I was raised in a garden, and I'm not talking about cabbage patch kid style. My Dad is Dr. Jerry Parsons, a horticulturist in Texas. I have many childhood memories of wishing I was somewhere playing with my friends instead of working in the dirt. As I got older, this shifted. I wanted to help, and I understood the connection. It was his great joy and passion, and he opened my eyes to see nothing like it. So, one day, many years and miles away from said moment and place, I was sitting in my kitchen in East Nashville, starting to write and looking for inspiration, when my neighbor walked by the window. She had all her gardening gear and looked like she meant business. She immediately got to work. They had a fantastic garden, and she oversaw everything. Her name was and still is Brielle. Very wonderful person. Anyway, it immediately got me thinking of my father and our gardening adventures, which led me to think about what gardening does for us psychologically. It got my wheels turning and wondering what was going on in her life. How did that affect how she took care of the garden? How did that affect how she nurtured her own needs? Would both be affected in the process? So, when you listen to this song, think about your mental health and well-being as the garden and how you would work to make that grow.
Extra snippet:
Brielle, our gardener neighbor friend, once said at a New Year's Eve party after someone had played a song that “no one had ever written a song about her,” to which I replied, “That's not entirely true.” I hope y'all enjoy “The Garden.”
Lyrics
Yeah tell me what's growing there in your garden
Does it whither when you're feeling blue
Yeah I see from where I am that your garden is thriving
And I hope that that means you are too
Yeah I hope that that means you are too
What's hanging round there in your sky
Oh how's the weather where you stay
You can tell the talk is small we don't ever talk at all
Well I guess we never knew just what to say
Look to your feet for common ground
Do you think they'll ever get you close
Yeah well I only ask cuz we're all off and on this path yeah
Just planting seeds to reap what we have sown
So tell me what's growing there in your garden
Does it whither when you're feeling blue
Yeah I see from where I am that your garden is thriving
And I hope that that means you are too
Yeah I hope that that means you are too
I see you looking for the sun
I feel you countin' on the rain
Yeah I don't know what it means, but I can see you on your knees
And I hope for your sake everything's okay
So tell me what's growing there in your garden
Does it whither when you're feeling blue
Yeah I see from where I am that your garden is thriving
And I hope that that means you are too
Yeah I hope that that means you are too
It's virtuous to say the least
You try and fail and try again
Yeah I hope that you know this it never went unnoticed
Cuz hard work always pays off in the end
Yeah well patience always pays off in the end
So tell me what's growing there in your garden
Does it whither when you're feeling blue
Yeah I see from where I am that your garden is thriving
And I hope that means you are too