Chris’s Take on “Leave It in the snow”

“Leave It In The Snow” is a song about the sun breaking after a sleepless winter’s night. It’s about renewal, letting things go and a new beginning. Sometimes the only barrier was all in your head. I think about this song as Spring is currently breaking here in Colorado. For me, this song means choosing to leave behind cancer and focus on living even if I still have 2 more years of follow up appointments. It also means leaving behind resentments with loved ones and stories I might have told myself that were only holding me back.  Life is short, we don’t matter that much and so it’s time to get over ourselves and just get busy standing up for the person we are going to be today and tomorrow.   

Making “Leave It in the snow”

There’s an old Gordan Lightfoot tune called, “Song For A Winter’s Night” and I’ve always loved how it evokes winters for me growing up in Northern Minnesota. I started with that image of staying up all night looking out the window with a lantern burning and went from there.  This song is part of a collection I see as an upcoming album and it came out faster than any of the others.  Most are duets but I felt that this one had to be solo to reflect the solitary decision of someone committing to making a change. When it came time to make the video for this tune, I already had images in my head of what that should be and just filmed most of it solo at a cabin up in the mountains.  The song was produced by Grammy nominated producer and engineer Andrew Berlin (Gregory Alan Isakov) and features some of the best musicians along the Colorado front range including John Paul Grigsby on bass, Russick Smith on Cello, and Shane Zweygardt on drums.    

“Leave It In The Snow” Lyrics

The lamp burns bright
I’ve been up all night
Fire through the frost on my window

I’ve made mistakes
But the morning breaks
This cold felt like it would last forever

I’ve been so strong
But I’m holding out
Instead of moving on

That ends today
Watch it melt away
It’s time to let it go
Leave it in the snow

This is what it sounds like
Letting go

This is what it sounds like
To watch it melt away

The one you were
Is not who you are
As long as your heart is still beating

The longer you live
The stronger you get
So why do we feel ever more fragile

You’ve been so strong
But you’re holding out
Instead of moving on

That ends today
Watch it melt away
It’s time to let it go
Leave it in the snow

This is what it sounds like
Letting go

This is what it sounds like
To watch it melt away

Written and performed by Chris Rusin copyright 2025.