Track 2 of the single Wool and Patience / Frost on the Rhubarb · 2025
Frost on the Rhubarb
by Marigold Tan
“I stepped out in my boots one cold morning and the whole garden was stiff and white, and I felt unexpectedly hopeful. It's the B-side, but it's the one I hum most.”
indie folk · garden folk · hopeful acoustic · 4:33
Lyrics
Out in my boots at the break of day The grass is stiff and white The rhubarb leaves are curled and lace With a crust of silver light My breath goes up in little clouds The spade stands in the shed And the whole wide garden holds its breath Under frost like frosted bread Oh, frost on the rhubarb, frost on the leaf The cold has come to stay But the crowns are down there sleeping deep Dreaming of the May Frost on the rhubarb, frost on the ground Let the winter have its say There's red beneath the quiet white Waiting for the day My neighbour waves from her kitchen door With a mug held up in cheer She calls across the hedge to me That winter's really here We laugh about our woolly hats And the puddles turned to glass And how the robin on the fence Looks fatter than he was Oh, frost on the rhubarb, frost on the leaf The cold has come to stay But the crowns are down there sleeping deep Dreaming of the May Frost on the rhubarb, frost on the ground Let the winter have its say There's red beneath the quiet white Waiting for the day I used to hurry through the cold And wish the months away Now I like the sharpened air And the hush of a short grey day There's a kind of promise in the freeze A patient, silent plan The earth is only resting, love And so, I think, I can The sun comes up above the roof And the white begins to melt Each blade lets go its jewelled coat Like a coat that's slowly shelved I'll come back out at the end of the day With a basket and a smile For the frost is only a passing guest And the green's worth the while Oh, frost on the rhubarb, frost on the leaf The cold has come to stay But the crowns are down there sleeping deep Dreaming of the May Frost on the rhubarb, frost on the ground Let the winter have its say There's red beneath the quiet white Waiting for the day There's red beneath the quiet white Waiting for the day