In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
My name is MacDonald,
I got myself a farm,
And on that farm, I got be some negroes,
Just to give the place a little charm.
Now I was born in the Highlands,
Come out here back in fifty-four,
Come out to the Carolinas,
To start again on a new-found shore.
Now I ain't got no taxman,
And I ain't got no chief, too,
Gonna make a fresh start as a freeman,
My niggers gonna see me through.
Oh, yeah! They gonna see me through!
I got no future in my ain country,
Couldn't go back if I wanted to,
So I came out here to old Cape Fear,
But now the revolution's come here too.
Governer came down, and said:
"You Highland men! You got to fight now for your King!"
And the funniest thing is that thirty years ago,
Bonnie Charlie said the exact same thing.
With a Patriot here and a Loyalist there,
I got the independence blues,
Ain't gonna fight no more on a losing score,
So King Georgie let me fight for you.
Hey, Georgie! Let me fight for you!
My sins hae been mony,
An' my sorrows hae been sair,
But there they'll never vex me,
Or be remembered mair.
For his bluid has made me white,
An His han' shall dry my e'e
When he brings me hame at last,
To my ain countrie.
I got myself a farm,
And on that farm, I got be some negroes,
Just to give the place a little charm.
Now I was born in the Highlands,
Come out here back in fifty-four,
Come out to the Carolinas,
To start again on a new-found shore.
Now I ain't got no taxman,
And I ain't got no chief, too,
Gonna make a fresh start as a freeman,
My niggers gonna see me through.
Oh, yeah! They gonna see me through!
I got no future in my ain country,
Couldn't go back if I wanted to,
So I came out here to old Cape Fear,
But now the revolution's come here too.
Governer came down, and said:
"You Highland men! You got to fight now for your King!"
And the funniest thing is that thirty years ago,
Bonnie Charlie said the exact same thing.
With a Patriot here and a Loyalist there,
I got the independence blues,
Ain't gonna fight no more on a losing score,
So King Georgie let me fight for you.
Hey, Georgie! Let me fight for you!
My sins hae been mony,
An' my sorrows hae been sair,
But there they'll never vex me,
Or be remembered mair.
For his bluid has made me white,
An His han' shall dry my e'e
When he brings me hame at last,
To my ain countrie.
Lyrics submitted by diluna25
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