Hello readers,
I’m back from my self-imposed summer break. I’m also back from a vacation to the North Carolina mountains, where it is routinely about ten degrees cooler than it is here in Charlotte. When you visit Western NC in the summer, you begin to understand why George Vanderbilt took his millions of dollars to build an estate there.
Nevertheless, our dog, Finn, on his first visit to the Biltmore estate, was unimpressed and merely wanted to drink from the fountains.
The Part Where There’s a Song: Fourth of July
Given that it’s Independence Eve, I thought it was time to share this one from Ben Shive, Nashville producer for Andrew Peterson, The Civil Wars, J. J. Heller, and the Gettys. Ben is the secret sauce to so much good music, and he is happy to remain in the background. But he does have a few albums, including this one: The Ill-Tempered Klavier.
Lyrics to “4th of July”:
The first star of the evening Was singing in the sky, High above our blanket in the park, And by the twilight’s gleaming On the fourth day of July The city band played on into the dark. And then a cannon blast. A golden flame unfolding Exploded in a momentary bloom. The petals fell and scattered Like ashes on the ocean As another volley burst into the blue. But the first star of the evening never moved. We stood in silence, The young ones and the old, As the bright procession passed us by– A generation dying, Another being born, A long crescendo played out in the sky. This nation, indivisible, Will perish from the earth, As surely as the leaves must change and fall. And the band will end the anthem And to dust she will return. So the sun must set on all things, great and small. But the first star of the evening Will outlive them all.
I’ll be back with a regular issue of On the Common next Thursday. Blessings on your holiday tomorrow. May I recommend a porch swing and the Ray Charles version of “America, the Beautiful” to make your day complete?
“America, may God thy gold refine.”