Old Pine

Absolutely incredible. Such a pure song. I'd say he's singing of his young teenage years; judging by the mentions of 'bony backs' 'memories' 'careless and young' and the references to growing old. It's like he's gone down to Cornwall or Devon for a camping trip and fallen in love with either someone or the experience itself. It's such an in-vocative song - and great to see a singer-songwriter actually choosing to write something about his personal experiences (that others can also relate too) rather than generic, 'popular' kind of stuff.

I can't see the lyrics. Me thinks there missing so here they are.

Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags, I've come to know that memories Were the best things you ever had The summer shone beat down on bony backs So far from home where the ocean stood Down dust and pine cone tracks

We slept like dogs down by the fire side Awoke to the fog where all around us The bloom of summertime

We stood Steady as the stars in the woods So happy-hearted And the warmth rang true inside these bones As the old pine fell we sang Just to bless the morning.

Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags, I've come to know the friends around you Are all you'll always have Smoke in my lungs, the echoed stone Careless and young, free as the birds that fly With weightless souls now.

We stood Steady as the stars in the woods So happy-hearted And the warmth rang true inside these bones We stood Steady as the stars in the woods So happy-hearted And the warmth rang true inside these bones As the old pine fell we sang Just to bless the morning.

We grow, grow, steady as the morning We grow, grow, older still We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn We grow, grow, older still We grow, grow, steady as the flowers We grow, grow, older still We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn We grow, grow, older still

i think its talking about his childhood memories and him going back to his home town and remembering the experience. its such a pure song and much better than most popular songs

JESUS, this song.......words cannot describe how much i adore it. reminds me of the spring break i spent camping in Marin county with my favorite people in the world. such happy memories, from such a happy song.

I was born and raised in Devon and Cornwall. Lived in Torpoint/Plymouth, Ben Howard was raised in Torquay Devon close to me. Now my guess from my experience would be he spent a lot of his time in Newquay or the coast line of whitsands near Torpoint.

The song describes my home and Bens home perfectly. Shore lines, beaches, dark cliff sides at night lite up by the cabins glow. The song is about his time before fame, time when he would go to these places with his friends and stare out at the sea. He felt like he had a spiritual connection with the place and that he was a guest among these beautiful sights. The song describes these places perfectly, Google freathy beach or whitsands and listen to the music and you'll see what I'm saying.

The songs meaning is a spiritual connection to a place he use to visit with friends as a young person. The song means a lot to me as I have moved away from the shire (the locals call the cliff lines of whitsands "the shire" symbolizing the beauty it holds and warm feeling of home) and I have come to realize the memories are the only things I have left of the place "I have come to realize that memories are the best things you'll ever have"

I completely disagreed that this song is about Devon/Cornwall. He grew up a surfer and this song reminds me of Hossegor surf trips as a youngster. The whole coast is one huge pine forest. A (stupid) tradition of surfers in the area is to push a huge pine tree over - they are rooted in sandy soil and are very easy to topple with a few people pushing. Hence "as the old pine fell". I can't think of many places in the west country which are famous for pine trees. Hossegor, however is!