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Dirty Frame

from The Way Down by Van Plating

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about

This is one of my favorite songs on the whole album! Some of my favorite lyrics I’ve ever written are encased in this little swampy rock song. I originally wrote this one on piano and when I brought it to Bryan, he was a little suspicious of whether it fit--and so was I! We talked about taking it in a Rolling Stones-ish direction when I got into the studio I threw the piano part onto the Rhodes, we kicked it live tracking a bunch of times til we got the feel and then everything naturally sprang from there. My absolute favorite lyrics I wrote in a rush one night and following morning during the session because it just felt like it wanted a second vocal layered under that chorus. And that particular lyric brings the story full circle. The song begins with me talking about myself as a little girl growing up with big dreams and how they gradually dimmed themselves to stya within the realm of what I had been told was possible for me. And then the chorus dives into the healing that can happen if we wake up as we grow up--life gets harder but you get stronger, and then that last lyrical portion is taken from an afternoon I was walking with my daughter on the hot sand one summer afternoon here in Florida. It was one of those heart-to-heart kind of moments. She was turning eleven. We talked about things we couldn’t have talked about a year before. She was so open about some things that were scary for her. I was so proud of her honesty and vulnerability. And we danced along the shore together. I wasn’t feeling well that day and she was holding my hand. I hope she always will. And I hope she never loses herself like her mother did. For years I’ve dreamed of writing a song that was empowering, but until this moment I never have felt it flow out of me. A lot has changed in order for that to happen and I don’t ever want to go back to fitting someone else’s idea of what my life should look like. Life has hit hard, we’ve all survived so much. We’re stronger than we think. Don’t look around at what other people are doing. Instead, keep looking up.

lyrics

Dirty Frame

I wanted to please God and my mother
I prayed my shoulders would grow wings
My long brown hair tangled in a curtain
While my mind learned to dream of safer things

Chorus1:

The years were tender and now they're tough
My arms are heavy, legs gone numb
My hair isn't brown now, it's turned to gold
I'm flying up higher
Closer to home
(Falsetto)

I wonder what would have happened
If I'd learned how to fly back then
A cosmic flame In a dirty frame
A symphony in teenage skin

Chorus 2:

The years were tender and now they're tough
My arms are heavy, legs gone numb
My hair isn't brown now, it's turned to gold
I'm flying up higher Closer to home


I called my daughter. She held my hand
white like sugar On burning sand
started singing through crooked teeth
Found our fire On shaky knees
Come on daughter Hold my hand
Flames get higher burning sand
Mirror’s broken and they can’t see


My body is grown now My heart doesn't know
The flames' getting higher She's a phoenix of gold
The years were tender and now they're tough
My arms are heavy, legs gone numb
My hair isn't brown now, it's turned to gold
I'm flying up higher Closer to home

called my daughter She held my hand
white like sugar On burning sand
started singing through crooked teeth
Found our fire On shaky knees
Come on daughter Hold my hand
Flames get higher burning sand
Mirror’s broken and they can’t see
We found our rhythm on shakey knees

The years were tender and now they're tough
My arms are heavy, legs gone numb
My hair isn't brown now, it's turned to gold
I'm flying up higher Closer to home
My body is grown now My heart doesn't know
The flames' getting higher She's a phoenix of gold

I called my daughter She held my hand
white like sugar On burning sand
started singing through crooked teeth
Found our fire On shaky knees
Come on daughter Hold my hand
Flames get higher burning sand
Mirror’s broken and they can’t see
We found our rhythm on shakey knees

credits

from The Way Down, track released November 19, 2021

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Van Plating Lakeland, Florida

Critically acclaimed indie americana artist and multi-instrumentalist Van Plating has a rugged vulnerability uniquely hers ─ fermented in the orange groves and hot verdant summers of the sunshine state.

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