It still snows after December EP
Out Now
Spotify, apple music, Youtube, etc.
available everywhere
Track List
Track One — When my father was a Boy
Track Two — Heavenly Roads
Track Three — The Road of Song (Interlude)
Track Four — I keep count on my Body
Track Five — The Crows
follow Bekka Madeleine on
TikTok
and YouTube
for further updates.
The EP opens with the gospel-esque When my father was a Boy, a song that considers the virtues and vices of religion through the lens of a true story, and then transitions seamlessly into the rousing Heavenly Roads. The production on this song is shockingly immersive, drawing the listener into a decadent nightmare world of Gatsby-type parties, constant amusement, and ever-deepening pockets. The next track, The Road of Song (interlude), evolves the party’s atmosphere as the hostess gives an unexpected speech that bleeds into a simple and beautiful melody featuring Bekka Madeleine’s classical vocal training. The theme of hope is recurring, in particular what it does and does not promise. I keep count on my Body is the ballad of the EP. Completely acoustic, Bekka Madeleine’s voice is all that is needed to convey the despair and self-loathing of a person who remembers too much and regrets everything. Ultimately, It Still Snows After December concludes on a bittersweet note with The Crows, which is a song about the human condition that challenges the listener to consider their demons and to escape them.
It Helps to Remember…
Bekka Madeleine’s debut EP, It still snows after December, is a five-song record that explores relevant themes with powerful vocals and a maturity beyond the young artist’s years. Built around the concept of the melancholic “post-holiday let-down,” this project contains a strong narrative that spans those cold, early months of the year when it feels still too gray to change and start anew. Reminiscent of Kate Bush, Hozier, and Sting’s If on a Winter’s Night…, Bekka Madeleine’s It still snows after December provides a new and thoughtful take on old worries, and continues the tradition of provocative and poetic music for her generation.
….That it still snows after December
This post-holiday journey: A Six part Story
The Lyrics, the Words, and all that is heard
I keep count on my Body
I keep count on my body
you left me in the snow
the light had just turned green
but I was busy feeling guilty
for not living in my teens
in hindsight it was dumb
all those afternoons sleeping
and the school days spent all worried
for some future I don’t believe in
I keep count on my body
I pretend I am an aging soldier
kneeling on the ground
about to find out what there is
beyond the reach of God
but then I come back to the city
and I come back to the lights
and I know I’m not at the end yet
cause I’ll always be too scared to try
I keep count on my body
I know why you left me
and why you said it when you did
just when the lights were changing
so it’d distract me for a bit
I wouldn’t stay if I were you
I wouldn’t come along
if I could choose
trust me
I’d be long and so far gone
so who am I to judge
who am I to judge
I’m not the freezing ocean
I’m not even God
who am I to judge
who am I to judge
who am I to judge
I’m not even God
I keep count on my body
so who am I to judge
who am I to judge
I’m not the freezing ocean
I’m not even God
I keep count on my body
When my father was a Boy
if the winter nights implore you
to go write another book
to find reasons for existence
and to fall sink, line, and hook
if the snow’s glow under moonlight
gives you chills by light of day
and the church bells seem to haunt you
find a synagogue to pray
when my father was a boy
he asked his rabbi about god
that was the day he stopped believing
what his saturday school taught
faith is fickle in those hurting
and is vicious in the cruel
I grew up believing
believing nothing
except in my love for you
if Abraham would turn for cities
but would keep faith for his son
if there is no pious cruelty
then where will the line be drawn
in the holy wars of modern
in the ancient days of rest
from sodom and from gomorrah
up into the cuckoo’s nest
when my father was a boy
he asked his rabbi about god
that was the day he stopped believing
what his saturday school taught
faith is fickle in those hurting
and is vicious in the cruel
I grew up believing
believing nothing
except in my love for you
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, Meshane habriyot
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, Meshane habriyot
when my father was a boy
he asked his rabbi about god
that was the day he stopped believing
what his saturday school taught
faith is fickle in those hurting
and is vicious in the cruel
I grew up believing
believing nothing
except in my love for you
The Crows
does the tangerine smoke rise for you?
or for the murder of crows in your living room?
as they perch on the beds
as they circle your head
they’ll live on and on
until you are dead
and you take them with you
or you let them outlive you
if you wish to, darling, light the incense
and you’ll see their shadows on the walls
if the human stain makes its mark at all
shake it off, shake it off
one day, I promise freedom
one day, I promise peace
one day, I promise you a pure snow
and from the crows a final release
is Dante your secret hidden haven?
as you watch feathers settle down onto the floor
do you dream of bells
and of riders from hell
when life ends with a sigh
and the damned raise their sails
as you fly higher than wings can take you
and the crows stay below and watch you
if you wish to, darling, light the incense
and you’ll see their shadows on the walls
if the human stain makes its mark at all
shake it off, shake it off
one day, I promise freedom
one day, I promise peace
one day, I promise you a pure snow
and from the crows a final release
dancing in the wind
screaming of sun
monstrous flowers
emerge to devour
like the sea grew claws
like the sky grew tall
lead me further
and lead me higher
would that I escape
but for the crows beneath me
the vines are growing
as though they’re fire
who I will leave behind
and I will never see again
if you wish to, darling, light the incense
and you’ll see their shadows on the walls
if the human stain makes its mark at all
shake it off, shake it off
one day, I promise freedom
one day, I promise peace
one day, I promise you a pure snow
and from the crows a final release
Heavenly Roads
winter’s a ready moment
for enduring souls like us, like us
the wind has lost its calm
the lover’s lost her touch, her touch
I’ve wanted you a life time long
I’ve needed you for more
the rich live for the summer
the winter’s for the poor
pull your cashmere sweater off
bathe in the kitchen sink
put every dime onto a tab
then pour yourself a drink
I’d dive off stage if I had thought
there’d be a chance that I’d be caught*
by a someone more near
by a someone more dear
than a champagne chandelier
hanging from the ceiling
I never planned to live for long
there simply wasn’t time
the oldest thought I ever had
was that of finally dying
I wanted you when life was hard
when wanting was a chore
but now the winter’s settling in
the clock’s run out, for sure
pull your cashmere sweater off
bathe in the kitchen sink
put every dime onto a tab
then pour yourself a drink
I’d dive off stage if I had thought
there’d be a chance that I’d be caught
by a someone more near
by a someone more dear
than a champagne chandelier
hanging from the ceiling
where melancholy reigns
there desire is exiled
snowless winter rain
leaves me broken and beguiled
have you ever felt the emptiness
of music dry and penniless
when great literature is meritless
and everything feels endless?
heaven is a far way away
and the road to it is icy
pull your cashmere sweater off
bathe in the kitchen sink
put every dime you own onto a tab
then pour yourself a drink
I’d dive off stage if I had thought
there’d be a chance that I’d be caught
by a someone more near
by a someone more dear
than a champagne chandelier
hanging from the ceiling
The Road of Song
(spoken)
people are always worse
than what we want them to be
and always a bit better
than cynics think they are
but hope is not a performance
or a political strategy
it is a decision made that has no
moral or tactical value
beyond the confines of your conscious body
a lack of hope does not free you
from your social contract
neither does the presence of it
allow you to sit back and believe
it’s all about those unanswerable questions
it’s about this angry, little world
and what you decide to do in it.
(sung)
and if I go before you
I won’t be gone for long
I’ll be waiting
just waiting
beyond the road of song
and if I go before you
I won’t be gone for long
I’ll be waiting
just waiting
beyond the road of song
is living a thing you do?
or are we cod
and God’s the moon
who decides
where we reside?
the waves or the fishes
making their wishes
