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Fordville

by Daniel Snowden

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about

For the Helland Family.

I met Olga Helland for the first time in June of 2002. I was headed to Grafton, ND to help coach a basketball camp, but stopped to visit this small town nearby to see friends of mine who had grown up there. I remember much of it vividly and have carried those memories with me all these years - and they've come to mean more to me than I could have imagined. It's amazing how little things can happen, then you look back years later and realize that they were the big things; formative, grounding experiences.

"Grandma Olga" passed away on October 4, 2020 at the age of 99. While I didn't know her well, I adored her. She had a depth of gratitude and generosity in her presence that I can still feel and have carried with me all these years. I have an inexplicable connection to her. I knew her end was near without any contact with her family - I wrote her an "I hope we meet again" letter which I mailed September 29th. I sincerely hope to encounter that good grace of Grandma again.

Sitting down to put words to my experience, not just of her, but of that visit to Fordville with friends, I was surprised by how strong those emotions and memories came back to me. I had bits of lyrics and poems about North Dakota I had saved and added to through the years (and managed to find). It was time to go to work putting memory to music in hopes of capturing that experience and what it has meant to me as well as the nature of how a such experiences never stop growing in what they mean if we're willing to tend to them. I hope you find some meaning and joy in this musical memory.

lyrics

Fordville

Wide open fields just beyond the out of bounds
of your basketball court at the corner of town
Grain silo lighthouse above that sea of green
there was no way to know at the time what it might mean

Gathered lots of looks walkin' by the cafe'
givin' everyone there a bit to talk about that day
I lost playin' horse in the gym with Chuck, small town
home court advantage, I should've just given up.

A little bit of Fordville
breathed hope into me
with the breezes that blow through the shelter belt trees
The breeze that summer,
oh, I can feel it
In this life,
I am breathin'

I remember the welcome in her living room
and the crossword dictionary that I was thumbin' through
I'll take her juice and bars over bread and wine
Who'd a known sour cream and raisins could taste so divine

Been so long time since that time, that town
It all means more to me now – may it never fade in my mind

credits

released November 6, 2020
.
Thanks to Eric Glad and JD Cotton whose encouragement got me through the many frustrations of trying to self-produce a song.

Photo copyright www.fordvillecoop.com

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Daniel Snowden Seattle, Washington

Following his extensive prenatal exposure to 60s Rock’n’Roll, Daniel was born a poet in his pre-verbal head before learning language. His young, compulsive love for writing and poetry found their way into music at age 17. Daniel’s songs find meaningful balance between fallin’ down and gettin’ back up; tying soul-filled melody together with poetic imagery in hopes of capturing the unexpected. ... more

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