Christian was having the worst week.

A laggard tropical storm knocked some once-mighty trees clean over. 

The first fell on his car. Crunch.

The second scalped the shingles and insulation right off the roof above the bedroom.

The power lines snapped. And that was just DAY ONE. 

A few days later his truck engine wouldn’t turn over.

His washer machine broke in the middle of a load. 

(Christian is my brother-in-law, by the way.)

“Please write a song called Trees, Trucks, and Appliances," he wrote to me. "I won't mind if it's heavy metal-ish and you just scream the whole time. No words needed, just scream."

I actually accepted the challenge. Sorta.

Trees, Trucks, and Appliances has the ring of a lonesome Country ballad, right?

I wrote a song called “Margarette" instead.

I think it’s my only song featuring steel drums, kalimba, and prepared-guitar (which just means I stuck crumpled paper between the strings to make them clack and buzz in funny ways).

And of course it’s not really about Christian. I just poached the details from his hellish week. 

What do YOU think happened? 

I like to write story songs. That usually means there’s a middle and there's an end. Or at least a middle and… a little further down the road.

But part of what I like in other people’s songwriting are the gaps in the story. 

So for “Margarette” I left spaces for you. 

What do you think is wrong with these people? What are his motivations? Are they cautiously rekindling a marriage? Did they lose someone? Did his ambition build a wall between them? 

I have a vague idea, but it’s really only that.

The one thing I tried to make clear is that there can be a bit of heroism in giving up on dreams that no longer serve you. That, and if a tree knocks your roof off, you’ll at least have a year’s worth of firewood. 

Credits

Rob Flax - Strings

Peter Rodocker - Drums

Chris Robley - vocals, guitar, kalimba, steel drum, synths & keyboards

Engineered by Chris at home.

Drums and lead-synth engineered by Peter Rodocker at Yellow Room Recording (Portland, Oregon).

Mixed and mastered by Peter Rodocker.

Cover photo taken by Kimberly Loomis.