“Helplessly Hoping.” Let those two alliterative words sink in. For a title of a song written in 1969 to remain timeless is a work of art itself. American Folk rock group Crosby Stills & Nash released the song on their debut album Crosby Stills & Nash. Born out of a mutual adoration and love for the song, Ryan Montbleau and Tall Heights, two forces in the New England folk music scene, revive and breathe new life into this timeless sentimental tune.
Ryan Montbleau and Tall Heights (Tim Harrington – guitar, vox; Paul Wright – cello, vox) first met years ago at Tom Bianchi’s beloved Lizard Lounge’s open mic night. A friendship was struck and the three musicians discovered a powerful synergy between them, deciding to collaborate on a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” in 2016. Tall Heights appear on Montbleau’s album Woodstock Sessions, and this is the next manifestation of their group dynamic.
While keeping the original key, same tone, and range as CSN, distinctive departures are heard through an added cello solo, Montbleau’s guitar, and the vocal arrangement. Montbleau describes, “Tall Heights’ harmonies are so locked in and I was able to ride the wave on that.” With Montbleau’s voice simultaneously floating along, you can feel space between them, intentionally diverging from the original three-part harmony arrangement.
Ryan elaborates on the timeliness of the song, saying, “Helplessly hoping is such a perfect sentiment right now. We recorded it before all this. We were planning on putting this out towards the end of last year. That’s the power of a great song; the sentiments are universal and timeless. There’s such beautiful imagery in the song. It’s like a person on the outside looking in, and there’s a lot of that right now. All of a sudden we’re all on the outside looking in. We have to look inwards. There’s such a beautiful longing in the song—Beautiful and sad at the same time.”
The sentiment of the title is poignant but the rest of the lyrics are somewhat elusive and intentionally ambiguous, a truly lyrical poem. Montbleau believes this is an essential part of poetry, that “through your own interpretation you can bring your own truth, but the truth is in there.” As we crave meaning and to feel things again, songs like this are ripe with evocative and heart-wrenching words that don’t need to make sense. The interpretation becomes internalized and visceral: “Love isn’t lying / It’s loose in a lady who lingers / Saying she is lost / And choking on hello.” The beauty and harmonies replace the need for direct meaning. If the song does nothing but drive listeners to the original, Ryan says, then that’s enough.
Listen to Tall Heights and Ryan Montbleau’s cover of “Helplessly Hoping” below.