Mandolin Orange’s music radiates a mysterious warmth —their songs feel like whispered secrets, one hand cupped to your ear. The North Carolina duo have built a steady and growing fanbase with this kind of intimacy, and on Tides of A Teardrop, due out February 1, it is more potent than ever. By all accounts, it is the duo’s fullest, richest, and most personal effort. You can hear the air between them—the taut space of shared understanding, as palpable as a magnetic field, that makes their music sound like two halves of an endlessly completing thought. Singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz have honed this lamp glow intimacy for years.
In the last three years, the group has toured throughout the U.S and Europe, including appearances at Austin City Limits, South by Southwest, Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Rooster Walk, and MerleFest and the Omagh Bluegrass Festival. Mandolin Orange was the featured artist on CBS This Morning's Saturday Morning Sessions on December 7, 2019.
They signed to Yep Roc Records in 2013 and have produced four albums under their umbrella, This Side Of Jordan, Such Jubilee, Blindfaller and Tides of a Teardrop.
Old Ties and Companions
Mandolin Orange Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never let these ties sever
It's breaking bottles in the yard
Never still my mind again
Like old ties and companions
Just sitting on the fence
And man that's just enough
To keep these ghosts around those haunted fields
But old ties and companions
You and I were just passing through
It's a hundred thousand miles of lonely track
Holding back tomorrow
Someday I'll hop along and ride it home
Like old ties and companions
We never leave alone
So old man give me endless time never let these ties sever
So heaven knows and all this fooling around
These times won't last forever, after all
The lyrics of Mandolin Orange's song "Old Ties and Companions" resemble a wistful reflection of the past, particularly in one's connections and companions. The opening lines of the song "Old man give me endless time, never let these ties sever" suggest the desire to let time stop and allow one to hold onto the relationships and connections they have made along the way. The lines "It's breaking bottles in the yard, never still my mind again" may reference the chaos and turbulence felt in moments when one is trying to hold onto past memories and experiences.
The chorus of the song carries the central theme of old connections and friendships through the line "Like old ties and companions, just sitting on the fence." The song's verses highlight the change in emotions and feelings over time, with lines such as "The tears we've carried through the years will change, and man that's just enough, to keep these ghosts around those haunted fields." The track evokes a sense of longing for the way things used to be, but the realization that the past is just that, something in the past, unchangeable and left as memories.
Overall, "Old Ties and Companions" is a reflective song that contemplates the intangibility of emotions and feelings, and how connections and friendships can remain in one's memory like "old ties and companions."
Line by Line Meaning
Old man give me endless time
Asking for more time with a loved one who is aging
Never let these ties sever
Asking for their relationship to remain strong and unbreakable
It's breaking bottles in the yard
Feeling lost and frustrated
Never still my mind again
Constantly thinking and worrying
Like old ties and companions
Comparing their relationship to old, familiar things
Just sitting on the fence
Not taking any action or making a decision
The tears we've carried through the years will change
The pain they've experienced will lessen with time
And man that's just enough
Time is a great healer
To keep these ghosts around those haunted fields
Memories of past experiences can linger
But old ties and companions
Reiterating the theme of their relationship being strong and unchanging
You and I were just passing through
Acknowledging that their time together is temporary
It's a hundred thousand miles of lonely track
Life can be long and difficult
Holding back tomorrow
Being held back by fear or regret
Someday I'll hop along and ride it home
Hoping to eventually find peace and happiness
We never leave alone
Even in difficult times, they have each other
So old man give me endless time never let these ties sever
Reiterating the desire for their relationship to remain strong over time
So heaven knows and all this fooling around
Acknowledging that their time together is temporary and they should make the most of it
These times won't last forever, after all
Encouraging each other to enjoy the present moment
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: ANDREW MARLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dyllynnehurley8594
[Verse 1]
Old man give me endless time
Never let these ties sever
It's breaking bottles in the yard
Never still my mind again
[Chorus]
Mmm
Like old ties and companions
Just sitting on the fence
[Verse 2]
The tunes we've carried through the years will change
And man that's just enough
To keep these ghosts around those haunted fields
[Chorus]
Mmm
Like old ties and companions
You and I were just passing through
[Bridge]
It's a hundred thousand miles of lonely track
Holding back tomorrow
Someday I'll hop along and ride it home
[Chorus 2]
Like old ties and companions
We never leave alone
[Outro]
So old man give me endless time never let these ties sever
So heaven knows and all this fooling around
These times won't last forever, afterall
@idealspaceshomeorganizing2956
This song is perfection. I first heard it a year ago and stopped everything and played it like 50 times. His voice is so warm and pure I don't even like to sing along because it covers his voice.
@triphaze6378
I am a true metal head and stubbled across them on pandora by accident...well im proud to say..this is awesome and new fan to this type of music.
@jdh0692
TRIP HazE dude same! I've listened to metal my entire life I would go to sleep listing to slipknot at age 4. but in the past few years I've love old fold music!
@SPARKY4944
Fuck genres whats good is good
@nathensurman3884
^^^ Truth.
@guyonyoutube3437
Justin Hernandez would you like an award
@DreadShaft
SAME DUDE i was just thinking I love metal only for the most part then went from night terror by Currents to this by accident and i like it lol
@richarddevecchis9317
Absolutely the most soulful music anywhere...a natural anti-depressant!
@AndyB1286
I quite agree! Folk music has a rich history - that plus the instruments makes it organic, warm and real. Music for the soul 🙂
@jacobaustin-sides2875
JHS pedals sent me here. Good recommendation