Mark Munson Guitar, Bruce Hazen Guitar, Joel Tennis Bass, Me Craig Loper Drums

KZAM Bumpers Jingles Citizen Sane 1980 Seattle

Weathervane Whale

TRACK CREDITS:

COMPOSITION:

-Music and lyrics (vocal melody, lyrics, and acoustic guitar parts): Elena Loper © 2020
-Violin arrangement: Jonathan Berry (2021)

PERFORMANCE:
 
-Main vocals: Elena Loper (2020) 
-Acoustic guitar: Elena Loper (2020)
-Violin: Jonathan Berry (2021)
-Background vocals: Elena Loper (2021)
-Percussion: Tai Taitano and David Salonen (2021) 

RECORDING, MIXING, AND MASTERING:

-Vocals and acoustic guitar recorded and mixed by: Johnny Bregar of Brickyard Studio, Bainbridge Island, WA (2020)
-Percussion, violin, and background vocals recorded by: David Salonen at David Salonen’s Studio, and at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center (2021)
-Final recording mixed and edited by: David Salonen (2021)
-Mastered by: Ed Brooks of Resonant Mastering (2021)

LYRICS:

The motionless weathervane
 in the window is a whale,
Open to stillness 
in the sun through the hail.

Crocuses poke
Through their place through the dirt,
Growing unknowing 
of human hurt.

And who would have thought I’d be here? 

Rode in a boat 
with a song skyward bound,
Scattered your ashes
on the waves of the sound.
Oh can you hear me? 
I am left with my bones.
Quavering queries
on a wind of unknown

And who would have thought I’d be here. 

Your treasures and trinkets
 adorn my room on the Rhône.
Here in my hand
 your assortment of stones.
Here in the silence 
I await your call.
The Whale in the window
 she is still she is tall

And who would’ve thought I’d be here? 


DESCRIPTION OF TRACK: 

This song is dedicated to my grandmother, Shirley, (along with two other songs and the record as a whole). She was the most incredible human being- so loving, so intelligent, so gracious, so radical in a way that is unbelievable for someone who passed at the age of 92! She was so warm and loving, so unconditionally supportive...she would only give advice if you asked for it. She was open-minded and flexible about the stuff that matters, but was hilariously picky about small stuff in her life. 

The chorus “Who would’ve thought I’d be here?” has multiple meanings: it refers to my/the naive belief that the people you love will live forever and will always be with you in a tangible form. In this way, I never thought I’d be here on this earth without her.  

This song is also about the bittersweet loneliness I have felt since her passing in february of 2020. I believe that her spirit and all spirits go on to different realms and that she is only gone in a tangible way. I feel a loneliness of being open and ready to receive some kind of ‘message’ from her from ‘the beyond...’ but I haven’t directly experienced that yet. And it’s also about letting go of an expectation that there will be a certain moment of connection…rather there’s been a slow certainty knowing that she’s with me everywhere, all the time.
 
“Who would’ve thought I'd be here,” also has a positive meaning. I was so lucky to land in a home in Ballard (a neighborhood in Seattle, WA) with lovely women right before covid lockdowns happened in 2020. In spite of the grief and uncertainty and loss that has come from the pandemic, I was so grateful to have a home to feel safe and comfortable in. Also as an anxious and restless person who hasn’t always felt comfortable in home environments, I was grateful to live somewhere and feel so rooted, grounded, and happy in spite of living through a global pandemic.

KZAM Bumpers Jingles Citizen Sane 1980 Seattle

Craig Loper

Recent comments

Craig Loper

Related tracks