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A flock of jackdaws carrying various tools (string, screwdriver, boltcutters, lump hammer, pliers, etc.) is silhouetted against a painted sunset with a brooding cloudy sky. The title and artist are written in hand-drawn lettering at the top and bottom, respectively.
A flock of jackdaws carrying various tools (string, screwdriver, boltcutters, lump hammer, pliers, etc.) is silhouetted against a painted sunset with a brooding cloudy sky. The title and artist are written in hand-drawn lettering at the top and bottom, respectively.

12. Long Low Light

Helen Bell
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Long Low Light
4:03

Long Low Light

Helen Bell

lyrics

Long low light
Song of the last leaves
It’s the old slow fight between the green and the white
And you pray there might be green shoots
Still furling under the tundra
There might be one more spring
We might be going under

Up high in this hemisphere
The ice-age dread runs in the family
Centuries of observation
Don’t shift genetic memory
My hand may write on the calendar
‘Wake up and smell the chlorophyll – 5th of April’
Still my bones fear the ice may take me

The seas will grow
We have terra-deformed
Faster than our genes will ever know

Fine bright ice
Song of the last floes
It’s the old slow fight between the stone and the tide
And you say ‘It’s just a bad year’
And stare back into the fire
And out below the storm
The water inches higher

credits

from Five Thousand Feathers, released October 4, 2024
Helen Bell: vocals, viola, synths, accordion
Xenogon: five-string electric guitar, drums, bass guitar, synth sound design
Words and music by Helen Bell; arranged by Helen Bell and Xenogon

All content © H. Bell 2025 | 100% human – no AI is used to make this site or its contents

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