The Earth, Further and Further.

Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower

This is a recording made by Maria Taylor’s father when she was a little girl. After she sings her little song, she says: 

Maria: “Thank you very much! We’re gonna have some more tunes and um, and we’re not gonna stop!”
Mr. Taylor: “Let’s stop and listen to that.”
Maria: “Ok. Uh, wha… what?”
Mr. Taylor: “Let’s just stop for now. We’ll do it again later on.”
Maria: “Oh. We’re stoppin, Momma.”
Mr. Taylor: “I think we’ve gotta hit there.”
Maria: “We’ll do it later on.”
Mr. Taylor: “Let’s take a listen on that one.”
Maria: “Yah.”
Mr. Taylor: “Maria’s a blues singer. I just knew it all along.”

In this 2008 interview, she explains the track:

My dad had a friend name Lynn and he had a flower shop called “Lynn Teeter Flowers.” That recording was just me when I was little—I’d always sing and make up words to songs. And the story behind how I chose it as the title is that I had finished the album but didn’t have a name for it. I was with friends and we were trying to figure out the title really late at night. Then my dad e-mailed me the song and said, “Look what I just found!” When I heard it, I thought, “There it is! There’s the title.” I just thought it sounded cool.

I wish the interviewer’s next question was: Wow, so was your childhood a perfect embodiment of magic and joy all the time? I wish I could know how it feels to have been a little kid whose parents delight in her so much they not only encourage her to sing the heart out of her silly songs, but record them, and love them!  

My childhood was like sitting next to a miserable, loud, complaining couple in the booth next to me in a Denny’s. And even when the food was actually pretty good, I still had to eat it in the fucking Denny’s.