NEW ORIGINAL SONG
The Hills Are Silent Now
William Blanton
A grown son looks back on the hunting days he shared with his father and Bo—the little lemon beagle whose absence eventually left the hills quiet.
The song grew from a family memory first preserved by William's father, Bill Blanton, in a 1988 poem titled In Memory of Bo. Decades later, the son in that poem looks back again—now remembering both the dog and the father who wrote about him.
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG
A Memory Inside a Memory
In 1988, Bill Blanton wrote In Memory of Bo about the hunting days shared by a father, his son, and a lemon beagle. The boy eventually grew up and moved away. Bo grew old. The hills that had once echoed with familiar sounds became quieter, while the memories remained.
The Hills Are Silent Now returns to that same snapshot from another point in time. William is the grown son from the original poem. The song is therefore a son's reflection on his father's reflection on a dog—remembering Bo, but also remembering Dad and the years the three of them shared.
The mountain dulcimer and acoustic guitar are part of that remembrance too. Bill built those instruments and taught himself to play the dulcimer, so their sound carries something of him into the recording. The song is about absence, but it is also about the way people, places, sounds, and ordinary days can remain with us long after the hills have gone silent.
THE ORIGINAL POEM
In Memory of “Bo”
March 7, 1988
The hills are silent now
Gone are the days of joy
When I roamed the woods
with gun and dog and boy
The boy grew up and moved away
to hunt somewhere else another day
The dog took ill and lost his drive
but for yet sometime remained alive
I loved that dog, he was my friend
He told me time and time again
of unselfish love he had for me
I, too, was his friend, you see
Bo came to us while yet a pup
and always lifted our spirits up
“Perpetual Motion” we sometimes said
as we patted his lemon spotted head
A beagle with his papers true
and energy enough for me and you
His anxious bark a sure delight
in early morn or late at night
Many a rabbit race was won
with the roar of a scatter gun
I’ll miss you, Bo, my canine friend
Memories of you will never end.
Listen to “The Hills Are Silent Now”
Available through DistroKid HyperFollow and on YouTube.