Track 06 — The Tender Tree

SONG OVERVIEW

Title: The Tender Tree Album Position: Track 6 Act: II - The Women Role: The aftermath - the withering

Caption: Sent away until the talk died down. Robbed of what only death can restore. Dry sorrow drinks her blood.

Style: Sparse folk, mournful, female vocals, slow, acoustic guitar, cello, ethereal, grief-laden, atmospheric, fading, haunting, minimal

Runtime Target: 3:30-4:00

FINAL LYRICS

[Sparse Intro]
. . . . . .
. . . . .

[Verse 1]
They sent me far away
Until the talk died down
I came back like a stranger
As from a long visit

[Verse 2]
My heart a fortress
Captured, sacked, and left
The charm of life has ended
The desire has failed

[Chorus]
I am the tender tree
The pride and beauty of the grove
Graceful in form
Bright in leaf
But the worm preys at my heart
And I am withering

[Instrumental Break]
. . . . . .

[Verse 3]
My rest is broken now
Sleep poisoned by dreams
Dry sorrow drinks my blood
Until my body sinks

[Verse 4]
They'll say it was a chill
Some casual disease
But no one knows the malady
That made me easy prey

[Chorus]
I am the tender tree
The pride and beauty of the grove
Graceful in form
Bright in leaf
But the worm preys at my heart
And I am withering

[Bridge]
Robbed of what only death restores
Shedding leaf by leaf
I fall in the stillness of the forest
And no one knows the cause

[Final Verse - whispered/fading]
A departed spirit
Cries out for vengeance
From the silence of the grave
From the silence...

[Mournful Outro]
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .

[Fade to End]

SOURCE MATERIAL FROM THE NAUVOO EXPOSITOR

All lyrics are grounded in the Preamble of the Nauvoo Expositor, June 7, 1844. This song draws particularly heavily from the Expositor’s own language - the original writers were remarkably eloquent in describing the women’s devastation.

Sent Away

“they are sent away for a time, until all is well; after which they return, as from a long visit”

The Captured Heart

“Her lot is to be wooed and want her heart is like some fortress that has been captured, sacked, abandoned, and left desolate”

The End of Joy

“the desire of the heart has failed—the great charm of existence is at an end”

The Withering

“Her rest is broken. The sweet refreshment of sleep is poisoned by melancholy dreams; dry sorrow drinks her blood, until her enfeebled frame sinks”

The Tender Tree Metaphor

“She is like some tender tree, the pride and beauty of the grove—graceful in its form, bright in its foliage, but with the worm praying at its heart; we find it withered when it should be most luxuriant. We see it drooping its branches to the earth, and shedding leaf by leaf until wasted and perished away, it falls in the stillness of the forest”

The Cover Story

“you will be told of some wintry chill, of some casual indisposition that laid her low! But no one knows of the mental malady that previously sapped her strength”

What Was Taken

“robbed of that which nothing but death can restore”

The Cry for Justice

“A departed spirit, once the resident of St. Louis, shall yet cry aloud for vengeance”

LYRIC-TO-SOURCE MAPPING

PRODUCER NOTES

What This Song Does

• Completes the women’s trilogy: journey (Track 4) → coercion (Track 5) → aftermath (Track 6)
• Gives voice to the silent suffering the Expositor describes
• Honors the “departed spirit” from St. Louis - a real woman who died
• The song structure mirrors the withering: each section gets quieter, sparser, fading

Key Production Decisions

1. Almost entirely direct quotes - The Expositor’s language is devastatingly poetic. I restructured their words into singable lines but changed very little.
2. Sparse arrangement - This needs to feel empty, hollow, fading. Acoustic guitar and cello only. No full band.
3. The song withers as it progresses - Gets quieter, slower, sparser toward the end
4. Ends in silence - The outro fades to nothing, mirroring her disappearance from history

The “Praying/Preying” Decision

The Expositor text uses “praying” but contextually means “preying” (feeding upon, consuming). The original may be a spelling convention of 1844 or a typographical choice.

Our decision: Use “preys” in the lyrics for clarity of meaning. When sung aloud, “preys” and “prays” are homophones - identical in sound. But readers of the lyrics will understand the correct meaning: the worm is consuming her from within, not offering prayers.

The same applies to “easy prey/pray to the spoiler” in verse 4 - we use “prey” for clarity.

The St. Louis Spirit

The Expositor specifically mentions “a departed spirit, once the resident of St. Louis” who “shall yet cry aloud for vengeance.” This was a real woman. We don’t know her name - she was erased from history. This song is her voice.

Connection to Other Tracks

• Track 4 “Ten Thousand Miles” - The hope and sacrifice that made her vulnerable
• Track 5 “Positively No Admittance” - The moment of coercion; “God’s will be done, not mine”
• Track 6 “The Tender Tree” - The aftermath; the price she paid
• Track 7 “Under Condemnation” - Expands on the theological trap that enabled all of this

The Women’s Arc (Tracks 4-6)

These three songs tell one complete story:

1. Ten Thousand Miles - She crosses an ocean, full of faith
2. Positively No Admittance - She’s trapped in the secret room, forced to surrender
3. The Tender Tree - She withers and dies, and no one knows why

The Expositor writers were documenting real suffering. These weren’t hypotheticals. The “departed spirit” was someone’s daughter, someone’s friend. She died, and they covered it up as “some wintry chill.”

180 years later, we’re singing her story.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Nauvoo Expositor’s Preamble contains an extended metaphor comparing exploited women to tender trees with worms at their hearts. This was not abstract poetry - it was documentation of observed suffering.

The reference to “a departed spirit, once the resident of St. Louis” indicates that at least one woman died as a result of this system. The Expositor writers knew of specific cases. They were not speculating.

The practice of “sending away” women “until all is well” was a cover-up mechanism. Women who had been coerced would disappear from Nauvoo, then return later “as from a long visit.” This maintained plausible deniability while the woman bore the psychological and sometimes physical consequences alone.

The Expositor’s description of the aftermath - broken rest, poisoned sleep, “dry sorrow drinks her blood” - reads like a clinical description of trauma, depression, and what we might now recognize as PTSD. These women had no framework for what had happened to them, no support system, and no recourse.

When they died - from “some wintry chill, some casual indisposition” - no one connected their deaths to the “mental malady” that had actually killed them.

This song names what was unnamed.

ALBUM FLOW NOTE

Act II: The Women is now complete:

Track 7 “Under Condemnation” steps back to explain the mechanism: Jane Law’s testimony that women who refused “should be under condemnation before God.” This is the doctrinal cage that made escape impossible.