The New Pornographers – My Shepherd

"My Shepherd" as written by and Carl Allan Newman....
Glasswork shards decorate this house
We're tossing lost arts out windows
The splash and jangle of a secret science defined
You claim some golden age is upon us

You always loved short story form:
The science behind it, the hidden verse
You live for flame, your re-attraction's new
The leather's pulled from a secret room

Close that stare into morning sun
When the dots form into connections
If I'm honest, you come to mind
But baby, I'm not

If I'm honest, you come to mind
But baby, I'm not

The impacts pound dust into working script
We stare in wonder at the steps we skipped
Tripping wires we have so carefully crossed
The science behind it at a perfect loss

You're my Lord, you're my Shepherd
Careful, kid, no one gets hurt
You made me

It's a pal of the French we took
The science behind it was a dirty look
Seul joue pas de rock 'n' roll [French speakers feel free to correct this]
Seul joue pas de rock 'n' roll pour moi [and this, too]

You're my Lord, you're my Shepherd
Careful, kid, no one gets hurt
You made me
You made me this way

Try to fail


Lyrics submitted by persimmon

"My Shepherd" as written by Carl Allan Newman

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

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7 Comments

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  • 0
    General CommentI'm 90% sure the first line is:
    "Glasswork shards" not Glasswork shouts
    scohaon May 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentCarl said on his Rolling Stone blog that this was inspired by a short story he read ("Crossbones," by Leonard Michaels) about a married couple who sort of simmer & don't do much of anything until the end, when they explode into violence ("Tripping wires we have so carefully crossed/ The science behind it at a perfect loss"). He also name-checked the movie Crazy Love.

    Makes that chorus pretty damn creepy; hell, makes the whole song pretty damn creepy.
    persimmonon May 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI'm not absolutely sure, but I'm pretty sure the French bit is as below:

    Seul jeu, pas de rock-n-roll
    Seul jeu, pas de rock-n-roll pour moi

    It was mostly right- joue or jouer is the the verb "to play", but she's saying "jeu" (=game, like jeu de video is a videogame)

    The translation is "Only game, no rock n roll for me" (as in, it's only a game, no rock and roll for me? It doesn't really make any sense to me...)
    ruairi526on July 16, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentDefinitely a pretty weird song when you really try to figure it out, but that's typical for the New Pornographers, especially when Dan Bejar's writing. I'm not even going to venture a guess, but I would like to correct "It's a pal of the French we took" -- I believe it should be, "Used up all of the French we took".
    nostalgicBadgeron July 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentNoooo, the French is this:

    "Songez pas de rock 'n roll" -- do not dream of rock 'n roll.

    Also, Carl (Newman) wrote this song for Neko to sing
    Some more details here: pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/02/…
    chelseagirlehon June 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment..and I agree it's "Used up all the French we took..."
    chelseagirlehon June 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    TranslationOK, I have read differing lyrics, but I and my girlfriend are both Frencha nd to us it sounds like:

    "Il s'agit pas de Rock n' Roll
    Il s'agit pas de Rock n Rol pour moi"

    ("It's not Rock n' Roll, it's not Rock n' Roll to me")

    I thought so and played it for her and asked what she thought and he agreed 100%

    UPDATE: Two more francophone opinions: We are right.
    richelieuon February 17, 2013   Link

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