Hayfields by Yaelokre

Review written by Savanah Reed

The album that I picked for this first assignment was Hayfields by Yaelokre. I have known of this album briefly from places like tik tok but i never really gave the album a listen. The four singers: Cole, Clementine, Perrine and Kingsley are traveling musicians in Meadowlark. Together they form a musical ensemble that’s called “The Lark”. The album, songs, and characters are created by Keath Osk, who has also created illustrations as well as the songs that follow the fables and fairytales that happen in Meadowlark. What drew me to this album would have to be the use of folk elements in all of the songs. Nature elements really do it for me as well. I love nature as well as all of its sounds, so the fact that the creator uses such great sounds for the songs.

Track #1 – Hartebeest

Starts off with forest sounds and someone humming, as well as the sounds of the wind and rumbling. A banjo starts the main melody. The song talks about the four ‘harkers’, the Croon, who stands for Entropy, change and death. The song constantly is referencing death and the earth changing. “Where do we go when the river’s running slow? Where do we run, when the acres turn green and the cats kill one by one” Ends with the same low rumbling wind and forest noises. I enjoy the forest noises a lot in this song. They remind me of my childhood. The slowness of the song feels so nice and is a great starter for the album.

Track #2 – Harpy Hare

Song begins with harmonizing. I originally though that this song was about death and Harpy Hare burying her children as if they were trying to keep their deaths a secret. Though after looking into the lyrics more, I see that I was half right about this, haha! Hares and rabbits will enclose their burrows off from the outside world in order to keep their young safe. The song is about the Harpy Hare burying their children to protect, but it’s also about a worried parent fearing for their children going out into the world. “You can’t keep them all caged, They will fight and run away” Contradicts this, telling us that their children will get out and not be prepared for the world if they keep them hidden away and blind to the real world. I feel that it is also worth mentioning that both animals, harpies and hares, will protect their young in self defense, as it is in their nature. The song ends with the same nice harmonizing from the beginning.

Track #3 – And the Hound

Before looking into this song i did see that track #2 and #3 do connect to a fairytale called “The Harpy, the Hare, and the Hound.” that exist in the world the creator has created. When listening to it I did think about it more literally, where the main character we’re following is lost in the woods being chased by hounds. “Fears not enough, they’ll have to tear him apart”. Though I did see other thoughts on the song, saying that lyrics like “ Stuck in the middle of a forest made of flesh and bones and they’re all scared of a lost little boy who has lost his heart” saying that the meaning of these lines are of you being stuck within yourself, not knowing what is happening to your body. People also relate this back to the Harker known as Croon.

Track #4 – Neath the grove is a heart

I really liked listening to this song and learning about its meaning. It sounds like someone traveling, this person is closed off and reserved and the singer ‘tears’ the grove to “see it better” this being the heart; “How do I begin when the roof is ever changing? Neath the grove is a heart that’s still in slumber. You can remain, will you stay and tell a tale, would you tear it down to see it better?”. My favorite part of the song is near the end when they are still singing about the same stuff but they change the melody to the main melody of Harpy Hare. I really enjoyed how so many of the songs linked up together whether it being the melodies, the folk aspects, the instruments, and the nature elements.

Something that really draws me to this type of music would be the folk elements. I grew up running around in the woods a lot, I made forts in the woods, all my jeans would be dirty and have holes in them, and I spent a lot of my time there even though it made my family worry, haha. No matter where I was I somehow have memories of always loving being in nature (despite all the bugs) Even while writing this I enjoy revisiting the memories that I had when I was a child and even now. I sometimes wish that I still had the energy and time to visit these places as a kid and relive what I enjoyed so much before. I still create little stories in my head when listening to music like this that reflect my childhood.