Down in the Valley

Down in the valley, the valley so low

Angels in Heaven know I love you

Build me a castle, forty feet high

Singing Down in the Valley, the lyric 'angels in heaven' made me imagine the land from far above, and I remembered being filled with wonder from seeing America for the first time out of the aeroplane window. The heightened perspective abstracted the land below me, creating fields of colour that stretched for hours and hours. Yet I felt disconnected and wistful: 

longing to be within the landscape, rather than to be gazing down upon it. Down in the Valley seems to have a yearning feel to it; it is at once content and melancholy. For me, looking down upon the valley holds a similar possibility for contemplation.