Winter Wonderland: Snow Day

Catherine MacLellan: Snow Day

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Catherine MacLellan is a wonderful folk singer who's sophomore album, Church Bell Blues, was released earlier this year. Most of the songs found here are generally unadorned; simplisticically sweet folk songs. Just a guitar or two, a beautifully pure voice and little else.

Perfect for this week's theme is of course her song, "Snow Day," which is also coincidentally, one of my favorites. It illustrates how easily a song can paint a picture. I can envision driving in a beat-up pick-up in the middle of a small, snowed over town. Everything closed. Everything white. Then driving back home, where the lights are on, smoke is coming out of the chimney and my two dogs are peering through the window as they hear the truck's engine.

Cliché? Probably. Or maybe I've seen too many movies, but this song makes it easy to imagine a scene like this. And because I've spent most of my life in California, I rarely even see snow, but I sure can relate (I've spent winter in New York - Brrrr).

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Snow down, you can’t hear it land
Take time if you can to see it’s shape
Slow down, there’s no need to rush
There’s nothing but snow and slush on the streets

And all the dogs are stuck inside
They’ll be there until spring time
Oh It’s too cold they say

Snow day, everything is shut down
There’s no one in town, on the streets
It’s no day for doing a thing
No chores I’ll just song you to sleep

And all of us are stuck inside
Out there it’s just too wild
Oh it’s too wild out there

From my bed I can see that tree
It speaks to me in my sleep
Lover said I’m glad it’s there
It’s something to stare at today

And all the crows they laugh at us
As my car turns to rust
Oh it’s too old they say