Swan, swan, hummingbird, hurrah
We are all free now
What noisy cats are we?
Girl and dog, he bore his cross
Swan, swan, hummingbird, hurrah
We are all free now
A long, low time ago
People talk to me

Johnny Reb, what's the price of fans
Forty apiece or three for one dollar?
Hey, Captain, don't you want to buy
Some bone chains and toothpicks
Night wings, or hair chains?
Here's your wooden greenback, sing
Wooden beams and dovetail sweep
I struck that picture ninety times

I walked that path a hundred ninety
Long, low time ago, people talk to me
A pistol hot, cup of rhyme
The whiskey is water, the water is wine
Marching feet, Johnny Reb
What's the price of heroes?

Six of one, half dozen the other
Tell that to the captain's mother
Hey, captain, don't you want to buy
Some bone chains and toothpicks?
Night wings, or hair chains?
Swan, swan, hummingbird, hurrah
We're all free now
What noisy cats are we?

Long, low time ago, people talk to me
A pistol hot cup of rhyme
The whiskey is water, the water is wine


Lyrics submitted by xpankfrisst

Swan Swan H Lyrics as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Swan Swan H song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

18 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +5
    General Comment

    This song seems to be from the perspective of Southern whites languishing after the Civil War in an economically ruined South.

    There are numerous references to commerce and trade, but items mentioned as being for sale here are uniformly frivolous items; I suspect that the implication is that necessities like food are scarce, so that trifles are the only things one can still buy.

    A telling phrase is "wooden greenbacks": Greenback is a name for the US dollar, and "wooden", applied to currency, means false or worthless. This would describe Confederate currency near or after the end of the war, when it ceased to have monetary value.

    Especially given the flat, joyless singing, we can tell that "hurrah, we are all free now" is not a celebration of the freedom the slaves had just been given, which is not profiting the white Southern population. The human loss of the war ("tell that to the captain's mother") is also part of their misery.

    An interesting couplet is "whiskey is water; water is wine". Whiskey is watered down to deprive the buyer of value. But water is turned to wine in the New Testament -- that line seems to be at odds with the rest of the song, if it implies an upturn in fortunes while the rest of the song is uniformly about loss.

    rikdad101@yahoo.comon August 28, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.