'St. Helens Alpenglow' by Max McNown – Lyrics & Meaning

Despite being fresh off of the January release of his album Night Driving, Max McNown hasn't slowed in his efforts to gift fans with even more new music.

The latest comes by way of the transfixing single 'St. Helens Alpenglow', which closely follows last month's 'Call Me If You Miss Me'. This fresh batch of tunes acts as a natural extension of McNown's already hit-riddled catalogue, the songs adding even more punch to the rising star's glimmering repertoire.

'St. Helens Alpenglow', especially, brings the shine, the hopeful ballad, one about love, heartache and the solace that comes after, marking another stunner from McNown.

Sonically, don't expect anything too groundbreaking from 'St. Helens Alpenglow'. It is a sparkling folk ballad through and through. The song is layered with silvery strings from a bewitching finger-picking pattern, while in the background, a pillowy rhythm is played. With the chorus comes a few gentle strums. Other than that, though, not much changes throughout the delicate tune, with McNown's sure vocals and sincere lyrics allowed to lead.

"I can feel the alpine mist
The taste of your chapstick
Still owns these lonely lips
And we are lying in the leaves
‘Tween embers in the breeze
Stars that I can’t reach
You’re all I’ll ever need"

'St. Helens Alpenglow' finds the artist caught up in a memory. His senses are burdened with the recollection of someone who seems to no longer be around.

In the chorus, listeners discover he is actually dreaming as he begs to not be woken up from this moment. He sings: "Don’t wake me up / Let me dream of that sunrise painting the mountainside gold."

In this state, he can recall everything so clearly – the feelings, the smells, the tastes – and here, he isn't forced to miss what he can't have in reality. "I’ll stay right here in this Heaven ‘cause here you’re not letting me go," he adds in the chorus.

It becomes clear that someone he loves has left, and while their relationship is over, the singer will always adore them, equating the former lover to "Saint Helen’s alpenglow." Alpenglow is the visual phenomenon that occurs when light from the setting or rising sun paints mountain tops in a rosy hue.

"You
You’re a thousand miles away
Both knew we couldn’t stay
And maybe that’s okay
‘Cause you found love to stand beside
But I still wonder if at night
In the cold moonlight
You find me there sometimes"

Further along in the song, listeners discover that the parting of these two lovers was a mutual decision, but that doesn't make their separation any less painful. Where one found somebody else to be with, the artist is left to look back on their time together fondly and wish them well.

Still, he wonders if he's the only one plagued by that tendency to dream, to wonder back to that space when they could be together. It's a time and a place in which he finds comfort, singing "When waters start rising that’s still where I go / It’s warm on the top when the light hits my skin / When I close my eyes you’re here with me again."

In the end, no matter the dreams or the waking hours spent in deep longing, it's all the same for McNown. Despite their time apart and the distance that separates them, the artist will always hold tight to one belief:

"To me you will always be Saint Helens alpenglow"

Max McNown has been steadily teasing 'St. Helens Alpenglow' across his social media, but hasn't shared specifics surrounding the new track, until recently.

Touching on the meaning behind the song in a statement, the artist offered, “For better or for worse, every relationship we’ve ever experienced has shaped us into the person we are today."

He continued, "The song ‘St. Helens Alpenglow’ serves as a reminder that just because a past love didn’t make it to the finish line, it doesn’t mean it was all for nothing. There are pieces of one another that we carry far beyond the “end” of our romances. The “Alpenglow” represents those fragments of broken relationships, memories you look back on fondly and will always be grateful for.”

I can feel the alpine mist
The taste of your chapstick
Still owns these lonely lips
And we are lying in the leaves
‘Tween embers in the breeze
Stars that I can’t reach
You’re all I’ll ever need

Don’t wake me up
Let me dream of that sunrise painting the mountainside gold
And I’ll stay right here in this Heaven ‘cause here you’re not letting me go
And you might be over me you might be gone
But all that I need you to know
Is to me you will always be Saint Helen’s alpenglow

You
You’re a thousand miles away
Both knew we couldn’t stay
And maybe that’s okay

‘Cause you found love to stand beside
But I still wonder if at night
In the cold moonlight
You find me there sometimes

Don’t wake me up
Let me dream of that sunrise painting the mountainside gold
And I’ll stay right here in this Heaven ‘cause here you’re not letting me go
And you might be over me you might be gone
But all that I need you to know
Is to me you will always be Saint Helens alpenglow

It ain’t just a dream it’s a piece of my soul
When waters start rising that’s still where I go
It’s warm on the top when the light hits my skin
When I close my eyes you’re here with me again

Don’t wake me up
Let me dream of that sunrise painting the mountainside gold
And I’ll stay right here in this Heaven ‘cause here you’re not letting me go
And you might be over me you might be gone
But all that I need you to know
Is to me you will always be Saint Helens alpenglow
Yeah to me you will always be Saint Helens alpenglow

--

For more on Max McNown, see below: