The folk delight that is Lavender Diamond originally came to life in Bird Songs of the Bauharoque, a punk operetta inspired by the work of American painter/architect Paul Laffoley. Vocalist Becky Stark wrote and created the piece with a friend while living in Providence, RI, and starred as Lavender herself, a winsome part bird/part human who wants peace on earth. The indie stage show was such a hit at home that Stark and company went on to tour 56 cities across North America in 2003. Her debut solo effort, the self-produced Artefacts of the Winged album, was made available during this tour, and as Stark continued writing songs, she felt they deserved to be taken more seriously. A move to Los Angeles in 2004 provided Stark with the creative arena she had been searching for; befriending guitarist Jeff Rosenberg (Pink & Brown, Tarentel, the Young People) and forming a country-pop act with him, things started to take shape for Stark. When she wasn't keeping busy with Rosenberg, she was playing classical arias and Tin Pan Alley originals with classical pianist Steve Gregoropoulos (W.A.C.O.), and making psychedelic doo wop material with drummer Ron Rege, Jr., formerly of the Swirlies.
At the end of the day, Stark opted to collect such sounds as one, and gathered her contemporaries for Lavender Diamond in 2004. Matching the airy lightness of Linda Ronstadt and Carole King with Bacharach-like arrangements, Lavender Diamond issued The Cavalry of Light EP in 2005; a second release, a split 7" with Queens of Sheeba for Cold Sweat, also appeared that year. A buzz around the blogosphere and indie mag elite began to take shape by early 2006, and performances at ArthurFest, South by Southwest, and the CMJ New Music Seminar only added fuel to the record label frenzy. In November 2006, while touring with the Decemberists, Lavender Diamond signed to Rough Trade in Europe and Matador in the U.S. The Cavalry of Light was slated for reissue in late January 2007.
Lavender Diamond
Official Biography
www.lavenderdiamond.com | www.myspace.com/lavenderdiamond
Growing up in a rickety house in rural Maryland between an abandoned cement factory and a power plant, Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark first experienced music at church. Indeed, her mother was devout enough to have even studied to be a minister but, according to Becky “she got kicked out of ministerial school for being too wild and being into rock and roll and wearing miniskirts”.
For the Starks, music was its own religion. “My mum had a lot of old ‘45s and on Sunday mornings instead of going to church we would all sit round and she’d make us learn all the lyrics to the songs. Our Sunday morning ritual was all about music.”
But, despite singing as part of a state department-sponsored children’s choir – who once supported Motley Crue on the bill at the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival - it wasn’t until she discovered the nearby Washington DC punk community as a teenager that Becky realised that she could make music for herself.
“I was friends with Gabe Andruzzi, who’s now in The Rapture” she remembers “and he was really into punk rock. He took me to see Fugazi and it was really mindblowing - discovering that this music existed and feeling the energy of it and the political meaning and realising how music could serve a community.”
The only problem was that Becky was living a kind of double life. In the evenings she’d go and see local DIY punk bands play in community centres and church halls. But in the daytime she performed in musical theatre and appeared on TV in order to help her mother pay the rent. “I was on this really geeky kid’s TV show and I was really getting into theatre which wasn’t considered cool.”
Feeling inspired by the DC punk scene but also distanced from it because of her other interests, Becky moved to Rhode Island to study semiotics and Russian literature at Brown University. There she started hanging out at Fort Thunder, a communal space that hosted shows from the city’s burgeoning noise scene, including the legendary Lightning Bolt.
“There was just such a utopian anarchic feeling at Fort Thunder” says Becky. “There was no sense that anybody could not make their own sound. No such thing as good or bad – everybody was just making crazy noises. And that’s when I started writing music. I used to write these crazy musicals, do collaborations with artists, do these wild art projects. It was total energy.”
After a brief period of study at New York’s Merce Cunningham Dance conservatory, Becky returned to Rhode Island to set up her own theatre company, the Bird Family Baby Bird.
“I started making plays and writing operettas” she laughs. “We had plays and crazy costumes and I would sing opera and we would have marionettes and elaborate painted sets. That’s when I invented the character of Lavender Diamond.”
According to Becky, Lavender Diamond was a bird who was an emissary from the bird world - half bird, half human. The character would explain to the audience that she was there to help them understand the natural world, bringing joy and peace at the same time.
“After that there evolved a mythology of who Lavender Diamond actually was” she explains. “Lavender Diamond became an embodiment of the sound of love, the sound of joy and healing.”
Galvanised by Fort Thunder’s spirit of self-enablement and inspired by her mum’s Linda Ronstadt records, Becky enrolled on a songwriting course, moved to LA and produced a solo album called ‘Artifacts Of The Winged’. It was in LA that she hooked up with Jeff Rosenberg, a friend from Rhode Island. Enlisting Ron Rege, noted illustrator and author of the classic graphic novel ‘Skibber Bee-Bye’ and classical composer Steve Gregoropoulos, Becky decided to use Lavender Diamond as the name of a new band. By now you’ll already have a copy of their first release, ‘The Cavalry Of Light’ EP, which is also one of the year’s best – four pristine pocket symphonies that combine the best of
the early ‘70s Brit-folk boom with gorgeous arrangements and a sense of heartbroken wonder.
If that’s not enough, the band are currently finishing their debut full-length at Stag Street studio in Los Angeles, although, typically it doesn’t sound like they’re sticking to accepted modes of record-making. “When we’re in the studio I do magic spells” laughs Becky. “They’re spells to bring our love of our music into the world and in turn bring happiness and joy into the world. We like to imagine the sound of the music covering the world with love. Lavender Diamond is about believing in the practical power of love.”
Garden Rose
Lavender Diamond Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll never drink the ocean but the ocean might drink me
And I'll never raise a portrait to a gentle man in blue
And I'll never sing a love song for a love that isn't true
I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose
And I'll never be for countries though I one day might be mean
And I'll never be the master of a fortune with a name
And I'll never know the difference though I might just know the same
I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose
So I started to remember how to live in present time
But I wanted to remember how it was when you were mine
And I'll never know the reason or the season or the time
Why we couldn't live together without a daily crime
I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose
I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose
The lyrics of Lavender Diamond's song "Garden Rose" are introspective and philosophical, exploring the singer's relationship to the world around them and to their own sense of self. The singer acknowledges their limitations and potential vulnerabilities, recognizing that while they may never be able to stop a bullet or drink the ocean, they can still appreciate the beauty of the natural world through the image of the garden rose.
The song's central refrain--"I love how the garden grows / And I love the garden rose"--is repeated throughout the verses, grounding the lyrics in a sense of appreciation for the simple beauty of nature. At the same time, however, the singer is grappling with more abstract and difficult concepts, such as their own sense of agency and the complexities of interpersonal relationships. While they may never be "the master of a fortune with a name," the singer still yearns for a sense of control and understanding, particularly in relation to a past love whose absence still haunts them.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll never stop a bullet but a bullet might stop me
I may not be able to prevent harm from coming my way, I am vulnerable to danger
I'll never drink the ocean but the ocean might drink me
I may not be able to overcome overwhelming odds, I am susceptible to being lost
And I'll never raise a portrait to a gentle man in blue
I will not honor authority figures who do not deserve it
And I'll never sing a love song for a love that isn't true
I will not pretend to feel love or dedicate myself to someone who does not return it
I love how the garden grows
I appreciate and find joy in the process of growth and beauty that nature provides
And I'll never sweep the alley though the alley might be clean
I will not involve myself in matters that may be pointless or irrelevant to me
And I'll never be for countries though I one day might be mean
I may not align myself with political entities because of their often divisive and contentious nature
And I'll never be the master of a fortune with a name
I will not use my success and wealth to fulfill my ego or display superiority over others
And I'll never know the difference though I might just know the same
I may not fully understand the distinctions between things or concepts, but I can still recognize similarities or commonalities
So I started to remember how to live in present time
I am actively trying to focus on enjoying and experiencing the present moment
But I wanted to remember how it was when you were mine
I still hold onto memories and longing for a past relationship
And I'll never know the reason or the season or the time
I may not understand the factors that led to a situation or event, or when it will occur
Why we couldn't live together without a daily crime
I struggle to comprehend why two people who were once in love could not coexist without conflict or hurt
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JEFF ROSENBERG, REBECCA STARK, RONALD REGE, STEVE GREGOROPOULOUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Who's a good Dogue
Is it possible to fall in love just by listening to someones voice? Yes. Yes it is. The melody starts, and I'm already hooked. Is this from the 1950s?...No!, and I have to remind myself it's a modern, original song. Then the girls voice comes in with a soft flowing lilt that rises and falls like a feather being chased by a breeze. Oh. My. Gawd...This is wonderful. I've replayed it about 10 times over, and the effect it has on me is still the same.
Virginia Mora
just beautiful.... I love to sing this as loud as I can!!
vigilaki
they are just brilliant!!!!!
Jay Shaft
Thanks Big Mike/Puddles. I would never have heard of this otherwise. Would have been shame to miss out in such a lovely song. Just an amazing performance.
Jim Smith
Time stopped for me when I heard this.
[Stargr☆zer]
Puddles pity party brought me here :)
Mike Patterson
[Stargr☆zer] same here! Both this and Puddles "Hallelujah " moves me to tears.
Ignacio Leiva
WHOUU!! Really good song
243WW
Mate that's alright. Thanks Puddles
Mckay Jiplin
2020 anyone?