Pim Stones: The Life We Could Have Had

And as all the leaves rustle above us,

And as all the cold buries our bones,

Rest your head onto my chest,

I'll tell you stories of the life we could have had.

We traveled to lands’ end and beyond,

Found ourselves a boat and sailed into the sun,

How we were happy

In the life we could have had.

The Life We Could Have Had: Lyricism

Pim Stones begins to sing mournfully, “Oh, tell me this isn’t true. Is this really the end?” He goes on to ask his lover to wait as he describes The Life They Could Have Had. The song tells a clear and romantic story: in the third stanza, the couple dances in the grass and reads books together; in the fifth, they made enough money to be happy, “and gave the rest away;” and in the last chapter of their story, they disappeared into the sunset.

This setting sun is important to the song, and this painting captures an ephemeral moment, soon to be forgotten. “Oh how we were happy,” he sings. The lovers stare into one another’s eyes. Repeatedly, the singer indicates the leaves rustling above the pair. Juxtaposing the evanescent moment the lovers are sharing, they are framed by the wisteria whose leaves hang above them, representing longevity and long life, as well as love and tenderness. Stones’ song conveys such a romantic story, that roses only seem appropriate to separate the characters from the foreground. Of course signifying romance and love, red rosebuds also mean purity and courage. Both the man and the woman mirror these qualities. The dress of the woman depicts traditional symbolism which is associated with the color white; she is stainless and pure. Her dress is also similar to those seen in medieval depictions, as is the man’s. Courage is shown through the chain mail, and chivalry through his stature beneath the woman. Embedded in the hilt of the character’s sword, a single, heart-shaped ruby rests on his left side. Generations have believed that rubies on the heart’s side would offer peace; further, rubies adorned swords or knives for protection. The level of story-telling and sadness in this song is reminiscent of canonical tales of love such as Romeo or Juliet. It seems fitting, therefore, to have knight and lady play the roles of happy lovers when imagining The Life They Could Have Had. Of course, the sun does have to set on their love story, as illustrated by the sky which has turned to stars around them. And just as every love story must say, “This is the end.”

The Life We Could Have Had: Chromesthetics

A theme shared by his other songs is especially apparent in this one: rising. The blocked, steady chords of this song establish a sense of a stilled point in time while the arpeggiation of the piano insists that time moves steadily along despite our most earnest wishes. Further expressing this idea is the relatively small range of voice that Pim utilizes. The vocal line of this song does not contain extreme low or high points; rather, he maintains a vocal melody that sits in one “pocket” as he simply tells this ballad. His limited range and wistfully still cadence permits the listener to feel as though time is slowed, or he is capturing just a moment.

The painting captures this all by implying a mistful stillness with winding light. Pim’s voice appears to me in this song as a sort of white mist that carries this story of unrequited love. Stones’ foggy vocals are a winding light and backdrop to the arpeggiated pink and blue notes that present themselves forward within the mix. Constantly appearing in my mind's eye as I listen to this song is the twinkling of stars. Perhaps this visual scape appears to me because of the “twinkling” nature of Pim’s trademark usage of piano arpeggiation layered on top of the still

blocked chords. As the music rises upward and forward, the emotion of the song is a desire to stand still in the arms of love for as long as the setting sun will permit.