would sleep/ We’d lay so quietly//
One night, a tappin’ on the glass, the wind did toss and tear/My husband woke and then, alas/ He did not find me there//
He went into the darkened hall, in anger called to me/Then through the kitchen, to the door, out to the fields went he/Out to the fields went he//
‘Twas there he found me in the arms of this boy Emory/But quietly turned back to home/And fell back into sleep//
The next night, still as heaven come down, we stole out to the fields/And there, he watched for us to come/We fell there at his feet/Lay still there at his feet//
Then through the field, into the woods/ from there he stole to Lincoln/And there they watched for him to come/He’d not return again//
And where we lay in darkest night now stands a mulberry tree/When the light of heaven shines down on it/It burns red as can be, it burns red as can be//
credits
from Seed & Silo,
track released July 20, 2018
Lead Vocals: Rebekah Rolland
Fiddle: Ben Plotnick of Oliver the Crow
Cello: Kaitlyn Raitz of Oliver the Crow
Engineered by Matt Rolland and Petie Ronstadt (Landmark Sound Recorders)
Mixed and Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova at Bova Lab Studio
Rebekah Rolland is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter based in Tucson. Characteristic of some of the most
forceful and compelling voices in folk music, Rolland’s writing succeeds in building worlds of dust and clay, worn pages and weathered pearls, highways and high rises, the faces and hands, the trials and triumphs that make up the stories of the past and the present....more
supported by 9 fans who also own “The Mulberry Tree”
It’s wonderful music, very easy to listen to and enjoyable because of its harmonies and the great skill of the musicians. I like the special combination of cello + bass.
Their homepage: http://www.runboyrunband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runboyrunband/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/runboyrunband/videos
Video "Little Girl": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ2hRLWr-Gs
"So Sang the Whippoorwill": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ic7SkV4xeA Werner Rohlfs
This album speaks to the continuum of African diasporic culture that is central to the vibrant canon of Americana folk music. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 29, 2020
supported by 7 fans who also own “The Mulberry Tree”
I like a song that sweeps the listener away to another place. This song does that. I also like the sophistication of the music, and play of the vocals. rpswanson