Sawmill Pond
single
Sawmill Pond
PCBender writes the kind of summer-memory song that earns its nostalgia by earning its details first: a rust-red truck, a girl who “kissed like fire, left like rain,” a mud castle built just to watch it drown. In E major and moving at a brisk clip, the track opens spare and acoustic before the chorus opens up into a wide, drums-forward rock swell that lands somewhere between John Mellencamp’s heartland tenderness and early Tom Petty urgency. The production is smart enough to let those dynamic swings do the heavy lifting, so when the final chorus hits, it feels like the memory itself finally breaking the surface. A highlight, and one of his most complete songs.
Lyrics
I was seventeen with a rust-red truck Dust on my boots, heart full of luck The summer sun lit the water gold At Sawmill Pond, where secrets unfold
She showed up barefoot, hair like flame Said her name soft - I never asked again We dove in deep, both young and strong Carving forever what never felt wrong
Sawmill Pond, where the world stood still Time poured slow like the evening chill Two shadows tangled on a drifting day No map, no rules, just hearts at play I loved her once in the wild and the warm Down by the Sawmill Pond
We talked 'bout stars and leaving town Built castles in mud just to watch 'em drown She kissed like fire, left like rain I never saw her face again
Sawmill Pond, where the echoes stay In ripples of a long-lost day The boy I was still haunts that shore With her laugh caught in the open door I loved her once in the wild and the warm Down by the Sawmill Pond
Now I'm older, lines in my skin Still hear her voice when the night drifts in Regret is gentle, but it never lets go That summer when our hearts burned hot and slow
Sawmill Pond, in the hush of dusk Memory's ghost in a pickup truck Two kids chasing what they couldn't keep Woke something in me I can never repeat I loved her once in the wild and the warm Down by the Sawmill Pond
Yeah, I loved her once At Sawmill Pond
Credits
Songwriter: Michael Anthony Rose