"Chasing The Horizon"
[Verse 1]
The mist drifts so slowly, like a lonely sigh
Under a pale sun shining in the endless sky
Mountains whisper secrets only I can hear
The shadows stretch long...
...but they're very unclear
[Chorus]
Chasing the horizon as it runs from me
An infinite quiet calls out from eternity
Winds, they hum through the hollow trees
Pulling my soul down like the ebbing seas
[Verse 2]
My foot falls fade on a path untamed
Leaves fall softly, but they have no name
Stars are watching us with patient care
In their ancient glow...
...I see them stare
[Verse 3]
A raven cries high up on an old, twisted pine
Its voice like a thread through eons of time
Silence answers back with a breath so deep
Cradling my dreams...
...others dare not keep
[Bridge]
What lies beyond where the wild things are
Fleeting thoughts at the edge of time, so far
A heavy dawn approaches but then slips away
Caught in the endless blur between night and day
[Verse 4]
A river of threaded silver winds far below
Tracing the scars where the lost things go
The sky turns ember as the daylight dies
A new hope flickers softly...
...in a stranger's eyes
[Chorus]
Chasing the horizon as it runs from me
An infinite quiet calls out from eternity
Winds, they hum through the hollow trees
Pulling my soul down like the ebbing seas
Song Description
BPM: 65–75
Style: Atmospheric folk ballad with cinematic and ambient undertones
Instrumentation: Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, ambient pads, bowed strings (cello/viola), soft piano, distant wind textures, sparse percussion (if any)
Mood: Reflective, ethereal, melancholic, and timeless
“Chasing The Horizon” is a contemplative journey through solitude, memory, and the eternal yearning for meaning just beyond reach. It reads like a lyrical meditation—where nature is not just scenery but a mirror for the inner landscape of the soul. Every verse unfolds like a whispered revelation, drawing the listener deeper into a liminal space between worlds: day and night, past and future, dream and waking.
Verse 1: A Landscape in Liminal Light
The song opens in a setting of gentle mist and pale sunlight, evoking a kind of suspended time. The narrator stands alone under an infinite sky, listening to mountains that whisper secrets, trying to decipher truths hidden in the indistinct shadows. There is a sense of quiet revelation, but nothing is fully clear—only felt. The line “but they're very unclear” captures the ephemeral quality of insight, like a dream fading on waking.
Chorus: The Soul’s Longing
The chorus becomes the philosophical and emotional anchor. The act of chasing the horizon is both literal and symbolic—a futile pursuit of something always just out of reach. The imagery of eternity, hollow trees, and ebbing seas underscores the theme of existential longing, as the speaker is pulled deeper into a vast and unknowable presence. Nature’s voice—wind, trees, tides—becomes the chorus of the unseen.
Verse 2: The Pathless Walk
Here, the narrator walks a nameless path, guided only by falling leaves and watchful stars. The leaves and stars feel sentient—imbued with quiet wisdom. Their anonymity (“they have no name”) speaks to the universal mystery that surrounds all things. The cosmos is present but not overpowering—there’s reverence in the way “stars are watching us with patient care.”
Verse 3: Time Echoes Through the Wild
In a deeply symbolic image, a raven cries from a twisted pine, its voice cutting through eons of time. This ancient archetype—raven as messenger, pine as sentry—marks a moment of spiritual recognition. Silence becomes a companion, holding the narrator’s dreams that others dare not keep, suggesting the dreams are too fragile, too painful, or too strange for others to carry.
Bridge: At the Edge of Knowing
The bridge expands the metaphysical reach of the song. The lines ponder what lies beyond where the wild things are—a nod to the childlike yearning for freedom, or the unconscious wild. The blur between night and day represents a transition not just of time, but of consciousness. The moment is fleeting yet full of meaning—the listener is invited to pause with the singer in that suspended space.
Verse 4: A Faint Spark in the Distance
This verse introduces the image of a silver-threaded river, a classic metaphor for the path of life, winding through the scars of what’s been lost. The emotional tone is bittersweet—aching yet somehow uplifted as the sky turns ember and hope flickers in a stranger’s eyes. This flicker may be faint, but it offers the only tangible warmth in the vastness of the journey.
Final Chorus: Return to the Longing
The chorus repeats with deeper resonance, as if echoing off canyon walls or into eternity. It no longer simply reflects a solitary chase—it now holds all that has been seen and felt in the journey: the silence, the stars, the river, the cry of the raven. The sea pulls at the soul not to drown it, but to remind it how vast it is.
Themes and Motifs:
- Liminality: The tension between what’s known and unknowable, night and day, solitude and connection
- Nature as mirror: Mist, wind, rivers, and stars reflect internal states
- Spiritual solitude: A personal pilgrimage into memory, longing, and quiet truth
- Time and memory: Recurring images of fading light, ancient eyes, and echoes across ages
Usage and Ideal Pairing:
This song would be a beautiful centerpiece in a set that explores philosophical landscapes, inner wilderness, or Western highland solitude. It could thematically accompany songs set in places like the Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies, or Alaska’s interior—regions that evoke emotional vastness and spiritual isolation.
It would also make an evocative companion to your more poetic and atmospheric works like “Over Ben and Loch” or “The Muse.”
