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Cole Francis

Dr. Borah

ENGL 2089-003

21 February 2024

Moldable Song Writing: A Look into the Changing

Nature of Gregory Alan Isakov’s “The Stable Song”

“The Stable Song” first featured on Gregory Alan Isakov’s album That Sea, the Gambler,

which was released in 2007. The song was then remastered and reproduced in conjunction with

the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in his 2016 compilation album, titled Gregory Alan Isakov

with the Colorado Symphony. Isakov is a unique voice in the music world, with the bulk of his

work falling under the folk/indie-folk categories. That being said, there are hints of Americana

and even country in his fusion of sound, and these various cross-genre elements combine to

produce a trademark style of music, which Isakov is well-known for in these communities.

Where “The Stable Song” comes into play is in its differing versions showcasing a myriad of

classic, but also largely distinct elements compared to the traditional folk/indie folk genre. This

essay will first aim to contextualize and examine the original 2007 version of the piece, looking

largely at its traditionally folk elements as a prime example of the genre. From here, it will move

to analyze the more recent 2016 symphony version with the goal of highlighting how the new

“Stable Song” not only evolves to break some of the folky traditions adhered to in the original

version, but it pushes the new piece into a category of its own.

Before discussing the original and remastered versions of the “The Stable Song,” we will

first underline and highlight the defining features of the folk and indie-folk genre to establish our

foundation for comparison. In a broad sense, we can look to the term “folk” to get a sense of
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what the genre is about. “Folk” is synonymous to “people,” so we can loosely associate folk

music with simply being music of the people. What does this mean though? That it is designed to

be easily digestible, passed down, and impressed upon. In a more concise definition, per the

Capital District Folk Music website, folk music can be summarized as an encompassing genre of

both oral and acoustic tradition. In an American context, it includes subgenres such as bluegrass,

roots, and old timey, but is not limited to such categories. Folk music can be found in many

global cultures showcasing at least one of (if not all) of the following features: raw vocality,

unmixed/unmastered final products, acoustic instrumentation, and simple chord or song

structures which can be easily learned and repeated. Additionally, lyricism both earthy and

profound is a staple of the genre, with emphasis being placed on introspection, appreciation, and

reflection of the many subtleties of day-to-day life. Where indie-folk comes into the fold is in the

modernization of the traditional folk sound. Indie-folk recycles many of the foundational

elements of folk music, including acoustic instruments, especially guitar and banjo, and

mixes/produces them with a more modern sound. This sound emphasizes the sonics and complex

harmonies which are harder to hear to the naked ear in acoustic instrumentation. Now that these

working concepts of the genre have been outlined, we will examine how the 2007 version of

“The Stable Song” is a leading example of the conventional folk sound.

The piece opens with a leading identifier of the folk sound, acoustic guitar. Isakov strums

back and forth between F, C, and G chords to establish the main rhythm and melody of the piece

only several seconds into it. Now, these chords and their variations, along with several others

including A and D, make up the bulk of the folk sound. In terms of the song, this means that as

long as one can find their way around the guitar (or learn to), that it can be replicated simply with

the voice and the instrumental chords. This ability for replication is a trademark of folk, and a
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main reason why it is considered people’s music. The second leading instrument on the record,

the banjo, doesn’t appear until nearly 45 seconds into the track and it introduces melodies

overtop of the repeating guitar progressions that Isakov plays throughout the song. The banjo

being another staple of folk music, is known for its bouncy, twangy sound. The third and final

instrument for the piece, the violin, begins to overlay around the 1:20 mark of the song and

incorporates subtle high harmonies to contrast the earthy sounds produced by both the guitar and

banjo. Finally, the song is led by Isakov’s unsupported and raspy singing, which heightens the

raw nature of the piece. It does not sound polished or mastered by a modern studio, as it is not

meant to do so.

What exemplifies this song as folk beyond its acoustic instrumentation and lack of

production, though, is its versatility. Folk songs are written to be performed and expressed with

as few or as many elements as a performer desires. In the case of the original “Stable Song,” it

can be performed with any combination, or even just one, of the three featured instruments.

Granted, it would sound different, but it is possible to just perform the guitar, banjo, and violin

portions by themselves and still recognize them as elements of the original song. This allows for

interpretation of the music beyond the recorded version, and it can be further evidenced by

countless covers of the song featured on Youtube. The song can also be performed a cappella,

which brings us to perhaps its most striking folk feature: the lyrics.

Folk songs are often considered stories. These storytelling elements are a distinct feature,

and the lyrics for folk songs are often meant to reflect on life and encourage introspection. “The

Stable Song,” self-described by Isakov in a live performance at the Bing Lounge as being “a

poem about everything,” is one of the finest examples of lyricism the genre has to offer. Lines

such as “Now, I’ve been crazy, couldn’t you tell? I threw stones at the stars but the whole sky
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fell” and “I ached for my heart like some tin man” provide a distinctly abstract, yet memorable

image. They invite themes of love, loss, fear, challenge, and numerous other complex concepts

of life into the fray. As a listener, one may find themselves interpreting such lyrics a little

differently with each listen. Additionally, “Ring like silver, ring like gold. Turn these diamonds

straight back into coal” suggest themes of life, death, and mortality. It's a delicate mix of known

and unknown, and abstract enough that it's hard to ever fully get something concrete from the

lyrical meaning. In turn, this encourages one to listen and engage with the music over and over,

and so this contagious folky cycle of engaging with the music continues. We’ve now established

that the basic acoustic foundation, lack of production, and simplicity of the 2007 version

establish the original “Stable Song” as a pillar of the folk sound, and we will now turn to the

2016 Colorado Symphony Edition to analyze how these foundational elements of the original

piece transformed the new version into a masterpiece of its own unique genre.

Immediately, the 2016 symphony edition of the song opens to a sound that is

significantly more full and polished. Whereas the original 2007 version of the song has that

unfinished, raw musical feel, the Symphony edition has a mastery in its final production and

sound that takes the song past the bare folky nature it had been originally associated with. The

full symphonic accompaniment immediately alters the entire playability of the piece in terms of

being able to so easily replicate the song. Not that this version still can’t be replicated, one would

just need an orchestra to truly capture the beauty of the new piece. As a result, the accessibility

that folk songs are so often known for is lost slightly in the mere spectrum of instruments it

would take to reproduce the song. This isn’t a bad thing though, as it provides a platform for an

already earthy song to transcend into dimensions it wouldn’t have been able to previously under

only a few instruments. Karstee Davis of Folk Rebellion comments on this, saying that “listeners
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familiar with Isakov’s previous work can hear how the Symphony breathes life into the old

song.” In the new “Stable Song,” the same lyrics and melodies apply as the old one, there is just

a new, rich body in the sound of the orchestra that bridges the song into a “one of its kind” in

terms of its genre.

In the re-mastery of Isakov’s original guitar parts, vocals, and the accompanying banjo

melody, the Symphony edition of “The Stable Song” takes the most fundamental folk portions of

the original and modernizes it in a way that can be seen on very few other songs. Granted, Isakov

did record an entire album with the Symphony, so a couple more of his own songs will display

similar transformations, but outside of that, they will be hard to come by. What this orchestral

inclusion does is bring the song more into the frame of indie-folk, but even this is a stretch

according to the indie-folk conventions outlined earlier. Instead, with the blend of modern sound

and orchestra, we get a classical-folk hybrid which is unique beyond its own doing. Especially

when considering that classical music is so often associated with its focused accompaniment and

strict rules. Whereas the moldability of folk music is often its defining feature, the rigidity in

classical music is just as equally defining. The product is even more of a “unicorn” in “The

Stable Song” being able to somehow express both of these contrasting elements in a way that

feels natural and complementary.

Though the 2016 version of the song transcends it beyond its folk roots, it doesn’t leave

them behind. The result is an intricate combination between the simplistic sound of the original,

and the powerful nature of the Symphony. It leaves us with two distinctly similar versions of one

incredibly emotional piece of music. Whether or not one is better than the other is a subject

beyond analysis, and ultimately, “The Stable Song” is a best-in-class example of songwriting

above all else. Whether one prefers the grassroots nature of the original, or the celestial
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accompaniment of its more recent edition, there is a home for all in this song. The question

remains: where is that home for you? Is it in the folk original, or the classical-folk remaster? The

song may not want us to know, always echoing, “we’ll never tell…”
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Works Cited/Consulted

Davis, Karstee. “Review: Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony.” Folk

Rebellion, Folk Rebellion, 15 Mar. 2018, www.folkrebellion.com/dispatch-

articles/gregory-alan-isakov-with-the-colorado-symphony.

“Gregory Alan Isakov - The Stable Song (Bing Lounge).” YouTube, uploaded by 101.9

Kink.FM, 10 Sept. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8d4lxW_V0g.

Isakov, Gregory Alan. “The Stable Song.” Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado

Symphony, 2016.

Isakov, Gregory Alan. “The Stable Song.” That Sea, the Gambler, 2007.

“What Is Folk Music?” Capital District Folk Music: What Is Folk Music?,

www.cs.rpi.edu/~haydent/folk/folk.html. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

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