The Wolf Den: Spring Valley Rose

From Contributing Editor Clay Riness
Editor In Chief, The Weary Wolf Journal

Somewhere around 2001 my old friend Paul Kogut informed the world he was getting married and a date had been set for a big, outdoor wedding, right on the trout stream, at his place in Spring Coulee. He asked me if I would sing something during the ceremony. I don't make a practice of playing weddings, so I did what I always do when a friend asks me to bring my voice to a wedding. I told him I would do it if he trusted me to choose the music...non-negotiable.

He agreed, smiling. Of course, I was going to write a song for their wedding, and that would be my gift. It was something they would never expect.

Paul is a passionate lover of military history, an active Civil War re-enactor, and most everyone who knows him knows that about him. My take on a love song for him and his bride was to frame it in the setting of a civil war soldier returning home to his beautiful, waiting wife. That's how Spring Valley Rose was penned.

The wedding experience was awesome. Before I sang the song I told the congregation that anyone who really knew Paul knew that he loved two things: the woman he was standing with...and Civil War Re-enactment. Cracked them all up. The song was a huge success. Everyone told me I hit the nail square on the head with my unique and unusual little gift.

The next year, I came out of retirement and began performing concerts again, and I performed Spring Valley Rose for a full house at an intimate concert for the Rustic Valley Concert Series. Paul and Kim were in house and actually danced to their wedding song. I stumbled across the recording of that concert a few days ago, footage never before released. I hadn't even heard it since it was recorded in 2002. It was good to hear.

Listen to Spring Valley Rose:

Spring Valley Rose

by
Clay Riness

In a valley so green she is waiting,
In her calico dress by the stream.
For her true love to come promenading
Up the trail to his Spring Valley dream.

She loves a soldier. He loves no other.
She waits for him every bright and shining day.
He's just a soldier, a northbound stranger,
With so many miles to go, bound for home, but he knows
With his Spring Valley Rose he will stay.

She's the fresh blooming rose of the valley.
She's the warm evening sun that sets in May.
She's the soft gentle rain that feeds the garden.
She's the new bride of spring every day.

She loves a soldier. He loves no other.
She waits for him every bright and shining day.
He's just a soldier, a northbound stranger,
With so many miles to go, bound for home, but he knows
With his Spring Valley Rose he will stay.

Oh they say she was the pride of old Chicago,
The fairest girl in that cold and windy town.
But she traveled to the hills of old Wisconsin
And she settled with the new love that she found.

She loves a soldier. He loves no other.
She waits for him every bright and shining day.
He's just a soldier, a northbound stranger,
With so many miles to go, bound for home, but he knows
With his Spring Valley Rose he will stay.

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Spring Valley Rose