Witch in the Holler

Louis Garou is the newest addition to the Pagan Song blogging team. In this post, he shares his insights into songwriting in the Pagan Music genre, and gives the inside story of three of his songs: Rise up Lilith, Not this Time and My Other Side. Welcome, Louis!

I am a songwriter. I write, sing, and play my guitar a bit. I was raised and lived in the shadows and dark hollows (hollers) of Appalachia most of my life. A practicing Witch for over fifty years, I have taken what I observed, heard, and believed and written it into my songs. I call my music “Dark Americana”. It is about the side of life I live and believe. There are Witches, wolves, my demons, two cursed, continually reincarnated lovers and their constant battle to stay together, and of course the odd vampire or two… Songs of magic, heartbreak and eternal love. Even an anthem to Lilith… I write what I feel… 

How do I write songs?

The most frequent question I get about music is; “How do you write your songs?” For me it is easy, there is “magic all around us.” (Inside joke, Magic All Around Us is one of my song titles.)

Ideas for songs surround us. Mundane happenings, world news, neighborhood happenings and local history. The world, and our hearts and minds, are rich gathering places for ideas, for that spark of creativity… I will tell you how I wrote three of my favorite songs.

Rise up, Lilith

I wrote Rise up, Lilith because  I wanted to show my support to all my sisters fighting against the patriarchy… Against the inequality and the rape culture in our world. There is no better model for resistance and refusal of surrender than is told in the story of Lilith. “Take your Freedom, Take your stand.” That is the message of the lyrics. This is beyond a doubt my most requested and downloaded song. I am very proud of the message I was able to convey. The truth is, Lilith wrote it herself. As often is the case, I was a mere conduit.

Rise up, Lilith, rise up, away from god, away from man
Rise up, Lilith, rise up, You took your freedom, You took Your stand.

You said, “I bow to no man, I will lie beneath no man,
I refuse to take his orders.” You spread your wings and flew away
You cried, “Damn the men
And damn their god
to their Hel of smoke and flame.”
Rise up Lilith, rise up we sure could use You here again.
Rise up, Lilith, rise up, away from god, away from man
Rise up, Lilith, rise up, You took Your freedom, You took Your stand

You refused his subjugation
For this Sin You were surely Damned.
The truth is, You were never wrong.
And we all understand,
Resistance to the patriarch is strong and on the rise.
I see Women all around me, I see Lilith in their eyes.
Rise up, Lilith, rise up, away from god, away from man
Rise up, Lilith, rise up, You took Your freedom, You took Your stand
Rise up Women, rise up, away from god, away from man
Rise up Women, rise up, Take Your Freedom, take Your stand.

Rise Up, Lilith, by Louis Garou, available here on Bandcamp

Not this Time

Not this Time is a song about mortality and reincarnation. It is one of my songs about the cursed lovers, Darkness and Wolf.  It is one of two about one of their endless deaths. In this one She refuses to let Him die, “But not right now, not this time, No!” In my mind I saw this all play out. I could barely write fast enough to keep up with what I was experiencing. 

I had a dream last night, that I had died.
You stood by the bed. right here by my side…
You beat my chest, screamed and cried and raged on so
You said, I won’t let you leave this time…
You Always Go.

There’s a time when we all must go
A time of stillness, a time that we all know
But not right now, Not this time, No!

In the Darkness I saw your wings, black but ablaze
In their glow I saw your firey, fearsome face.
You took me there in the Darkness, so gently by the hand
And led me back to this Bright and Painful Land’

I’ve got a coin for the Ferry Man
I’ve got a coin to pay the Ferry Man
I didn’t need it this time, but I’ll be back this way again
I didn’t use it this time, but I’ll be back this way again

There’s a time when we all must go
A time of stillness, a time that we all know
But not right now, Not this time, No.

I’ve got a coin to pay the Ferry Man
I didn’t use it this time, but I’ll be back this way again
I didn’t use it this time, but I’ll be back this way again”

Not This Time by Louis Garou, available here on Bandcamp

I tried to capture Her pain and anger at Him for leaving Her yet again. None of us wants to be the one left behind… I also tried to capture His relief at being pulled back into the land of the living, painful though it was. It is painful to me, emotionally, to enter their minds and to feel what they feel and think, but it is the only way I can connect with them… I don’t know how normal that process is, but that is my way of capturing their essence. They both are alive in my mind, so perhaps, I exist in theirs…  I understand them, Wolf especially, for I feel His overwhelming Love for Her. I love Her as He does.

What do you do when you fall in Love with a creature from the Darkness? From the Other Side? What if She is a demon? Or a Goddess? I write about it…

My Other Side

I cannot always say how I write something… Some of my songs have come from vivid dreams… Some, I just sat down and decided I would write, but there are some like My Other Side. They are different. They come from another place.

A few years ago, I had moved into an old, empty cabin back in the East Tennessee mountains. I lit a candle,  built up a fire in the wood stove and pulled up a wooden chair, thinking about my life. I had a notebook and a pencil and some books in my bag. I guess I went to sleep. When I woke up, my notebook was open and this song was in it… It is my favorite of all my songs.

“I’d been living up here in my lonely cabin.
After the cold of the Winter came
I saw her outside, standing in the Shadows
She whispered, “Darkness is my name.”
I said, ” Come in and sit down by my fire.”
She seemed surprised I’d ask her in.
Then I blew out the single candle
So our conversation could begin

She said, “Why do you fear my Darkness?”
I said, ” Why do you fear the light?”
“You’re wrong” She said,” I don’t fear it…
It’s just My Other Side.”

We talked and talked until the morning
She laid her calloused hands on mine
She said, “Can I stay here in your dark cabin
While outside, my Brother brightly shines?
So we sat there in the darkness
Me, and a Goddess with a sad, beguiling laugh
And I began to embrace the shadows
She led me down a different path.

She said, “Why do you fear my Darkness?”
I said, ” Why do you fear the light?”
“You’re wrong” She said,” I don’t fear it…
It’s just My Other Side.”

I still live here on this cold mountain
When I’m lucky, She comes and visits me
I still blow out all my candles
She smiles and says, “You still remember me”

She says, “I see you don’t fear my Darkness anymore.
As I never feared the light.
You don’t have to fear it
It’s just Our Other Side.
It’s just Our Other side….
It’s just Our Other Side.”

My Other Side by Louis Garou, available here on Bandcamp

More thoughts on songwriting

I want to try to give you some tips on songwriting, as I work on writing. Although, I cannot explain “automatic writing,” as I mentioned on “Just my Other Side,” I can help a bit with something simple. Write about things you know. For instance, if you live in Kansas and have never been to the Ocean, perhaps it will be easier if you write about the beautiful land, the magic of the Wind and Sky, the hardships and toil of farming rather than to write songs about whales and Atlantis. HOWEVER, there are NO rules, if you feel moved to write about the Mother Ocean, do it! I am just offering my thoughts.

At first, keep it simple. My formula is write the lyrics first and then I write the music… Always do what serves you best and pleases you. You are quite likely to want to write the music first and then write the lyrics… Or write them simultaneously… There are NO rules.

I write about dreams, visions, and my beliefs. You can share your “self” as much or as little as you care to in your writing… I am proud to be called a feminist and I am very proud of one song that I have written that strongly explains my beliefs about Women’s true place in our world. It has very simple lyrics and music. It is my song to Lilith, that I mentioned earlier. Lilith is indeed needed these days. The female archetype who spoke an emphatic “No” to Adam and the Hebrew god. She is the embodiment of feminine resistance… We need Her now more than ever.

I hope these simple songwriting tips help and encourage you to pick up the pen and write. I don’t really know what else to tell you about my skewed, personal creative process. You’ll find your own path.

You can listen to and download most of my songs at my bandcamp site. You can friend and reach me on facebook at Louis Garou or follow me at Louis Garou musician/songwriter. Thank you for your time…      

For more information about Louis, including his collected articles here on Pagan Song, his bio, and links to Louis’ sites on the web, check out Louis’s author page here on Pagan Song.

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