I’m sure other songwriters have experienced writing a song that starts out having one intention and, as if having a will of its own, it takes a turn in a completely different direction. That was the case with Gentle Heart. I originally wrote the chorus of this song while thinking of my father. During that time, I received a scholarship to a writer’s retreat located on the shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota. While I was working on this song in that inspiring setting, something shifted and it morphed into a story about my mother. I’m not sure if it was a result of the energy from that magnificent body of water or some premonition that my mother was not going to be on this planet much longer. Sadly, the latter turned out to be the case. (Evelyn is pictured here with her first born – Jim)
Evelyn was born on a farm in Wisconsin in 1916 and was the only girl in a family with six brothers. I often wonder how isolating it must have felt to be surrounded by so many boys and to not have a sister to confide in. Her only formal education was in a one-room school house down the road from the farm. She cooked on a wood burning stove, sewed her own clothes and worked as hard as any farm hand. At seventeen, she left the farm and took a bus to St. Paul where she worked, married, and raised a family of six children. She was a remarkable woman who faced everything life threw at her with grace, strength, and kindness. She loved her family above all else. I should be so fortunate to be half the woman she was.
GENTLE HEART
Her hands were leathered with life, but not her heart
Seventeen years she lived on the family farm
It never really mattered that the life she had was hard
‘Cause she was born with a gentle heart
Her hands were weathered and rough, but they could soothe
Laid against a fevered brow, soft and cool
They’d pick up all the pieces when our lives would fall apart
And soothe our souls with her gentle heart
Sometimes deep and distant, I always tried to listen
Though the words she spoke were often lost to a young and foolish girl
There were times her heart was heavy, but it never turned to stone
The light inside her heart was always on . . .
Her hands were leathered with life, but they were kind
They always found the strength they needed to make us mind
And nothing really mattered when she took us in her arms
‘Cause we were born to her gentle heart
Gentle Heart is available as a single digital download and is also included on the CD Blue Companion.