Biography:
Elizabeth Eaton Converse was born in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1924, the middle child of three siblings. She was bookish, the valedictorian her class at Concord High School, and described by most who knew her to be a polymath. She attended Mt. Holyoke College on an academic scholarship beginning in 1942, studied French, and wrote for several campus publications. By 1944 she decided to leave college, at which point the records of her whereabouts are sparse until about 1949, when she made her way to New York City.
There were two major developments during Elizabeth’s time in New York. The first was her procurement of her nickname “Connie.” It is unclear how or why or when exactly, but the name stuck. The second was Connie’s burgeoning interest in playing and writing music, first for guitar and later for piano. No doubt this stemmed from her love of poetry, as many of her earliest songs were poems that she had written and then set to music. The songs became instant hits with her family, and also attracted the attention of animator and amateur recordist Gene Deitch. Beginning around 1954, Connie would make visits to Deitch’s home in Hastings-on-Hudson to record almost 40 songs.
At first listen, Connie’s music seems to keep close company with the female folk artists who were her contemporaries. The knack for plaintive storytelling shares much with Peggy Seeger and Susan Reed. Reed knew Connie’s music well, and performed a set of her songs in 1961 at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York. But Connie’s music stands out from that of the American folk revival of the 1950’s. Her fluid and disarmingly intelligent poetry reflects an urban perspective, that of a new New Yorker becoming disenchanted by the bucolic tropes of folk music. She is at once a maverick and a romantic, intellectual and spiritual, a staunch independent and a tender, pining lover.
Over the years Deitch, along with his colleague Bill Bernal, worked to promote Connie’s music, but despite their efforts, the songs remained unheard to all but a few dozen of Connie’s acquaintances. In 1961 Connie tired of New York and left for Ann Arbor, where her brother was a professor at the University of Michigan.
Having dropped out of college seventeen years prior, it came as something of a surprise that, within months of her arrival in Ann Arbor, Connie had implanted herself firmly in the academic community of U-Mich. She began as a secretary at the Center for Research on Conflict Resolution, eventually working her way to Managing Editor and Co-Editor of CRCR’s Journal of Conflict Resolution.
Connie’s work in Ann Arbor left little time for music and, while she still happily played at family gatherings, there is little evidence that she wrote new material. She did, however, continue her attempts to promote her music already extant. Susan Reed, the folk harpist, took an interest in Connie’s work and performed a set of her songs in New York. There were a handful of scores for commercials and some work on a short film. But never the kind of widespread success she had hoped for her music.
Connie became increasingly despondent in the 1970’s, a period she described as her Blue Funk, although her family and friends say they could not detect any outward change in her character. In 1971, she requested an extended leave of absence from CRCR, citing what she saw as her poor performance at work and unspecified medical problems. Her employer responded by organizing a group of Connie’s friends and colleagues to contribute to a pool of money that would allow her to take a six-month sabbatical in England, which she would later describe as one of the only times in her life that she allowed herself to enjoy “unproductive fun.”
In August of 1974, after waiting for the resignation of Richard Nixon, Connie wrote a series of farewell letters to friends and family. She packed up her Volkswagen and disappeared, her whereabouts unknown to this day.
Film maker Andrea Kannes is currently working on a documentary about Connie. More info here: http://connieconversedoc.com/
There Is a Vine
Connie Converse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Growing on my garden wall
And it is brown
And withered in the fall
And in the Spring
Its leaves are green and blossoms all aflame
But Spring or Fall
Still I love you just the same
There is a gate
Halfway down my garden wall
And in the night
I lock it bolts and all
And in the day it's open wide
To all who will come through
But day or night
It is never locked for you
There is a tree
Growing by my garden gate
And year by year
It seems to stand and wait
And here am I beneath the tree
For I am waiting too
And oh my love
I will always wait for you
The lyrics of Connie Converse's song "There Is a Vine" convey a message of unrequited love, sacrifice, and devotion. The song's verses explore the theme of consistency in transition and change, demonstrated through the seasonal growth and decay of the vine in the garden, which still holds value to the singer despite its impermanence. The fence and gate symbolize protection and barriers to the outside world, but the singer leaves them plainly open to the object of her affection. The tree-growing symbolizes patient waiting for love ever so faithfully.
The song is reminiscent of the style of 1940s and 50s traditional American folk music with its simplicity and theme-driven lyrics. The melancholic song was recorded in the late 1940s in the artist's small New York apartment, which remained undiscovered for decades after her disappearance in 1974. Although her music did not receive recognition until later, many have praised her songwriting as insightful and ahead of her era.
Line by Line Meaning
There is a vine
I have a vine in my garden, and it represents my love.
Growing on my garden wall
The vine is growing along my garden wall, symbolizing how my love is steady and unchanging.
And it is brown
In the fall, the vine turns brown, signifying how my love may wither at times.
And withered in the fall
During fall, my love may not be as strong and vibrant as it usually is.
And in the Spring
However, in the spring, the vine blooms again, showing how my love can be renewed.
Its leaves are green and blossoms all aflame
During the spring, the vine is bright and full of life, and my love is just as passionate and full of energy.
But Spring or Fall
No matter the season, my love for you remains constant.
Still I love you just the same
Regardless of what happens, I will always love you with the same intensity.
There is a gate
There is a gate in my garden, and it represents the barriers that exist between us.
Halfway down my garden wall
The gate is situated halfway on my garden wall, underscoring how close we are to each other yet still separated.
And in the night
During the night, I lock the gate, indicating how difficult it is for us to be together.
I lock it bolts and all
In order to keep our love safe, I take all necessary precautions and measures.
And in the day it's open wide
During the day, the gate is open, implying that there are possibilities for us to reunite and be together.
To all who will come through
As long as people come in and out of our lives, the possibility of us being together is still present.
But day or night
Regardless of the time, my love for you never fades.
It is never locked for you
I will always make sure that there is a way for you to enter into my life and into my heart.
There is a tree
I have a tree in my garden, and it is a symbol of my endurance and loyalty.
Growing by my garden gate
The tree grows nearby my gate, suggesting how my love for you grows stronger every day.
And year by year
As the years go by, my devotion to you becomes deeper and more profound.
It seems to stand and wait
The tree seems to wait patiently for your return, as I do.
And here am I beneath the tree
I am standing under the tree, just waiting for you to come back to me.
For I am waiting too
I am also waiting for my dreams to come true and for us to be reunited again.
And oh my love
My love for you is endless and all-consuming.
I will always wait for you
No matter how long it takes, I will always be waiting for you with open arms and an open heart.
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, HEROIC CITIES LLC
Written by: Elizabeth Converse
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind