I’ve had “Hebron” as a title for a while now. In fact, the first album was originally going to be called Hebron. Sonically, somewhat inspired by Bon Iver’s “Holocene” and Novo Amor’s “Haven” but I am limited in what I can do musically, so for better or worse it just sounds like me. It’s gone through a couple of iterations but the current one on the album involves amazing banjo work from Bob Witchger. His addition makes the song.
For the uninitiated, Hebron is located in the mountains near Boone, NC consisting of these giant boulders and waterfalls that hikers and students frequent. I’ve probably been there like a hundred times.
Hebron always seemed like a spiritual place, at least to me. I tried to reflect some of that in the lyrics. I’d often spend time there hanging with friends and family, meditating and absorbing nature to calm away worries of the day. The song has lines about falling which can be taken a few ways but sorta pokes fun about how the rocks are often slippery and I’ve literally had to catch myself a few times to avoid injury.
“Hebron” is about a lot of things but at its core it’s about finding peace with yourself.
Tuning: Standard, Capo 3
IRSC: QZK6K2519370
Lyrics:
The rocks in the river
Where we bounced between
Like light through the trees
I’m not a religious man
But I talked to god
That time I caught myself on the edge
And we sat for hours, without saying a word
Just taking it in, my friend
And the Sun had given up
But I remained
On the rocks of Hebron
On the rocks of Hebron
Those were these days
Where I finally felt
At peace when I had been so uneasy
I slipped and fell
But managed to save
My face on the way down
And now the leaves have given way
The forest is empty and cold
The sun was giving up
But I remained
On the rocks of Hebron
On the rocks of Hebron
And we sat for hours, without saying a word
Just taking it in, my friend
And the Sun had given up
But I remained
On the rocks of Hebron
On the rocks of Hebron
On the rocks of Hebron
On the rocks of Hebron
Hazen James 