Where the Sky Opens over the Lake
Inspired by a poem written for Ammie when we had only been married a short time
listen
Guitar, voice, recording, and production by Jonathan Cannon
lyrics
Where the Sky Opens over the Lake
I'll lead you by the hand, The where we choose together, You walk behind, I clear the path Enough for you and me Chorus Where the sky opens over the lake, The sun fallen from the sky, The moon behind the clouds Over the purple Of the slowly fading day. We find we're not alone This path that we are walking. The rocks and roots we can't remove Touch tiny, stumbling feet. Then in a blink they've grown To walk along beside us. They clear the path enough for us To walk another day.
sheet music and chords
Where the Sky Opens over the Lake – OldYogre by OldYogrelyric video
Story of the Song
I drafted a short poem for Ammie while we were living in Madison, Wisconsin. We lived in graduate student housing, right by Lake Mendota. With just a short walk through some woods, you could reach the banks of the large lake and see birds, sailboats, and all the other beauties. In 2015 I found my draft and turned it into a finished poem.
Evening Walk
(2005-2010) 2015 I’d lead you by the hand, but only where you want to go— you tell me where. I’ll clear the path, walking just ahead, sensing your touch on my hand until we pass the wood where the sky opens over the lake, the sun fallen from the sky, the moon behind the clouds and one white stripe of clouds refracting the sun against the darkening blues, and above the fading purple, of the departing day.In 2024 or 2025 I watched a video where a musician gave his lyrics to an AI song writing program and ended up with something he really liked. I thought, maybe I can us the program to write songs from my poems. I don't have the skills to write my own music. So I gave a couple of programs a try. And I liked a couple of tunes it produced. Then I deleted the songs. I couldn't feel good about using a tool built on plagiarism without compensating or getting consent from the many, many contributors. Ammie would have hated it. I decided I would just have to try writing my own music. This was the first result
For this song, the melody came first. After that I figured out chords that sounded fine with the melody. Then I worked out the guitar part. I also wrote a harmony or a clarinet part, but I left that part out of the recording. I like it simple. I might like it more complex, too. Maybe sometime I'll find out.