Stone & River
Alex Wilson
Description
A deeply soulful and intimate ballad exploring the transformative power of love, 'Stone & River' uses vivid imagery of mountains and rivers to depict emotional vulnerability and resilience. The song tells the story of someone guarded and hardened ('stone') learning to open up and embrace love thanks to the persistent and gentle influence of another ('river'). With influences ranging from mountain soul to modern Motown, this track blends organic instrumentation with subtle modern production techniques to create a warm and powerful listening experience.
Lyrics
[Intro - A F#m7 D E] (Piano figure with light electric guitar; gentle drum fill into Verse 1) [Verse 1 - A F#m7 D E] I was born on the side of a steep red hill, Where the men stood quiet and the nights stood still. Learned young how to stare like a shotgun barrel, How to swallow down hurt, never let it travel. They said, 'Boy, be a boulder when the hard wind blows,' 'Don't you let nobody see the cracks you don't show.' So I turned myself to granite, skin to gravel and bone, Just another gray shadow in a field of stone. [Pre-Chorus 1 - F#m7 E/G# A D Bm7 E] Then you came walkin' slow through this canyon of mine, Soft as spring water but you cut like a line. Every word that you whispered, every look that you gave, Was a drop after drop on the walls I'd made. [Chorus - A E/G# F#m7 D A/E D E] You were the river, I was the stone, You kept on runnin' when I said, 'Go on home.' Little by little, you wore your way in, Turned this cold mountain into somethin' that could bend. In a world full of cliffs standin' hard and alone, You loved me like a river loves a stone. [Verse 2 - A F#m7 D E] I threw up my defenses like a rockslide fall, Rolled sharp words at you just to build that wall. You just smiled, let the anger hit the edge of your tide, Said, 'I'll still be here when the dust all dies.' You traced all my jagged lines with your patient hands, Found the soft underneath I forgot I had. I was sure I would break if I ever let go, But you taught me how to crack without losin' my soul. [Pre-Chorus 2 - F#m7 E/G# A D Bm7 E] You'd say, 'Baby, let it rain, let it all pour through,' 'I ain't here to drown you, I'm here to move with you.' And the more that you flowed, the less afraid I became, Of the flood and the change and the size of the pain. [Chorus 2 - A E/G# F#m7 D A/E D E] You were the river, I was the stone, You kept on runnin' when I said, 'Leave me alone.' Little by little, you wore your way in, Turned this rough canyon to a place love could live. In a land full of peaks made of muscle and bone, You loved me like a river loves a stone. [Bridge - Bm7 C#m7 D A/E Bm7 C#m7 D E] (Band drops, bass and claps) I ain't softer 'cause the hard parts disappeared, I'm still the same hillside I've been all these years. But where I once was solid, cold and unknown, Now there's a valley where your heart runs home. Now I carry your current through the low and the high, All the weight of my past underneath your sky. What used to just stand there, heavy and alone, Is holdin' up a river that can't stop goin' on. [Final Chorus - A E/G# F#m7 D A/E D E] (Full band back in, optional key up) You were the river, I was the stone, You kept on comin' till this place felt like home. Little by little, you carved your name in, Now every hard thing's just a path you can spin. In a world full of mountains made of steel and of chrome, You loved me like a river loves a stone. [Tag / Outro - A F#m7 D E] (Vamp, ad-libs) You loved me like a river, loved me like a river, (Just kept movin', just kept movin') You loved me like a river loves a stone. Now I'm a riverbed, baby, let it flow, (Flow right through me, flow right through me) You loved me like a river loves a stone... (Yeah, you loved me, you loved me, you loved me now) (Fade)