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.”
Here Comes One
Lavender Diamond Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And then you thought there was nothing to fight
But you had opened your heart with your mind
Oh, here comes one
And you were searching for something to give
And you were searching for some way to live
But you had opened your heart with your mind
Oh, you walking down the street and you work so hard
Let me tell you, here comes one, oh, here comes one
Oh, here comes one, oh, here comes one
And you were hoping that things would go right
And you were hoping that day could be night
But you had opened your heart with your mind
Oh, here comes one
And you were searching for something to say
And you were hoping you'd find a new way
But you had opened your heart with your mind
Oh, here comes one, oh, here comes one
Oh, you walking down the street and you work so hard
Let me tell you, here comes one, oh, here comes one
Oh, here comes one, oh, here comes one
Use your heart will decide, decide
Use your heart will decide, decide
Use your heart will decide
The lyrics to Lavender Diamond's song Here Comes One are open to interpretation, but at its core, it seems to be a song about being open to new opportunities and experiences. The opening lines suggest that the listener may have felt resigned or defeated, thinking that the end was in sight and that there was nothing left to fight for. However, the subsequent lines suggest that there is always something new to discover or fight for, and that being open-hearted and open-minded can lead to new opportunities. The repeated refrain of "here comes one" might refer to opportunities that are coming the listener's way.
The second and third verses continue to develop this theme, suggesting that the listener was searching for something to give or some way to live, but ultimately found that the key to finding fulfillment was opening their heart and mind. The final lines encourage the listener to "use your heart will decide," perhaps indicating that they should trust their instincts and be receptive to what comes their way.
Overall, the song feels uplifting and optimistic, suggesting that no matter how hard things may seem or how lost one may feel, there is always the potential for new opportunities and growth.
Line by Line Meaning
Well then you thought that the end was in sight
You believed that the end of your struggles was approaching
And then you thought there was nothing to fight
You believed that your battles were over
But you had opened your heart with your mind
You had let your mind and heart work together
Oh, here comes one
Unexpectedly, a new obstacle is approaching
And you were searching for something to give
You were seeking something to offer
And you were searching for some way to live
You were searching for a way of existence
But you had opened your heart with your mind
You had let your mind and heart work together
Oh, here comes one
Unexpectedly, a new challenge is approaching
Oh, you walking down the street and you work so hard
You have toiled tirelessly in your endeavors
Let me tell you, here comes one, oh, here comes one
Be prepared for a new hurdle that is coming your way
And you were hoping that things would go right
You were living with a hope that things will get better
And you were hoping that day could be night
You wished that night would come soon
But you had opened your heart with your mind
You had let your mind and heart work together
Oh, here comes one
A new test or tribulation is approaching
And you were searching for something to say
You were trying to find words to express yourself
And you were hoping you'd find a new way
You were hoping to find a new path
But you had opened your heart with your mind
You had let your mind and heart work together
Oh, here comes one, oh, here comes one
A new obstacle is approaching
Use your heart will decide, decide
Listen to your heart to make the right decision
Use your heart will decide, decide
Reiterate that your heart should help guide you
Use your heart will decide
Let your heart help you make decisions
Contributed by Josiah D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.