FAWM: "Don't Know Why"

Don't Know Why

Liner Notes

Hello all. Here's a little acoustic thing just to get one on the board.

We're having a heatwave down here (38°C today), so excuse the fact I'm half-melted.

#folk

Lyrics

the bird when it greets the dawn
the cry when a baby's born
they don't know why they don't know why

the wag of a spaniel's tail
the sigh of a stranded whale
they don't know why they don't know why

but we'll get it all explained
with our big old monkey brains
we must know why we must know why

but i'm making tea for two
i still talk to the plants for you
i don't know why i don't know why

i put out the fire and watch the embers glow
with nothing to hold to how do i let go?
i don't know

we say that we understand
it's all part of a greater plan
or we could say i don't know why

i dream of us hand in hand
our toes in the ocean sand
me and you and you and i
i don't know why i don't know why

Comments

@crisp1 2d

Really nice folk music and wonderful singing. A casual listener might almost think it's a children's song, but the lyrics are fully adult -- nothing a kid would understand. "with nothing to hold to how do i let go?" -- beautiful writing.

@fearlessflight2014 5d

This is so damned lovely I’ve played it 3 times in a row. Wow. I have no words, I just want to linger on yours.

@catmisgivings 5d

gosh, this is beautiful. your soaring vocals capture the ache of loss in the lyrics

@greengrassgirl 1w

I love this song. Your voice and your music are wonderful, and your video shows a calmness that I envy! Nice work!

@judypie 1w

Hey Mike! I was happy to see this is a video since the embedded player ain’t working for us iPhone users at the mo!
It was so lovely to hear you again and honestly, FAWM is not FAWM without your inimitable style! Your tuneful voice evokes the warmest fawm memories and this is no exception to the rule❤️ Do I want to hear you do a rap? YES MAYBE. But also, I will be very happy taking in more of this goodness too 😁

@paulhenry 1w

Oh Mike, this is just beautiful. And what makes it, what puts it all together, are the two words at the end that aren't in the written lyrics!

@autoclamp 2w

Was enjoying the bittersweet and lovely tone of the song and meant to say so... and then the bridge took my legs out from under me so I'm just going to lay here for a bit if that's all right. I believe my reaction is the same as yours at the end there. Oof.

@sunnymae 2w

Ahh...there you are. I always take the deepest breath when I hear you sing. Even when you're melting down there! Your playing is sublime and these lyrics speak to so many scenarios, dreams, all the things we question and ponder. Lovely, lovely as always, Mike.

@eas3637 2w

This is gorgeous, Mike - the melody, the simplicity and depth of the lyrics - the "twist of the knife" turnaround in the "tea for two" verse is just killer.

@chasingandromeda 2w

Ah, a beautiful sense and delivery of longing. And I really never get tired of hearing your voice. Lovely start.

@hanley 2w

Wonderfully intimate sensibility here, as always.
So many whimsical images flying through you, and your guitar sings just as sweetly as you do!

@sailingmagpie 2w

Yeah, its currently 3ºc here, so pretty much the same.

Love those arpeggios moving up and down the fretboard and your choice of melody lines . I presume you played the piano part either your feet?

@afterschoolclub 2w

This is really lovely Mike. Great to finally see you as a real live human too! So impressive to play this through to camera as well. Melodically beautiful and lyrically thought provoking. Beautiful stuff.

@adforperu 2w

Welcome back, my man. 38C, yikes, I'd be slipping off the strings. Anyway, this is suitably gorgeous - the rising and falling guitar line is giving me slight Blackbird vibes. Gorgeous lyrics and melody, as always. Impressive piano line played with your feet, too.

@mdavisto 2w

My god, you're beautiful outside too.

You've a gift for turns of phrases, and a lovely voice. Who is playing the keys tho?

@susyblue 2w

Oh you got a big old monkey brain yourself, such good writing damn

@leepat 2w

hello Mike, good to hear and see you again, with the trademark tinge of (half-melted) pain and the counterpoint animal parade. sweet sorrow as always.

@thedutchwidows 2w

Voice and guitar sounding delightful, as always. The lift in every second verse is just so, so nice. A lovely little bit of piano near the end. You look pretty cool for 38°C, I'd be a sweaty mess...

@beacon 2w

Amazing stuff here. Your voice gets me every time, and the guitar playing is so full. It just makes me so happy to hear a song from you. Thanks for getting on the board and stay cool (it's more like -13C here!)

@laurenoxford 2w

oh how i have missed that voice!!!

(full stream-of-consciousness here)

hard to say something that hasn't already been said by your legion of adoring fans and community (new merch idea: a mug that says "mike debenham's #1 fan" which i will purchase immediately along with your book), but the two lines that took my breath away were "i still talk to the plants for you" and "with nothing to hold to how do i let go?" just stunning poetry here, as always, with that effortless balance of sadness and whimsy. you sang it slightly differently at the end that what was written, but what a gift to hear "i don't know why i know" as the very last thing you leave us with. devastating and hopeful!!! how do you do it!!!!

i loved the subtle addition of piano for that little lift as well. you are a songwriter's songwriter, my friend! i sure hope to hear more from you this month

@nationalcat 2w

Lovely song! I can see this in some act one scene for a musical honestly. Really impressed by the singing/finger picking and keeping it so steady! When the piano comes in *chefs kiss*

@miltz 2w

Good stuff, Mike. Happy to hear this, and I hope you find time for more.

And I like to imagine you were playing the piano part with your toes in real time.

@richardmasters 2w

This is a brilliant song, every word so well chosen and placed - beautiful.

@spinhead 2w

oh dear. "with nothing to hold to how do i let go?" crushed me. real tears. (I blame hormone replacement therapy, 'cause I don't just go 'round crying about songs.)

so very lovely. poignant.

our February has hit 85ºF (30ºC) which is, I must say, unfair.

@thelowestbitter 2w

this is lovely, so much to pick out, but I particularly like the vocal leap in "I put out the fire and watch the embers glow" and the extra piano really elevates it. Off to a great start

@coolparadisoMod 2w

Lovely song Mike, hot up here as well mate! Great emotion throughout! Yup we must but never will know!

@oddbod 2w

Judging by the expression of relief at the end that clearly that took more efforts of concentration than it appeared while you were performing 🙂
Lovely stuff Mike

@lcad 2w

Wonderful to hear your voice again. Great lyrics and really probe that sense of loss and irreplacement. Welcome back, can't wait to hear more!

@ductapeguyMod 2w

Beautiful, sad, haunting, and oh so cinematic.

@melissacapezio 2w

Wow. This was absolutely beautiful. My favorite line is, "I still talk to the plants for you." Gosh there are so many things I still do like that but I don't know why. Or I do know, but it's a bit mad sounding. Anyway, this song seems simple, but it's themes and questions are so brilliantly complex, and I love that you don't try to answer. Thanks so much for this one, I really enjoyed it.

@bradbrubaker 2w

Wasn't expecting the first person twist to bring the slightly whimsical cosmic observations down to earth. Adds a sadness to it.

@deena 2w

Beautiful!!! So lovely to see you, too. (I don't know why I heard some piano playing off screen.... I don't know why! Another of life's mysteries.) This is a wonder-ful song.

@philnorman 2w

Gentle, evocative, human. What is that mystery that connects us, and why do we love to write and sing about it?

I enjoyed the throat clearing "whew" at the end, snapped me out of my reverie. Or maybe you should have left me there.

@andyr 2w

A spellbinding and wonderful missive about the merits of embracing the unknowable. The line about the "sigh of a stranded whale" (who doesn't know why) absolutely killed me - softly. And I love the lift in that bridge-style section. Just great..