Living In The Woods In A Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley

Living In The Woods In A Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley by Sybil Rosen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949-1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." When Merle Haggard first encountered the tune in 1987, he called it "the best country song I've heard in fifteen years."

Capturing the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the countercultural 1970s, the author offers a firsthand witnessing of Foley's transformation from reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer/songwriter who would live and die by his own rules. While Foley's performances have been released since 1999, his songs have also be covered by Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and John Prine.

In a work that is part-memoir, part-biography, the author struggles to finally come to terms with Foley's myth and her role in its creation. Her tracing of his impact on her navigates a lovers' roadmap along the permeable boundary between life and death. A must-read for all Blaze Foley and Texas music fans, as well as romantics of all ages, Living in the Woods in a Tree is an honest and compassionate portrait of the troubled artist and his reluctant muse."
~~front flap

I couldn't wait to dive into this book! I'm a huge Blaze Foley fan -- he's one of the best singer/songwriters we've ever had, in my opinion. His songs run through my head almost daily, in their simplicity, with his gravelly voice and acerbic wit.

The first part of the book was ... well, not what I expected. "Oh no," I thought, "it's just going to be about this woman and how they loved each other -- sticky sweet and self-aggrandizing." I almost stopped reading it.

I'm so glad I didn't! This is the delineation, from the inside out, of two people who love each other but are unable to hang on through the rough times, are unable finally to make the commitment to each other and to their relationship. They want to, they struggle to, but their flawed characters bar them from being able to take that final leap of faith. And so each turns away into their own lives.

It's a compelling story. I couldn't put it down, even though I could see the train wreck coming (possibly because my own train wreck looked quite a bit like theirs.) Yes, it's sad. Yes, I cried. But it's not maudlin, or self-pitying, or an emotional sink hole. It's just a recollection of what happened, guesses about why it happened, and wisps of dreams about what might have been.

I think you'll enjoy it immensely.