When Our Blue Trees Cry

When Our Blue Trees Cry is a song I wrote to capture the poverty, customs, traditions, courage and endurance of the Appalachian people. The region called Appalachia stretches from Pennsylvania to Mississippi and encompasses many cultures—Native Americans, Irish, English, Scotch, and then a third immigration of Germans and Poles.

The word Appalachia is an old Indian word meaning "endless mountain range." A part of the Appalachian Mountains is the Blue Ridge Mountains so called because they appear blue when seen from a distance. However, it is actually trees releasing isoprene into the atmosphere that puts the “blue” in the Blue Ridge.

While creating the lyrics I decided to use a different meaning for “blue.” I opted for the definition meaning melancholic, depressed or sad. From there I imagined the “blue” trees crying because they were being cut down to become furniture, framing or firewood. I imagined that tears from the trees and clouds created the streams.

While researching Appalachian history I became aware that the land is full of contradictions and tragedy. Besides natural resource exploitation there was human exploitation. Industrialists made their fabulous wealth on the backs of the Appalachian people. Consequently, I imagined that the Appalachian people would be wary of what looks beautiful; would become very independent; would be very contented where they live; would be very close to nature; would have a deep sense of being friendly and kind to one another; would always help one another; yet would have a deep mistrust of anyone new.

These thoughts and feelings are reflected in the admonitory, contradictory nature of the text.

For my setting I used call-and-response technique, male/female close-harmony quartets, shuffle rhythms, stutter chorusing, "blues" scales and chromatic harmonies.