Blood and Honey
Alex Wilson
Description
A deeply evocative traditional country waltz, "Blood and Honey" paints a vivid sonic landscape of Kentucky's front porches and Appalachian heart. The song explores the duality of life's experiences – joy and sorrow, sweetness and pain – through warm acoustic instrumentation, including a gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar, resonant upright bass, brushed snare drums, and a plaintive fiddle that echoes the vocal melody. Pedal steel guitar sighs create a nostalgic atmosphere. Alex Wilson's deep, grainy vocal delivery adds authenticity, while a high "mountain" harmony on the choruses provides a touch of ethereal beauty. The fiddle turnaround into the bridge offers a moment of instrumental reflection. The overall effect is minimal, timeless, and woody—reminiscent of a hymn learned by ear under a tin roof.
Lyrics
Verse 1 There’s a river in my veins and a lantern on my tongue, Red as a dawn, sweet as a summer hum. I carry what’s burned and I carry what’s blessed, Two kinds of weather beating in my chest. Chorus Blood and honey, thunder and sun, Bitter on the lip till the healing runs. High on the hill where the wild hearts drum, I taste the sting, I taste the one. Blood and honey, woven and spun— That’s how my song comes. Verse 2 I’ve known the fire that warms and the fire that scars, Hush of the pines and the cry of the stars. I walk like a prayer with a laugh in my throat, Salt on the rim and gold in the note. Chorus Blood and honey, thunder and sun, Bitter on the lip till the healing runs. High on the hill where the wild hearts drum, I taste the sting, I taste the one. Blood and honey, woven and spun— That’s how my song comes. Bridge If the night gets heavy, let it lean on me, If the light gets loud, let it set you free. What hurts will holler, what’s sweet will stay, Two rivers meeting in the same red clay. Verse 3 I don’t choose the wind, but I hold the sail, Sweet on the breath, iron in the trail. When the echo calls, I answer low, Honey for mercy, blood for the road. Final Chorus Blood and honey, thunder and sun, Bitter on the lip till the healing runs. High on the hill where the wild hearts drum, I taste the sting, I taste the one. Blood and honey, woven and spun— That’s how my song comes.