Sometimes when you read old literature it’s easy to feel detached. I find a lot of it hard to identify with worlds so far removed from modern life. That certainly wasn’t the case as I read the journal entries from 1800’s preservationists John Muir. His love for nature and ability to describe the early national parks through words was unparalleled. As He wrote about the fact that we all dwell under the same night sky as if it were one big house, it really grabbed me as unifying. As a song began to develop out of this idea I started thinking about the most common living thing in the forest, a tree. The importance of one single tree although cemented in place by earth was something I could truly identify with. Most of us are as common as a tree, feeling trapped where we’ve been planted but our ability to stand together is perhaps what makes us unique. We’re all in this together!
“In such places standing alone on the mountaintop it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make — leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone — we all dwell in a house of one room — the world with the firmament for its roof — and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track.” – John Muir
In the fall of 2015 some friends at Dreambear Productions collaborated with Italian illustrator Emanuele Kabu to create an animated world behind the music. The song’s meaning was born out of a hope for togetherness with all walks of life and unification with the great outdoors. Here is what they came up with and I’ve never been more excited to share a single piece of artwork.
-Dan
P.S.- I’m a bear.