This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
On the border of an orchard
On a cultivated lawn
Where they practice horticulture
There they know what’s going on
They're not afraid to cut it.
Well then, the best get picked
From this virtuous thicket,
By scythe or scissor,
By instrument and implement.
That's how they cut it.
It's time to trim and thin
An invasive vine.
The roots are lifted,
The leaves are dry.
From natural laws to material things,
Nothing in the truth can be changed.
Oh perilous world-
You’re showing every sign of losing your heart.
Fledgling and tattered
during these strange later days
just before it all fell apart.
You can build such fantastic palaces
On foundations of straw,
On weird promises,
But with one fatal flaw.
The seedling is taken as a delicacy,
By the sower who’s mowing down the nursery.
The reaper is hiding in the flowerbeds.
They’re each thinking over what the other said.
They said “We each disturb the earth
But now my friend, yes, you did it first,
Yes you did, la da de”
It's time to trim and thin
An invasive vine.
The roots are lifted,
The leaves are dry.
From natural laws to material things,
Nothing in the truth can be changed.
Oh, you perilous garden.
Forever dying.
On a cultivated lawn
Where they practice horticulture
There they know what’s going on
They're not afraid to cut it.
Well then, the best get picked
From this virtuous thicket,
By scythe or scissor,
By instrument and implement.
That's how they cut it.
It's time to trim and thin
An invasive vine.
The roots are lifted,
The leaves are dry.
From natural laws to material things,
Nothing in the truth can be changed.
Oh perilous world-
You’re showing every sign of losing your heart.
Fledgling and tattered
during these strange later days
just before it all fell apart.
You can build such fantastic palaces
On foundations of straw,
On weird promises,
But with one fatal flaw.
The seedling is taken as a delicacy,
By the sower who’s mowing down the nursery.
The reaper is hiding in the flowerbeds.
They’re each thinking over what the other said.
They said “We each disturb the earth
But now my friend, yes, you did it first,
Yes you did, la da de”
It's time to trim and thin
An invasive vine.
The roots are lifted,
The leaves are dry.
From natural laws to material things,
Nothing in the truth can be changed.
Oh, you perilous garden.
Forever dying.
Lyrics submitted by boneyardsorceress
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This is one of the most chilling songs I've ever heard... it disturbs me on the deeper levels of my mind, but I can't stop listening to it.
It just struck me, listening to this earlier today, how fitting the lines "You can build such fantastic palaces / On foundations of straw / On weird promises / But with one fatal flaw" are in reference to our recent economic woes.
No, I'm not suggesting that Melora has a crystal ball and was writing about specific events that would take place a year after the CD was released, but I'd always thought of those lines as talking about how so much of our grand civilization -- our governments, our culture, our economy -- really only continues to exist as long as people believe it does. There are, in reality, no physical laws that cause pieces of paper to have value, nothing that physically forces a business contract or a piece of legislation to be upheld. She touches on this idea again earlier and later in the song with the lines "From natural laws to material things / Nothing in the truth can be changed." We are mortal beings on a fragile planet and no amount of legislation or business transactions can ever change that reality.
At least... that's what I get out of the song. Still can't quite put my finger on what the reaper and sower are supposed to represent, though...