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Current revision as of 14:31, 12 March 2012

Strawberry Wine

Songwriting Infobox

Song Model
Songwriting
Lyrics - Melody - Harmony - Rhythm - Form
Song Form
Title - Chorus - Verse - Prechorus - Bridge
v • d • e

Deana Carter

He was working through college On my grandpa's farm I was thirsting for knowledge And he had a car Yeah, I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child One restless summer we found love growing wild On the banks of the river on a well-beaten path It's funny how those memories they last

Like strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine

I still remember When thirty was old My biggest fear was September When he had to go A few cards and letters and one long distance call We drifted away like the leaves in the fall But year after year I come back to this place Just to remember the taste

Of strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine

The fields have grown over now Years since they've seen a plow There's nothing time hasn't touched Is it really him or the loss of my innocence I've been missing so much Yeah

Strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet And green on the vine Like strawberry wine And seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine Strawberry wine Strawberry wine

Capo 1st fret

C			F
He was working thru college
C                G
On my grampa's farm
C			F
I was thirstin? for knowledge
C              G
And he had a car
C                    		   F
I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child
C                                F
One restless summer we found love growing wild
G                                F
On the banks of a river near a well beaten path
G				        F
Ain't it funny how those memories they last

CHORUS

F             C
Like Strawberry Wine
    G
Seventeen
	     Am
The hot july moon
             F
Saw everything
                 C          G
My first taste of love was bittersweet
                C		F
Like Green on the Vine
        C
Strawberry Wine

Verse 2

C		F
I still remember
C		G
when thirty was old
C			F
My biggest fear was September
C		G
when he had to go
C				F
A few cards and letters and one long distance call
C				F
we drifted away like the leaves in the fall
G				F
but year after year I come back to this place
G			F
just to remember the taste of

CHORUS

Verse 3

      F
The fields have grown over now
F
years since the've seen the plow
F
there'e nothing time hasn't touched
Am				C		    G
Was it really him or the loss of my innocence
	             G
I?ve been missing so much!
	C   G   Am   F
Yaaaaaah.

CHORUS

VERSE He was working through college On my grandpa's farm I was thirsting for knowledge And he had a car Yeah, I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child One restless summer we found love growing wild On the banks of the river on a well-beaten path It's funny how those memories they last

Summary: Remembering her first love and probably her first time. This colors the chorus with her youthful inexperience and being drunk on love. I love how "On the banks of the river on a well-beaten path" *shows* you how many girls and boys have gone through the exact same thing. Great word choice and use of perfect rhyme with college/knowledge and child/wild. And a really cool rhyme scheme too: ababccdd. It gives the song momentum as the rhyme's tension and release speed up in the second half, leading into the chorus.

CHORUS Like strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine

Summary: Interesting how the chorus begins with a simile. Also, the title could have been "like strawberry wine" but it's not. It sticks to the sense of taste with another metaphor in "my first taste of love, so bittersweet." You really get the sense that there's sadness mixed in with the good stuff. Having the title at the beginning and end of the chorus is a sound strategy. The "wine/vine" perfect rhyme is also a perfect match of words. I'm also noticing how "strawberry wine" influences the word choices in verse 1: grandpa's farm, thirsting, restless, growing wild. There's not a superfluous word in here.

VERSE I still remember When thirty was old My biggest fear was September When he had to go A few cards and letters and one long distance call We drifted away like the leaves in the fall But year after year I come back to this place Just to remember the taste

Summary: She's 30 years old and afraid of not having that feeling again. She gives up her age and hints that growing older is on her mind. We also learn that she now has bigger fears than she did then. The relationship may have died off naturally, but she missed it and has often tried to relive it. You get the sense that she's more disenchanted now, or at least less naive. But she's longing for some magic. More perfect rhyme with remember/September and call/fall.

CHORUS Of strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine

Summary: After verse 2, we've moved the focus from the tipsy and the immediacy of the taste sense into the abstract and how we fit into the world now, given everything we've experienced in our youth. We're no longer green on the vine. We're not like strawberry wine anymore. This is the bitter part.

BRIDGE The fields have grown over now Years since they've seen a plow There's nothing time hasn't touched Is it really him or the loss of my innocence I've been missing so much Yeah

Summary: This Bridge section really lays out how she's been affected by time. She's questioning the cause of her current melancholy. Great use of additive rhyme here with him/innocence.

Strawberry wine and seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet And green on the vine Like strawberry wine And seventeen The hot July moon saw everything My first taste of love, oh bittersweet The green on the vine Like strawberry wine Strawberry wine Strawberry wine __NOEDITSECTION__