FAWM: "The Gray Dove"

The Gray Dove

2025 by @clioem

Liner Notes

My first FAWM song for 2025 is a little quasi-medieval song about a gray dove, which symbolises love and wisdom. I wanted to create a mini-mythology in line with my passion for worldbuilding - something that built upon the early music that I love, but also dipped a bit into the various folk traditions I am familiar with, from English to Polish to French and Spanish, as well as the early Italian Renaissance school. I tried to combine these harmonically here and used a three-voice structure with a sort of "cantus firmus" melody that repeats inexorably. The melody is a sort of ornamentation of this line, going up or down according to the subject matter. While my song doesn't truly follow the rules of early polyphony, it is definitely inspired by it - including a few of the more crunchy harmonies! I hope you enjoy it.

A woman wishes at a tree for a dove to guide her to love, but instead of the white dove she was expecting, she is met by a gray one, who explains to her that wisdom is needed in order to find true love.

I'd like to re-record for better audio quality sometime - I just grabbed the closest mic when I had the idea!

#folk #mediaeval #renaissance #celtic #traditional #acapella

Lyrics

Said the woman to the tree Send me your finest dove If he leads me to where I should be Then surely I soon will find love.

Bird appears like a speck on a cloud And unlike other birds
Gray like a blooming storm Not like the white dove she imagines

Gray is the color of wisdom my dear A voice emerged from the dove And what you seek truly is love Then you’ll need to lend wisdom an ear.

Comments

@chariotbaldwin 2025

you never cease to amaze me with your big thinking and ideas and concepts from mythology, various languages and other things.

I feel like a cavewoman - me write on rock about rock, rock song LOL

a very thoughtful lyric

@alyak72 2025

Love the vibes of this. It reminds me of quite a few different tracks from completely different genres, but you made something truly special here.

@chasingandromeda 2025

It's like this spooky, ethereal madrigal. Lovely and unsettling. The vocal is pillowing and somewhat liquid. Beautiful mix with each of the vocal lines peaking out from time to time. Sweet track.

@dudachris 2025

Oh wow! What a cool sound ❤️ I love how much variety there is in this community, so much 👂 🍬 (ear candy) of which this is a prime example!

@karlsburg25 2025

Ah this is beyond hautingly beautiful. I have written many celtic folk style songs in this style this year so this really hit my musical bones. Your voice is simply stunning. and i have a huge yearn to go listen to this in a huge reverby hall somewhere. It honestly takes you to a different place of beauty depth and soul