It was initially supposed to be a mellow, rubato song. In fact, it was to be collaboration between us and an absolutely amazing Sufi singer (which didn’t work out because of date mismatches). He was the one who called it “Sapling” first. The song eventually went on a completely different tangent (as u will hear)!  

Lyrically, it was conceived in Bulgaria. To be more exact, in a really beautiful train journey from Istanbul to Plovdiv (Bulgaria) through miles and hours of sunflower fields. 
This was part of our tour last year. 
During the writing process, it was the first time 3 completely different voices emerged…
•	one of a preacher --- the very first line of the song… the spoken bible verses etc
•	one of someone yearning for Grace/ love – in the chorus 
•	one of a subjectivity projected on a plant –  the identities mix in lines like
“seasons, they pass leaving their circular imprints behind
under my skin 
and quiet bags under my eyes”
(skin refers to the bark, while the eyes are of the person who is also growing older.)
(Sufi music also uses a lot of identity projection in its poetic texts)

The voices in the song mix in the verses rather than confining themselves to specific stanzas.


Sapling

adil.vasundhara