1983 Little Laurel
Little Laurel, written by Mark Fielding Darden in 1983, Raleigh NC
Copyright #PAu 845-034; May 16, 1986
I had just finished writing this lovely little finger-picking melody when a girl I knew asked me to write a song about her dog. She gave me a poem which provided the framework for me to build the lyrics. As you may know, you can’t just plug words into a melody. You have to match the song metrically, figure out the rhyme pattern, and edit the ideas to fit the length of the song.
As it turned out, years later I found a little dog while fishing and took her home, just like the video says. I had only done that once before (with Pud, an amazing dog) but swore I’d never do it again. But I did. She fit right in with our two brown dobies and cats, but like most hound dogs, she was a bit hard-headed. She’d run right through the underground electric collar fence we had and wonder each time why she got shocked. Duh.
But she wasn’t stupid. Just look at her face in the title slide in the video. Full of adventure, she was. I loved her all the way to the end, and her end was just like that of the dog in the poem. At least now she has a place in history. Teri’s dog was named Laurel. My dog’s name (the hound in the video) was Isabelle.
Mfd: vocals, guitar, song, video (2022)
Teri Houck: poem of inspiration
Recorded in the kitchen of the Choke Monkey Lounge before the garage was converted. Four track Teac did the job.
Copyright #PAu 845-034; May 16, 1986
I had just finished writing this lovely little finger-picking melody when a girl I knew asked me to write a song about her dog. She gave me a poem which provided the framework for me to build the lyrics. As you may know, you can’t just plug words into a melody. You have to match the song metrically, figure out the rhyme pattern, and edit the ideas to fit the length of the song.
As it turned out, years later I found a little dog while fishing and took her home, just like the video says. I had only done that once before (with Pud, an amazing dog) but swore I’d never do it again. But I did. She fit right in with our two brown dobies and cats, but like most hound dogs, she was a bit hard-headed. She’d run right through the underground electric collar fence we had and wonder each time why she got shocked. Duh.
But she wasn’t stupid. Just look at her face in the title slide in the video. Full of adventure, she was. I loved her all the way to the end, and her end was just like that of the dog in the poem. At least now she has a place in history. Teri’s dog was named Laurel. My dog’s name (the hound in the video) was Isabelle.
Mfd: vocals, guitar, song, video (2022)
Teri Houck: poem of inspiration
Recorded in the kitchen of the Choke Monkey Lounge before the garage was converted. Four track Teac did the job.
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Creativity