Sea Wolf is an American indie rock band led by Alex Brown Church. The band … Read Full Bio ↴Sea Wolf is an American indie rock band led by Alex Brown Church. The band began in 2003 when Church, a founding member of Irving found that many of his songs did not fit with their style. With a rotating ensemble of backing musicians, Sea Wolf played locally in Los Angeles and began recording demos in Seattle with producer Phil Ek (Band of Horses, The Shins, Fleet Foxes). In 2007 they signed to Dangerbird Records and released the Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low EP and a full-length titled Leaves In The River. The latter hit No. 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

On September 22, 2009, Sea Wolf's sophomore album, White Water, White Bloom was released by Dangerbird Records. The album was produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk, M. Ward) at his studio in Omaha.

Sea Wolf contributed a song entitled “Song of the Magpie” to the audio book for Augusten Burroughs’ book “A Wolf at the Table.” Burroughs asked Sea Wolf’s Alex Brown Church to read the book and respond with an original song.

In addition to Alex Brown Church, the other members of Sea Wolf are currently Lisa Fendelander (keyboards), Theodore Liscinski (bass), Joey Ficken (drums), Nathan Anderson (guitar), and Joyce Lee (cello).

The band's third album, Old World Romance, was released in 2012.

After fulfilling Sea Wolf's contract with the label, the band took to Kickstarter in 2013 to fund a striped-down album with simliar tones to the early days of Sea Wolf. The project was fully-funded and released to backers in May 2014. The album, Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke was released on Spotify and on seawolfmusic.com as a free-or-pay-what-you-want in July 2014. Alex Brown Church stated that there are plans for additional "Song Spells" albums.

Turn The Dirt Over
Sea Wolf Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Come closer to the window-frame
Window to the dark and the field of snow
I saw you running like summer-flame
Running through the grass
Turning gold to black

Oh, turn the dirt over
If you want to grow back

Oh! open up the shutters
See the moonlight on
The snow
On the snow

You left your brother in a northern town
Took the ferry o'er the water on the bay
His body covered by the colors going down
A statue in the square before the wind could change

Oh, turn the water over
If you want to flow down
Oh! open up the shutters
See the falling snow
The falling snow

Come softly to the window frame
Window through the dark and the fields of snow
I saw you running like a summer-flame
Running through the grass
Turning gold to black

Oh, turn the dirt over
If you want to grow back
Oh, open up the shutters
See the moonlight on
The snow
See the moonlight on

The snow
On the snow

Overall Meaning

The lyrics in Sea Wolf’s “Turn the Dirt Over” convey a sense of nostalgia and the idea of starting anew. The opening lines of “Come closer to the window-frame/Window to the dark and the field of snow” set the scene of a person looking through a window into the darkness and the snow-covered field. From there on, the song becomes a metaphor of growth and renewal. “Turn the dirt over/If you want to grow back” emphasizes that the singer wants to let go of the past and start afresh. The repetition of “turning gold to black” furthers this idea of transformation - something that was once lively and colorful has now turned dark.

The second verse talks about leaving someone behind and the idea of letting go. The lines “You left your brother in a northern town/Took the ferry o’er the water on the bay” indicate a person leaving something behind, perhaps a loved one or a past experience, to move forward in life. The imagery of “his body covered by the colors going down/A statue in the square before the wind could change” symbolizes a life that has ended and frozen in time - a moment that cannot be changed.

By the end of the song, the metaphor of growth and renewal continues with “Come softly to the window frame/Window through the dark and the fields of snow/I saw you running like a summer flame/Running through the grass/Turning gold to black.” The repetition of “Turn the dirt over/If you want to grow back” and “Open up the shutters/See the moonlight on the snow” emphasizes the idea of letting go and embracing change.

Line by Line Meaning

Come closer to the window-frame
Approach the window to gaze outside

Window to the dark and the field of snow
The window offers a view of the dark and snowy landscape

I saw you running like summer-flame
Saw a fast, vibrant movement resembling a summer flame

Running through the grass
Quickly and freely moving through the grassy area

Turning gold to black
Transforming the previously golden grass to black

Oh, turn the dirt over
Flip the soil to rejuvenate it

If you want to grow back
Needed for enabling a regrowth

Oh! open up the shutters
Unfasten the window covers

See the moonlight on
Observe the illuminating moonlight edges

The snow
The falling snow down below

You left your brother in a northern town
Abandoned a family member in a far-off location