Easy

first off, i don't think that the narrator is joanna at all. she states in an interview that this album is not just a collection of songs, but a narrative-- a story that is intended to be listened to all the way through. to paraphrase joanna in the interview (with time, i think): why would you skip from chapter to chapter in a book? i am going to be contributing my interpretations on each song on the album, in sort of a play-by-play, as i don't believe anyone has done it yet. despite occasional offshoots in which joanna sings of characters such as lola montes and dick turpin, i believe this album is highly cohesive. Even these "offshoots," i think, relate well to the story that unfolds.

that said, i think that this first song is about a new relationship. maybe not brand new, but new in the grand scheme of things. i agree with previous contributors that it is about a woman who loves a man that doesn't really want to be loved. there are definitely fertility references, which make perfect sense, given the theme of the album. the "life-giver" lines, however, also imply that she loves this man so much she would give her life for him.

the narrator wants the relationship to be easy. she says that love comes easily to her, and implies that it does not for her lover, but i believe it's just as difficult for both of them. she wants to be able to love someone easily, unconditionally, but it's a difficult thing to do, and obviously this is not the right person for her. she is desperately trying to make it work: all this trying completely negates the idea of it being "easy" at all.

when the relationship ends for the last time, later on in "does not suffice," she speaks of taking all her things and moving out-- "everything that could remind [him] of how easy [she] was not." these pieces sort of serve as bookends for the album. they wrap it up into a beautiful package, telling a story as intertwined and emotionally involved as any. the narrator is not only at conflict with her lover, but with herself. it's not just him that isn't easy-- it's her.

"we are tested and pained by what's beyond our bed" indicates that the narrator and her lover, who is obviously either difficult or just uninterested, have troubles in their relationship (and in life) daily. The narrator views this as a test-- and wants to believe that they both do-- however, her lover probably only thinks of it as a pain. "we are blessed and sustained by what is not said," according to my interpretation, is the narrator's attempt to believe that her boyfriend's lack of loving words means little, if anything at all. she wants to believe that he loves her, and she is sustained by this belief even though he says nothing to indicate that it might be true.

in this song, she struggles with the fact that he doesn't want to let her in. later, in "good intentions paving company," the line "...how i said to you, 'honey, just open your heart'" relates back to this song. she wants him to open his heart, here, and let her love him the way that she longs to.