You’re “Pure Honey,” Baby: The Universal Sweetness of Rachael Lawson

An upbeat, yet tender declaration, Rachael Lawson’s “Pure Honey” encapsulates a dream-pop fanfare through honeybees and the musicality of their sweetness.

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Stream: “Pure Honey” – Rachael Lawson

Combined from the freshness of floral nectar, the sugary remnants of honeydew, and the careful foraging of honeybees, honey is one of nature’s only nourishments that never spoils.

“Pure Honey,” the titular track on Rachael Lawson’s newest album (released January 5), pays homage to this everlasting sweetness through a metaphorical litany of familiar comforts. The song is a simple yet meaningful devotion inspired by honey’s viscosity — a sweetness that transcends all seasons whether manifested as a “winter sweater,” “summer breeze,” or “fresh spring air.”

Pure Honey - Rachael Lawson — Pure Honey – Rachael Lawson

“Pure Honey” begins with a quiet piano and steady backing beats before introducing gliding electronic accompaniments. These soft, glittery sounds seem to replicate the delicate movements of honeybees themselves, whether initiated by gentle wings over a field of flowers or instructive legs dancing to the patterns of pollen pathways. The halfway mark of the song, characterized by an electronic-backed, whimsy flute solo transitions the song into its eventual descent and adds another layer of fluttery movement.

Lawson, a classically trained flutist, integrates these sounds in an unexpected dream-pop combination. Her light, airy vocals place the song in an affectionate grounding, offering a series of nostalgic comparisons such as a sleepy afternoon, the county fair, and fresh baked bread.

The song’s chorus, “Darling you’re so sweet / The world is so lovely / Now that you’re in it,” gets at the core of “Pure Honey”: The often overlooked, effortless joys in life that emerge from those we care about the most, viscerally sensory in memory in ways equally cozy and striking.

The song, as it turns out, was written as a dedication, much like the “sweet love letter” referenced in its lyrics, for Lawson’s now-husband. However, its lyrics are versatile in the sense that they suggest a universal sweetness: anyone or anything reminiscent of lullabies and pumpkin pie can be your “only one,” or your “Pure Honey.”

At the end, the final, stripped-down lingering on “honey” leaves listeners with an air of unfinished certainty. Lawson reveals that much like the work of a honeybee in the natural world is never done, there is always more honey to be made, more happiness to find, more “pure honey” to be fostered in the extent of the human experience.

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