The Orchard Remembers

Traditional English folk ballad, warm natural room sound and clear lyric-forward mix, spare arrangement broadening slightly in the choruses and tapering into a gentle fade; fingerpicked acoustic guitar with soft bowed fiddle answering between lines; intimate plaintive male vocal; measured 6/8 sway [Verse 1] You left your ribbon by the gate, The rain had darkened every thread. I watched the evening settle late, And heard the last words that you said. [Chorus] Mara, the orchard remembers, Your footsteps crossing the clover; The kettle still warms by the embers, Though winter has carried you over. [Verse 2] I packed the apples in a crate, And set them where you used to stay. The neighbors ask me of your fate; I tell them you have gone away. [Chorus] Mara, the orchard remembers, Your footsteps crossing the clover; The kettle still warms by the embers, Though winter has carried you over. [Outro] If spring should bring you down this lane, The old door will be open wide. I’ll set two cups against the rain, And leave the porch lamp turned outside. [Fade out]