album cover
Never Just a Tree
album cover
Never Just a Tree was released on January 24, 2026 by Jon Hopper as a part of the album The Green Fuse (Usa Edition)
ReleasedJanuary 24, 2026
LabelJon Hopper
LanguageEnglish
BPM109
Melodicness
Acousticness
Valence
Danceability
Energy

Music Video

Music Video

Lyrics

A moonless, stormy night, back in '23
At the Northern frontier, the edge of the glory of Rome
Irish Agnes blows with a Banshee's fury
Wind and rain have forced people to their homes
There were many trees that fell that night
But not all by her hand
In the early hours there came two men of disrepute
In a battered truck not quite warm, but watertight
Parked up by the wall, they've got a chainsaw in the boot
One cuts and one films the sight
Clayton's sycamore fell that night
Cut by the hand of men
So where is point in this then?
There's no lesson to be learned?
Grown men go stealing joy again
Another tuneless, tone-deaf nocturne
But it was never just a tree
It was a photograph of happy times
It was never just a tree
It was passionate proposal lines
It was never just a tree
It was a scattering of ancient bones
It was never just a tree
It was a sacred place where lovers meet
An open heart, a memory
In quiet strength it stood in rugged, windswept land
Stubbornly endured, indifferent to world of man
We try to make some sense of this - we try to understand
How two men, red in tooth and claw, would cut it down
It took only seconds on that night
For centuries to fall
Two years further on, at the stump by the slope
New shoots emerging from the old tree's sap
Many see these as fragile signs of hope
Maybe I've seen too much, I only see the gap
In Celtic lore, the sycamore is a symbol of protection
A space for ritual and memory, a space for connection
Where we come together under a canopy of leaves
And we ignore the stains that darken our sleeves
So where is point in this then?
There's no lesson to be learned?
Grown men go stealing joy again
Another tuneless, tone-deaf nocturne
But it was never just a tree
It was a photograph of happy times
It was never just a tree
It was passionate proposal lines
It was never just a tree
It was a scattering of ancient bones
It was never just a tree
It was a sacred place where lovers meet
An open heart, a memory
Written by: Jonathan Hopper

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