Words by Debbie Maynard and music by Tom Maynard © 2025
Tom Maynard: Vocal, guitars
Joe Clapp: Piano, fretless bass
A couple of years ago, as we were preparing to move yet again, this time to Northeastern Connecticut, I was transcribing handwritten lyrics to digital format when I came across a poem I didn’t know. It had no attribution, but it was in my wife, Debbie’s handwriting. It also was written in her voice, and carried her energy. I brought it to her, and, although she seemed to know the circumstances within the poem, she didn’t remember writing it. Knowing it was hers regardless of her remembering it, I decided to put it to music. Call it our first collaboration.
Lyrics
This was the front door, where the roses still grow
They were planted with care a long time ago
And the old foundation is filled now by trees
And a breeze where the roof used to be
Hands built these old walls, stacked stone on stone
They broke their backs to make New England their home
They walked on the land, from Winter to Spring
As they planted their roses, they’d sing
Chorus
Grow strong and take root
Grow sturdy and wild
This life is not for the meek or the mild
May you still grow here
After we’re gone
And may you still be singing your song
If I lived here my kitchen window to be
In the back where I could see that old apple tree
And look, there are lilies by the old cellar stair
And lilacs to sweeten the air
I feel them all ‘round me out here in the woods
Their life was so hard, but I think it was good
When flowers bloomed, souls would fly like birds on the wing
And rocking their babies they’d sing
Chorus
Instrumental
Why did they leave and where did they go?
What happened to them, does anyone know?
Roses that bloom by a door long since gone
Sing a memory, still singing your song
Chorus
Grow strong and take root
Grow sturdy and wild
This life is not for the meek or the mild
May you still grow here
Long after we’re gone
And may you still be singing your song
Tom Maynard 