As North Carolina’s winter begrudgingly inches towards its end, a new exhibition is arriving at the Van Every/Smith Galleries to make us even more anxious for spring’s return. Elizabeth Bradford’s Warp Weft Water Weeds is just one more reason to look forward to the time of renewal and rebirth that spring promises, as she captures the liveliness and brightness of nature in all its seasons, and the escape it offers for us.
In conjunction with the exhibition opening, we have curated a playlist that accompanies the visual splendor of Bradford’s work. Just as her paintings span various landscapes, capturing many subjects, this playlist spans genres and periods, hoping to capture different aspects of Bradford’s paintings. These songs delve into the vividness, brightness, and even weirdness that can be found in these landscapes. Some songs correspond with specific paintings, while others apply generally, and even others express the concerns that nature faces because of us.
Here are a few reasons why we chose some songs and how they fit into Nature’s Soundtrack.
“The First Garden” – Stevie Wonder
For the playlist’s first song, we have a cut from Stevie Wonder’s strangely charming album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. It was originally intended as a soundtrack for documentary on the purportedly mysterious powers of plants. Yet, this instrumental skillfully mimics the sounds of nature, though it is clearly artificial.
A couple of other tracks are sprinkled throughout the playlist, such as “Tree” and “The Secret Life of Plants.” The latter song gracefully ends the playlist by capturing in words the magnificence of nature that we often tend to ignore.
“Another Green World” – Brian Eno
From a famed producer and ambient musician, we have a calming yet weird piece of music from Eno’s landmark album of the same name. Eno’s ambient track, like nature, is calming and interesting all at the same time. Also featured in the playlist is Eno’s “Little Fishes,” a fun little song that seems to imitate the energy of the tiny creatures in Stoneroller Nest with Redlip Shiners.
“Polk Salad Annie” – Tony Joe White
This funny bluesy-rock number released in 1969 and covered by Elvis, was inspired by a dish called polk salad made from the pokeweed. The same type of pokeweed is featured in Dying Poke. Dr. Emily Stamey points out this relation in her essay featured in Bradford’s exhibition catalogue.
“Whispering Pines” – The Band
This haunting number from The Band is not as lively as other tracks featured on the playlist but it maintains the same vividness. Like the foreboding picture of the subject in Pamlico Sound, Dead Pine, this track still creates a magnificent and overwhelming presence of the natural world.
The location of the painting is also depicted in a newer song from Town Mountain called “Pamlico,” a track that has an upbeat, folky vibe like the Carolina wilderness.
“Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” – Doc & Merle Watson
The notable Appalachian-native father and son duo hark on this traditional folk song that speaks about the famous mountain range that crosses into North Carolina. The lyrics pine for the beauty of the narrator’s “Caroline home” while being performed in a way that feels natural to the landscape.
Doc Watson also has a solo track, “Deep River Blues,” featuring similar themes of fine descriptions of nature.
“Carolina in My Mind” – James Taylor
You can’t feature songs of North Carolina without including this iconic song from James Taylor, similarly expressing homesickness for North Carolina, while describing the state’s natural beauty.
“Wildflowers – Home Recording” – Tom Petty
This sweet, sentimental song from Tom Petty matches the brightness of the piece, Wildflowers Along the Dirt Road. This version is not the superbly-produced original, but instead the rawer, stripped-down home recording truer to the rawness of nature.
“Ripple” – Grateful Dead
This mellow, down-home track from the usually jamming Grateful Dead has lyrics and a feel that matches the water works of Elizabeth Bradford, such as Stone, Old Fort and Twenty-Three Stream Crossings. From the more classical side of music, Debussy’s “Reflets Dans L’eau (Reflections in the Water)” similarly does the same.
“Big Yellow Taxi” – Joni Mitchell
Mitchell’s critique of the destructive forces behind nature’s beauty (humans) expresses the environmental concerns found in Elizabeth Bradford’s art while also being reminiscent of nature’s peculiarities.
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” – Marvin Gaye
This is another song proclaiming these very real environmental concerns. Sadly, these songs from almost 50 years ago are still applicable to us today.
– Caleb Machorro ’28 & Mike Liu ’26
Be sure to check out Elizabeth Bradford’s exhibition, on view from February 13 to April 9 in the Van Every Gallery!