I finally found the cassette! LISTEN to this week’s RAW impressions mini-music-monday for details!
Read on for the story behind the song. 2 versions of it are available for streaming and download below.
My sister Amanda (Mandy) got married on August 13th, 1994. Some time before that my mother said “it would be nice” if I wrote a song for the wedding. I took the assignment seriously but not without a touch of dread and uncertainty. Sure, I was a ‘songwriter’, the Sebadoh collective was doing well and people were saying I was “prolific” and “good”. That may have been true but I had never written a song suited for a wedding. In fact, I wrote songs for the opposite of weddings.
The easy part was finding a nice melody with a Lou B default sea-shanty feel (astute listeners will know that I’ve got a shitload of songs in this style including Back To Your Heart by Dinosaur Jr.). It was standard-tuned and without edges. The hard part was finding lyrics. For one thing, I was Mandy’s shitty older brother. Would she believe anything coming out of my mouth? Should she? I decided to set that aside and consult with my mom. She noted that the wedding poem was Kahlil Gibran’s “On Marriage” which ends with references to Oak and Cypress trees. The theme of the song would be trees, I could dip my toe into the water of metaphor!
The first version of the song , which can be found below, was an incomplete version that I sent to my mom. I think it was a “look, I’m trying!” move. In retrospect, I’m not sure why I thought this was necessary. Perhaps I was trying to involve as many people as possible in my stress. Steady on, past-Lou, it all worked out. I wrote a perfectly appropriate song. My sister and her betrothed had been together for 7 years, I included that detail in the lyrics. They had met at Kenyon College and the ceremony was held at the church there. It was lovely and went off without a hitch. They got hitched, they’re still hitched!
As Sebadoh’s popularity grew in the mid-90s I found myself playing more acoustic shows, mostly at record stores for promotional purposes. I enjoyed it and always stuck Let’s Begin (later called Tree) in the mix. I knew I’d eventually record it for an LP but that didn’t happen until 1998 for The Sebadoh record. By that time the simple, open-hearted original lyrics just wouldn’t do. It was no longer about my sister, I was going to change the lyrics to fit the times, my fucked-up times. The Tree was stripped of it’s branches and poisoned with lies! When the record was released my mother was perplexed by the new version. I haven’t listened to it (the recorded version) more than twice since it was released (in 1999).
The song remains one of my most-requested, I play it often. I’ve gradually shifted back to the original lyrics and sentiment of the song. It just feels better. I never recorded the original version for myself BUT now I have! Today, August 21, 2023, 29 years later! dig it! plant the seed!
Let’s Begin (Tree)
see how we’ve taken all this sweet time to decide
watered that tree and watched it grow another 50 feet high
together, shared and strong, step right in
forever is not that long
let’s begin
I feel this connection like the earth underneath me
I feel this connection if I’m here, there, or anywhere I stand
the time’s right to make that vow, see it through
the future, the here and now
me and you
and it’s sweeping our childhood away
hand in hand we set off on our own
7 years on and I love you more each day
celebrate the way you’ve helped me grow
see how much we’ve grown
now you’re standing by my side, I feel it in your eyes, it’s true
tender and real I feel it as it pulls me through
together, shared and strong, step right in
forever is not that long, let’s begin
let’s begin, let’s begin