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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For What It's Worth
The Lone Bellow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What it is ain't exactly clear
There′s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody′s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
It′s time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what′s going down
What's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It′s time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what′s going down
What's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
It′s time we stop, hey, what′s that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What′s going down
The Lone Bellow's song For What It's Worth is a cover of the 1960s classic by Buffalo Springfield, which was originally written as a protest song against the Vietnam War, but its message and relevance have transcended through time and continue to inspire people to stand up for their beliefs and fight against injustice. The lyrics of the song talk about the state of society during that time, where young people were rebelling against the status quo and demanding change. The opening lines, "There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear," speaks to the uncertainty and confusion of the times, where people were coming together to fight for a common cause but were not quite sure what the outcome would be.
The song continues to describe the divisions in society, with "battle lines being drawn" and "nobody's right if everybody's wrong." The young people are "speaking their minds" but are met with "resistance from behind," which could be interpreted as the older generation who did not want change or the government who were suppressing the movement. The chorus, "It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down," is a call to action for people to pay attention to what is happening around them and join together to make a difference.
The final verse of the song, "Paranoia strikes deep, into your life, it will creep, it starts when you're always afraid, step out of line, the man come and take you away," speaks to the fear that was present during that time, with the government using intimidation and force to suppress dissent. The continued relevance of this song is a testament to the power of music to connect us to our past and give us hope for the future.
Line by Line Meaning
There's something happening here
Something is going on, but it's not entirely clear what it is.
What it is ain't exactly clear
The situation being discussed is vague and unclear.
There's a man with a gun over there
There is a person with a gun nearby.
Telling me I got to beware
The person with the gun is warning that there is danger present.
There's battle lines being drawn
People are taking sides and preparing for conflict.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
If everyone is making mistakes or behaving poorly, then no one is truly right in the situation.
Young people speaking their minds
Young individuals are expressing their opinions and beliefs.
Getting so much resistance from behind
These young individuals are facing a lot of opposition to their ideas.
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
It is time to pay attention and address the situation at hand.
Everybody look what's going down
Everyone needs to observe and take note of what is happening.
What's going down
What is happening and unfolding in the situation being discussed.
What a field-day for the heat
The current situation is an ideal opportunity for law enforcement to enforce order with aggression.
A thousand people in the street
A large number of people are participating and involved in the conflict.
Singing songs and carrying signs
These individuals are expressing their beliefs and opinions through music and visual symbols.
Mostly say, hooray for our side
These individuals are expressing support for their own group, and may not be open to hearing opposing viewpoints.
Paranoia strikes deep
Fear and suspicion are taking hold and having a strong effect on individuals.
Into your life it will creep
These feelings of fear and paranoia may start to affect an individual's daily life and well-being.
It starts when you're always afraid
These feelings often begin with a sense of constant apprehension and anxiety.
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
Disobeying the rules of the system or the powers that be can result in punishment or consequences.
Contributed by Christopher C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.