Act 1 · Track 02

The Rod and the River

A father trying to describe something his sons may or may not see.

pov

a father, recounting his vision

genre

Modern Indie Folk

key & meter

D Dorian · 6/8

scripture

1 Nephi 8

Lyrics

Intro

(Fingerpicked acoustic, sus2 chords, no resolution)

Verse 1

I dreamed a field, and a tree in the middle

White as anything I've ever seen

And I knew before I tasted

What it was meant to mean

There was a rod beside a river

Iron, cold, and straight, and long

And a mist came up from the water

Thick enough to lose someone

Pre-Chorus

And I held on

Chorus

Oh my sons, I wanted you to see it

Oh my sons, I tasted of the fruit

And it was sweet

Above all I have ever known to be sweet

(Listeners: ahh, ahh)

Oh my sons, won't you come

Verse 2

There was a building, great and spacious

Hanging in the air above the field

Full of fingers pointed downward

Full of laughter I could feel

And I watched some let go of the iron

And I watched some never start

And I called your names across the water

But the mist was in my heart

Pre-Chorus

And I held on

Chorus

Oh my sons, I wanted you to see it

Oh my sons, I tasted of the fruit

And it was sweet

Above all I have ever known to be sweet

(Listeners: ahh, ahh)

Oh my sons, won't you come

Bridge

(Full ensemble swell, strings climbing)

Two of you reached me

Two of you held the rod

Two of you stayed in the building

And I am calling, I am calling, I am calling

Down the line

(Strip back to guitar and voice)

Verse 3

I am old now, and the desert is wide

And I do not know who is coming

I dreamed a field, and a tree in the middle

And I am still standing

I am still standing

With my hand out

(no resolution — final chord sustains unresolved)

Behind the Song

Reaching for something he cannot quite hold

A father trying to describe a vision is reaching for something he can’t fully grasp — and the song was written to feel like that reaching. Tension that won’t quite settle. The only word that lands fully is ‘fruit,’ which is the only thing in the vision he actually tasted.

‘I held on’ is the iron rod without naming it

The vision’s iron rod becomes a memory of a verb. The father is telling his sons what he did, hoping they’ll do the same. The pre-chorus is the rod, transposed into testimony.

Two and two

The bridge counts the sons by what they did, not by name. Two reached the tree. Two held the rod. Two stayed in the building. That ratio is the wound this song carries — and the album, after.

Unresolved by design

The song ends suspended because the question is suspended. The father does not know who will come. He is still standing, with his hand out. The same unresolved feeling will return decades later in ‘The Last Blessing,’ the song where he finally dies — and there, it will end differently.