Then Came the Morning, the second album by the Southern-born, Brooklyn-based indie-folk trio the Lone Bellow, opens with a crest of churchly piano, a patter of drums, and a fanfare of voices harmonizing like a sunrise. It’s a powerful introduction, enormous and overwhelming, as Zach Williams, Brian Elmquist, and Kanene Pipkin testify mightily to life’s great struggles and joys, heralding the morning that dispels the dark night: “Then came the morning! It was bright, like the light that you kept from your smile!” Working with producer Aaron Dessner of the National, the Lone Bellow has created a sound that mixes folk sincerity, gospel fervor, even heavy metal thunder, but the heart of the band is harmony: three voices united in a lone bellow.
"The feeling I get singing with Zach and Brian is completely natural and wholly electrifying,” says Kanene. “Our voices feel like they were made to sing together."
Long before they combined their voices, the three members of the Lone Bellow were singing on their own. Brian had been writing and recording as a solo artist for more than a decade, with three albums under his own name. Kanene and her husband Jason were living in Beijing, China, hosting open mic nights, playing at local clubs and teaching music lessons. Zach began writing songs in the wake of a family tragedy: After his wife was thrown from a horse, he spent days in the hospital at her bedside, bracing for the worst news. The journal he kept during this period would eventually become his first batch of songs as a solo artist. Happily, his wife made a full recovery.
When Kanene’s brother asked her and Zach to sing “O Happy Day” together at his wedding, they discovered their voices fit together beautifully, but starting a band together seemed impossible when they lived on opposite sides of the world. Brian soon relocated to New York and Kanene moved there to attend culinary school a couple years later. The three got together in their new hometown to work on a few songs of Zach’s, he’d been chipping away at the scene as a solo artist for awhile by then. After hitting those first harmonies did they decide to abandon all other pursuits. Soon the trio was playing all over the city, although they considered Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side to be their home. They opened for the Civil Wars, Dwight Yokam, Brandi Carlile and the Avett Brothers, and their self-titled debut, produced by Nashville’s Charlie Peacock (the Civil Wars, Holly Williams) and released in January 2013, established them as one of the boldest new acts in the Americana movement.
After two hard years of constant touring, the band was exhausted but excited. By 2014, they had written nearly 40 songs on the road and were eager to get them down on tape. After putting together a list of dream producers, they reached out to their first choice, the National guitarist Aaron Dessner, who has helmed albums by the L.A. indie-rock group Local Natives and New York singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten.
“It occurred to me that it would be fun to get together and make music with them,” says Aaron. “My main interest in producing records is community and friendship more than making money. I already do a lot of traveling and working with the National, so when I have to time to work with other artists, it should be fun and meaningful.”
“Aaron is just so kind,” Zach says. “And he has surrounded himself with all these incredibly talented people, like Jonathan Low, the engineer. His brother Bryce [Dessner, also a guitarist for the National] wrote these amazing brass and string arrangements, and he got some of his friends to play with us.”
Dessner and the Lone Bellow spent two weeks recording at Dreamland in upstate New York, a nineteenth-century church that had been converted into a homey studio. The singers found the space to inspire the emotional gravity necessary for the material and the acoustics they were looking for. (For Kanene, Dreamland had one other bonus: “I’m a big Muppets fan, and it looks exactly like the church where Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem lived.”)
Aaron set them up in a circle in what had once been the sanctuary, with microphones hanging in the rafters to capture the sound of their voices bleeding together. Most of the vocals were recorded in single takes, a tactic that adds urgency to songs like “Heaven Don’t Call Me Home” and “If You Don’t Love Me.” “There were a couple of times when somebody sang the wrong word or hit a bad note, and we just had to keep going,” says Zach, who says that recording “Marietta” in particular was daunting—especially the moment near the end when he hits an anguished high note, bends it even higher, and holds it for an impossibly long time. It’s a startling display of vocal range, but it’s also almost unbearably raw in its emotional honesty.
“‘Marietta’ is probably the darkest song on the whole record,” Zach explains, “and it’s based on something that happened between my wife and me. The band was getting ready to record that song when all of a sudden my wife showed up with our youngest baby. It was a great surprise, a beautiful moment. So I was able to go out and sing that song, knowing she was there to help me carry the moment.”
“These are true stories,” says Brian. “These aren’t things we made up. We tried to write some songs that had nothing to do with our personal stories, but we just didn’t respond to them. But we’re best buds, so we know each others’ personal stuff and trust each other to figure out what needs to be said and how to say it.” Case in point: Brian wrote “Call to War” about his own struggles during his twenties, but gave the song to Kanene to sing. “The content is painful and brutal,” she says, “but the imagery, the vocals, they build something delicate and ethereal. That kind of contrast illuminates the true beauty and power of a song.”
Says Brian, “We do this one thing together, and we carry each other. Hopefully that makes the listener want to be a part of it. It becomes a communal thing, which means that there’s never a sad song to sing. It’s more a celebration of the light and the dark.”
-Descendant Records
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Cold As It Is
The Lone Bellow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
I wouldn't leave my baby doll, I wouldn't leave
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
I saw you walking under water,
I'm just like any other damned,
Pulling me into the deep
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
I wouldn't leave my baby doll, I wouldn't leave
Your name was written on the air though
I carved my name up to that tree
You're cold, but darling it's all natural
Way you bring me to my knees
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
I wouldn't leave my baby doll, I wouldn't leave
Water take me in,
Calling me instead
While I speed, wash me
Singing sorrow songs,
Lock before the dawn
Waiting for the midnight
Waiting for the midnight
Water take me in,
Calling me instead
While I speed, wash me
Singing sorrow songs,
Lock before the dawn
Waiting for the midnight
Waiting for the midnight
Waiting for the midnight
Waiting for the midnight
Waiting
Waiting
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
I wouldn't leave my baby doll, I wouldn't leave
The Lone Bellow’s song “Cold As It Is” is a melancholic piece that radiates a sense of longing and devotion. The chorus emphasizes the theme, where the singer declares that despite the coldness of the world, he wouldn’t leave his “baby doll.” This theme of undying love runs throughout the piece and evokes a sense of tenderness.
The first verse introduces a perspective shift, where the singer notices someone “walking under water” while he is drowning underneath. This metaphor reflects the pain one can feel when a loved one seems to be living in their world without noticing the pain of those around them. The phrase “I’m just like any other damned, pulling me into the deep” reveals how tiring and exhausting it can be for the singer to feel like he is not getting the support he needs from his partner.
The second verse introduces the idea of carving names up a tree, symbolizing a loving gesture that seems to be one-sided. The line “You’re cold, but darling, it’s all-natural. The way you bring me to my knees” highlights how the singer cannot help but love their partner, even though it may be at the expense of his own emotional wellbeing. In the end, the song seems to be a plea for the singer's partner to reciprocate the love and warmth that he is offering.
Line by Line Meaning
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave my baby doll
Even though it is very cold, I would not leave my beloved partner
Cold as it is, I wouldn't leave
Despite the harsh weather, I wouldn't abandon my partner
I saw you walking under water,
I noticed you seemingly gliding underneath the surface of the water
While I was drowning underneath
At the same time, I was struggling to stay afloat and stay alive
I'm just like any other damned,
I am just like any other unfortunate person
Pulling me into the deep
Dragging me down into the depths of the water
Your name was written on the air though
Your name seemed to be whispered through the air in a spiritual sense
I carved my name up to that tree
In response, I engraved my own name into a nearby tree
You're cold, but darling it's all natural
You may seem cold, but it's simply a part of your nature, my love
Way you bring me to my knees
Nonetheless, the way you make me feel is so powerful, it causes me to feel overwhelmed
Water take me in,
I feel drawn towards the water
Calling me instead
It beckons me to come closer in place of something else
While I speed, wash me
As I move through the water, let it cleanse me
Singing sorrow songs,
In melancholy, I sing songs of heartache
Lock before the dawn
Let me linger here in the safety of the night, before the morning comes
Waiting for the midnight
I wait for the moment when it is completely dark outside
Waiting
Simply waiting, without any clear purpose
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Brian Christopher Elmquist, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, Zachary Ray Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alliesanger3034
First heard you guys thru The Current. I'm now a total fan. It's awesome to see artists putting their soul into the music.
@linkfamilymusic
These guys continue to blow me away! Wow!
@hallebaker6208
Why have I never heard of them!? They are so good!
@deathbyproxy2
Love the Harmony between Zach & Kanene...... ear candy and it don't taste much sweater that this..... cool, stylish, attractive group of musicians who sound wonderful...... glad they met each other to bring me the pleasure I get from listening to them....... only wish I had found them sooner.... look forward to investigating more of your music but "cold as it gets", Telluride and Heaven don't call me home" is floating my boat right now.
@9thchild358
This band is just unreal.
@Roozy_Persepolis
Great applause from Iran, this band is fantastic, having tons of fun with this song.
@Memoni7
My new all time favorite Winterness song!
@5866love
One my favorite songs ever!
@skippyatlarge
All my love for this band !!!!!
@cryhat66
I just love your harmony. You guys are the shit! Keep it coming. Beautiful sound.