‘Children In The Trees’ by Pretend Collective is a rock song that tells a story of dreams and change. Its guitar-led instrumentations lulls the listener in, while its lyrics tell the story of a young girl who senses change and is attempting to cope with that change. The lines soon carry this protagonist into a world where climbing is necessary and isn’t just an escape.
“…She’ll believe it when she sees the children in the trees…”.
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‘Children In The Trees’: Believing is Seeing
Verse One
The lyrics seem to change in nature, moving from bringing the protagonist comfort to becoming a source of her pain. Climbing the tree is something the girl wants initially, to escape her aching circumstances.
“…Its been this way a while, she only dreams of deeper sleep.
She feels the lonely ache whenever she’s awake,
So she’s only counting sheep…”.
This ache forces the protagonist to become one of the ‘Children In The Trees’, another cog in a dreamer’s machine. The instrumental on the track, with its flowing, subdued guitars gives these lines in the first verse a sense of allure and calm comfort.
Verse Two
But after the first refrain, this sense of calm seems to become painful. Now the ‘Children in The Trees’ crave that “…old familiar ache”…’. Female voices from the first verse chime in at the end of the second, adding to this tonal shift in a way.
“…She knows she’s supposed to keep the pace and remember(s) she can’t forget her place…”.
The subtle shift here seems to bring a visceral, dull ache. The singer/narrator seems empathetic and moved, seemingly voicing the ‘child’s’ fears and her concerns in these lines:
“…Is it too high to climb, too fair to fall?
Is it even worth it to lose it all?…”.
He goes on to tell the child that, “…she’ll believe it when she sees the other children in the trees…”.
The child in the singer’s voice seemingly responds:
“…I swear I will believe…”.
‘Children In The Tree’s by Pretend Collective is a song about dreams sold in the name of comfort. This with sounds that reinforce allure and intrigue, calm comfort then familiar aches and barriers. The song’s articulate lyrics and moving instrumental make for a compelling listen.
The Artist
Pretend Collective is a collective of artist brought together by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentist Mike Reily. Some artists who repeatedly take part in the collective are Aurelian Budynek (Cindy Blackman Santana and Marky Ramone) and fast-rising indie artist beccs.
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Listen to ‘Children In The Trees’ here:
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