During his career, Texas singer-songwriter Smith has recorded in folk, country and pop settings. He has co-written songs with a British rocker, released 10 critically-acclaimed albums, created works for dance theater, done symphonic collaborations and taught music to children. Smith has made himself at home in studios in Manhattan, Nashville and London, as well as Austin. As this CDs show, his style is always shifting, yet remains true to his roots.
As melodic a collection as he has ever recorded, Field of Crows shows Smith continuing to explore rhythms, sounds and lyric themes. As it has on all of his recent Dualtone albums, his work on the nylon-string guitar adds a distinctive texture to the music. He plays more piano on this album than any of his previous collections. “I tend to write sitting at the piano, holding a guitar, and go back and forth between them.,” he says. “Over the last 10 years, the keyboard has become more involved in how I hear songs.”
Departing from the way he has recorded other albums, Smith cut Field Of Crows almost live in the studio with the band all in the same room collaborating. Co-produced with Stewart Lerman, the entire record was recorded and mixed over the course of three weeks in May 2005. Field of Crows is highlighted by contributions from drummer Sammy Merendino, multi-instrumentalist Steuart Smith, bassist Roscoe Beck, steel guitar and violinist David Mansfield, percussionist Jose Galeano and co-producer/guitarist Lerman.
“I’ve known these people a long time,” comments Darden Smith. “They are my friends, which makes them better collaborators. I feel really blessed to be able to work with people I enjoy so much, who are also musicians of such a high caliber. They make me want rise to the moment.”
The themes on Field Of Crows alternate between hope and despair, which Smith says is a reflection of our troubled times. Most of the songs came together over the past year, and were highly colored by the war in Iraq, the 2004 election, and the Tsunami in Southeast Asia.
“It always strikes me that in times like these, with all the craziness in the world, all the personal loss and tragedy, that hope holds a high value. It means something when there seems to be so little of it. These days as well, it’s obvious the world is pretty small and we’re all joined. We need each other for the place to keep working, on a personal level and for the big picture. We crave connection. It calms us and can drive us mad at the same time. The songs on ‘Field of Crows’ are about our connection with others-- finding it, holding it, losing it, and the never ending desire for more.”
The album’s philosophical underpinning is the folk-pop title tune. Like a lonely scarecrow beset by flocks of crows, we must all stand and fight, even though it seems hopeless, Smith seems to be saying. The stately, inspirational piano ballad “Fight for Love” sings of peace and brotherhood. “Golden Age” sounds jaunty, but its lyric is a dark meditation on how much pain there is in this world.
There are further musical contrasts and shadings on Field of Crows. The bluesy “Spinning Wheel” is about uplifting love. Yet the dreamy soundscape of “Wide Open” backs a lyric of heartbreak. The airy, soaring “Talk Me Down” is comforting. But the whispered, folkie “All That I Wanted” is as downbeat as anything on the record. The coolly percussive “Mary” is a single father’s conversation to his young daughter. On the other hand is the jazzy, smiling “It Takes Two.” One key track is “Satisfied.” The ballad’s lyric speaks of true love residing in everyday reality while an eloquent acoustic guitar figure weaves a lovely spell.
Smith’s wrote or co-wrote all the songs on Field of Crows. His co-writers include Gary Nicholson (“Talk Me Down”, “Mary”, and “Anyway to Treat Your Lover”), J.D. Martin (“Satisfied”) and Phil Roy (“Fight For Love.”)
All in all, Field of Crows is a fine illustration of why a critic once dubbed Darden Smith, “a Texas Van Morrison.”
That Field of Crows is another musical exploration will surprise few who have followed this restlessly creative spirit’s career. Born in 1962, Darden Smith was raised in rural Brenham, Texas. He says that Leon Russell’s Carney LP of 1972 was one of his earliest musical influences. When he was in the fifth grade, Smith’s guitar teacher taught him the songs on Neil Young’s Harvest and After the Gold Rush albums. She explained to the boy that Young was the composer of his songs.
“That was the first time it clicked to me that every song is written by somebody,” Smith recalls. “I was already writing poetry at the time. She said, ‘All it is, is just poems and melody.’ That’s all I needed to hear.”
When he was in junior high, his family moved to suburban Houston. Culture shocked and out-of-place, the former farm boy sat in his room and wrote songs constantly from that point onward. Smith studied the structures of the songs of writers such as Guy Clark and Townes Van Zant and John Prine. He had his head spun around by Bob Dylan, The Allman Brothers and Jackson Browne. He began playing in clubs while still in high school. By the time he graduated from the University of Texas in Austin, Darden Smith was a fully realized talent and a regular on stages in the city’s thriving nightclub scene.
The folk-flavored Native Soil appeared as his debut album in 1986. Fellow newcomers Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith provided harmony vocals. Signed by Epic Records, he issued Darden Smith in 1988. Produced by Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson, the collection spawned “Little Maggie” and “Day After Tomorrow” as country-chart singles.
At this point came the first of Smith’s shifts in direction. A song publisher teamed him up with Boo Hewerdine of the British band The Bible. The songwriters couldn’t have had more different backgrounds, but their collaborations resulted in the 1989 duet album Evidence.
“I pride myself in being a Texas singer-songwriter. It’s who I am, and I will never get away from that. But that world was all I knew until I met Boo Hewerdine. I’d never created music outside of my little niche. But I was listening to things like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and The Pretenders. And the experience with Boo showed me that I could write music from a broader place than I had ever done before.”
Following the critical acclaim of ‘Evidence’, the record company moved him over to its pop division, and onto Columbia Records, for 1990’s Trouble No More and 1993’s Little Victories, the latter of which produced the hit pop single, “Loving Arms.” In keeping with the crazy logic of the record business, the label released him from his contract after this, his most successful album to date.
The next several years were hard ones in Smith’s personal and professional life. Compounding the professional setback was the ending of his marriage.
Out of that dark time came a sterling collection of folk-tinged pop called Deep Fantastic Blue in 1996. It was followed by Extra Extra in 2000. But by then, Darden Smith was disheartened, discouraged and contemplating getting out of the music business.
“It was a tough time,” he recalls. “Then, in late 2000, I was having dinner with friends in New York. Sammy (Merendino) and Stewart (Lerman) suggested we should do one album more before I quit, but that we should do it only to have fun.” At the time I didn’t have a label, a manager or an agent. I started writing and recording purely out of the love of making music, and through that experience, fell back in love with the whole process.”
Smith signed with Dualtone Records and turned in the brilliant and acclaimed Sunflower in 2002. Its songs “Perfect Moment” and “After All This Time” climbed the charts in the UK, with “After All This Time” reaching ..3 on the BBC2. Stateside, he was embraced by the emerging Americana format. Darden Smith now views that record as another watershed, personally and stylistically.
“Music should come from the heart,” he says. “I had lost touch with that notion. Sunflower brought it back.”
Sunflower included guest vocals by Patti Griffin and Kim Richey. Both Shawn Colvin and Richey contributed vocals to Circo, his moody, adventurous 2004 release. Field of Crows features guest vocalist Eliza Gylkison as well as the invaluable contributions of Steuart Smith, Merendino, Beck, Mansfield, Galeano and Lerman.
“I still like to explore musically,” Darden Smith comments about his musical diversity. “Some people do their exploring with different styles before they ever start putting out records. I kind of did mine as I was making the records.”
Records are just part of his musical wanderings. Beginning in 1989, Smith began composing music for experimental dance-theater works. Three full evening works followed, and in 1999 he was commissioned to create an orchestral work with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The result was Grand Motion in 2000. He is currently working on a new theater piece. A radio documentary on Texas songwriters that he is creating for the BBC2, “Songs From The Big Sky”, will air March 2006. His ongoing “Be an Artist” program puts him in workshops, helping children see that they are all born artists and that creativity is inside all of us.
About his extraordinary career, Darden Smith says, “I don’t worry about a lot of the stuff I used to worry about. This is my 10th record and my 20th anniversary in this business, and I realize how fortunate I am to be able to make a living being a musician, doing what I love to do. Why fight it? This is who I am, so I’m just going to groove along and enjoy the ride. I feel great, better than ever. So here we go.”
Perfect Moment
Darden Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the flowers cover the land
They've been waiting patiently
For the right raindrop to set them free
Well ain't it just like love
I thought there was none
That was when I found one
You called to me and I turned around
In a perfect moment when the stars aligned
You couldn't have come at a better time
And every day of my life had led me to
That perfect moment with you
Lucky that we did not meet
Ten years back on the street
So many pages yet to turn
So many dreams still to burn
Oh but I don't cry for the wasted years
Or the twisted roads that got me here
I have been to the end of the earth
And I know what standing still is worth
In a perfect moment when the stars aligned
Love don't travel in straight lines
And every day of my life had led me to
That perfect moment with you
Well the wheel of fortune is going round and round
I never thought I would come up when I was down
But a perfect moment when the stars aligned
When you put your hand in mine
And every day of my life has led me to
That perfect moment
Every day of my life has led me to
This perfect moment with you
In the first verse of Darden Smith's song Perfect Moment, the beauty of life and its unpredictability is portrayed. The rain falling on the desert sand and the flowers covering the land are a testament to how nature can wait patiently for something good to happen. This is further likened to the concept of love in the second verse where the singer talks about how they thought there was no love left until they found it in a perfect moment on a dark night in a southern town. The moment when they both saw each other was perfectly timed and set their love free. The song then goes on to talk about how lucky they are to have met at the right time and not earlier when they were not ready for each other yet. The lyrics encourage the listener to embrace the twists and turns of life because every day can lead to a perfect moment.
One interesting fact about the song is that it was released in 1993 as a single from Darden Smith's album Little Victories. The song received critical acclaim and was even used as the theme song for the movie The Thing Called Love. The song has also been covered by other artists, including Kevin Welch and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
Another interesting fact is that Darden Smith wrote the song with his friend Boo Hewerdine, who is a British singer-songwriter. The two met in the early '90s while touring together in Europe and collaborated on several songs. In an interview, Darden Smith revealed that they came up with the chorus of the song first and then worked on the verses.
The song has also been described as a mix of country, folk, and rock genres. It features a slow tempo, with acoustic guitar and a harmonica.
Additionally, in 2011, Darden Smith wrote a book inspired by the song called The Perfect Moment: A Novel. The book follows the story of a musician who finds love and inspiration for his music in Austin, Texas.
Furthermore, Darden Smith is also known for his philanthropic work, and he founded the SongwritingWith: Soldiers program that helps veterans and their families to express their experiences and emotions through songwriting.
Here are the chords for Perfect Moment by Darden Smith:
Verse: G, C, G, C, G, D
Chorus: G, D, C, G, D
Overall, Perfect Moment is a beautiful and heartfelt song that celebrates the joys and unpredictability of life and love. The song's themes have resonated with listeners for decades, and its enduring popularity is a testament to its timeless nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Rain falls down on the desert sand
The desert sand is being watered by the rain which helps the flowers to grow.
And the flowers cover the land
The flowers have grown beautifully and handled the tough times patiently.
They've been waiting patiently
The flowers have been waiting for the perfect raindrop to set them free from their seeds.
For the right raindrop to set them free
The flowers waited for the rain that would help them grow after they were freed from their seeds.
Well ain't it just like love
Love is like waiting for the perfect time for it to appear and grow.
I thought there was none
The singer didn't think he would ever find love.
That was when I found one
The singer eventually found love.
On a dark night in a southern town
The love was found in a southern town during a dark night.
You called to me and I turned around
The artist heard their love calling out to them and they turned around to find them.
In a perfect moment when the stars aligned
The moment of meeting their love felt perfect and serendipitous, as if it was meant to be.
You couldn't have come at a better time
The timing of their love's arrival was perfect and could not have been better.
And every day of my life had led me to
The artist saw their life events as leading up to the moment they found love.
That perfect moment with you
The moment of finding love was perfect because the singer found the person they were meant to be with.
Lucky that we did not meet
It was lucky that the singer and their love did not meet ten years prior.
Ten years back on the street
The singer and their love could have met ten years ago on the street if circumstances were different.
So many pages yet to turn
There are many experiences and events left to be had in life.
So many dreams still to burn
There are still many dreams that the artist has yet to pursue or fulfill.
Oh but I don't cry for the wasted years
The singer doesn't regret the time they spent before finding love.
Or the twisted roads that got me here
The singer doesn't regret the difficult and winding paths that led them to where they are now.
I have been to the end of the earth
The artist has experienced a lot in their life and been to many places.
And I know what standing still is worth
The artist values staying in motion and not staying stagnant.
Love don't travel in straight lines
Love doesn't follow a predictable or straight path; it can be unexpected.
Well the wheel of fortune is going round and round
Life's fortunes can be unpredictable and ever-changing.
I never thought I would come up when I was down
The artist never thought they would catch a break or find love when they were going through a tough time.
When you put your hand in mine
The physical intimacy of holding hands with their love was a powerful and comforting experience for the singer.
And every day of my life has led me to
The events of the singer's life built up to the moment of being with their love.
That perfect moment
The moment of being with their love felt perfect and momentous to the singer.
Every day of my life has led me to
The artist sees their life experiences as leading up to the moment they found love.
This perfect moment with you
The moment of being with their love felt perfect and like a culmination of their life experiences for the artist.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DARDEN SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind