Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In his signature “Stable Song,” singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov uses gemstone and pr
He sings, “Ring like crazy, ring like hell / Turn me back into that wild haired gale / Ring like silver, ring like gold / Turn these diamonds straight back into coal / Turn these diamonds straight back into coal.”
In the YouTube clip below, Isakov introduces the song by telling a live audience that “The Stable Song” is a poem “about everything.”
In our interpretation, the artist seems to be unable to deal with the stress that comes with success. He’s under tremendous pressure to compose something perfect (diamond) and, instead, decides to return home where he can get back to basics (coal) and recapture the energy of his youth.
Written by Isakov, “The Stable Song” was the second track of his 2007 debut album, That Sea, The Gambler. The song also returned as the fourth track of the artist’s 2016 collaboration with the Colorado Symphony.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, raised in Philadelphia and now calling Colorado home, the 37-year-old Isakov has been traveling most of his life. His songs tell the story of his time on the road and his constant yearning for a sense of place. Music critics have described him as “strong, subtle, a lyrical genius.”
Isakov is currently on a 16-city tour with stops in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana and Wyoming.
Please check out the video of his 2012 live performance at The Bing Lounge in Portland, Ore. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“The Stable Song” Written and performed by Gregory Alan Isakov.
Remember when our songs were just like prayer Like gospel hymns that you called in the air Come down, come down sweet reverence Unto my simple house and ring… and ring
Ring like silver, ring like gold Ring out those ghosts on the Ohio Ring like clear day wedding bells Were we the belly of the beast, or the sword that fell? We’ll never tell
Come to me, clear and cold On some sea Watch the world spinning waves Like that machine
Now I’ve been crazy, couldn’t you tell? I threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell Now I’m covered up in straw, belly up on the table Well I drank and sang, and I passed in the stable
That tall grass grows high and brown Well I dragged you straight in the muddy ground And you sent me back to where I roam Well I cursed and I cried, but now I know Now I know
And I ran back to that hollow again The moon was just a sliver back then And I ached for my heart like some tin man When it came, oh it beat and it boiled and it rang Oh, it’s ringing
Ring like crazy, ring like hell Turn me back into that wild haired gale Ring like silver, ring like gold Turn these diamonds straight back into coal Turn these diamonds straight back into coal