Farther Grasses from Winter Hare by The Rough & Tumble

A series of recently evacuated houses. An abandoned building in Fort Collins. A hospice facility in Eastern Ohio. The body of the person you love.
---
This song was written the day of my (Mallory's) father's birthday. I woke up at an abandoned house the morning before, where a friend had generously given us a plot of land to park on in Fort Collins, CO. When I was rounding the house amidst woods and grasses and field to get water, I came face to face, alone, with a stag. Just as it says in the song, we stood still watching one another for several moments before he ran off. I knew in that moment that it wasn't long til I would lose Tom forever, within the week. I felt the immediate shock and injustice of it being so close to my father's birthday-- a man who has no interest in me whatsoever celebrating his life as the man who took me as his own was losing his. I woke up the next day with this song falling out of me from a dream, where I saw both the stag and Tom again. There, and then fading into the Colorado landscape.

Tracklist

3.	Farther Grasses	3:06

Lyrics

“Farther Grasses”
Written by Mallory Graham & Scott Tyler ©2023 Penny Jar Publishing

V1
Day before my father’s birthday,
By a house that nobody lives in.
I took a bend on the heat of the path,
There stood a stag tall in the grass.
He looked at me, I looked at him,
He snorted once, turned and ran.

CH
Off into the Colorado grasses,
While I– I stayed the same.

V2
Morning of my father’s birthday–
I didn’t call him, but I’m sure he’s fine.
Then I heard back from our people,
They’re moving your body with your spirit inside
To a house that nobody lives in,
Where they rest and begin again.

CH
Off into those farther grasses
While I– I stay the same.

V3
When love leaves you get one more chance
To catch them in dreams and hold them in your hands,
To print their face on the firmament.
They’re just a house that nobody lives in,
No more birthdays.

CH
Off like a stag in those Colorado grasses,
Like a stag in those Colorado grasses–
Off into those farther grasses
While I– I stay the same.
I stay the same.
I stay the same.

Credits

from Winter Hare, releases November 2, 2025
Mallory Graham - vocals, baritone ukulele
Scott Tyler - vocals, acoustic guitar
Dave Coleman - upright bass
Erin Magnin - vocals, violin
Michael Natrin - vocals, high strung guitar

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