Released on June 4th, the second single from Nova Soon's forthcoming home-recorded sophomore LP is 'Telling The Bees': a dark, minor-bluesy, alt-country shuffle, propelled by jazzy double bass, handclaps & descending guitar riffs. Inspired by the titular tradition — where beekeepers would whisper secrets to their hives, hoping the bees would one day lead them safely to heaven in exchange — the lyrics follow a city girl called Holly on her odyssey through a mythic countryside where 'the river listens' & 'the shadows frown', all to eavesdrop on a local preacher's hiveside confession. Before we discover what he whispered, or why it 'made her blood freeze', a ghostly outro of piano, trombones & synth pads sweeps both Holly & the listener away — 'down to paradise'.
lyrics
Holly took a train from the edge of town,
out where the river listens and the shadows frown.
She'd heard about the telling of the bees:
a country tradition older than memory.
Keepers sneak out from their sons and wives,
once every quiet evening of their quiet lives,
and speak their secrets to the humming hives;
to buy safe passage down to paradise.
You don't wanna go to heaven all alone;
that prairie in the fog; God knows who you might meet.
You don't wanna go without a chaperone:
the queen and all her drones guiding your feet.
Keep telling the bees. Telling the bees.
Holly took a light from the slaughterhouse,
crept through some darkened gardens to the chapel grounds,
and heard the preacher whisper to his bees:
a gentle confession that made her blood freeze.
You don't wanna go to heaven all alone;
that prairie in the fog; God knows who you might meet.
You don't wanna go without a chaperone:
the queen and all her drones guiding your feet.
Keep telling the bees. Telling the bees.
Keep telling the bees. Tell those bees.
Telling the bees.
Sha la la la la la, down to paradise.
Sha la la la la la, down to paradise.
credits
released June 4, 2021
Words & music by Noah de Grunwald
Artwork by Fran Hammond
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