| Joanna Newsom – Kingfisher Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| You're a genius! I would have never thought of WWII! The volcanoes work with Hawaii too. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Go Long Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think this is one of her most beautiful (and most disturbing) songs. Ankles bound in gauze, a palanquin of women's bodies, a room gilded with dead women's teeth, it is nauseating and enrapturing all at once. Even the harmonies and melody feel lonely, melancholy, unsettlingly beautiful. What a genius! I'm so glad everyone caught those Will Oldham and Bluebeard references, I certainly missed them, but what do they mean? What is Joanna's relationship to Oldham? I know they are both signed by Drag City...so I'm sure they know each other, but is there more? (Obviously there is if she wrote a song about him). This still throws me for a loop, though. I was certain (or at least as certain as anyone can be about a Joanna Newsom song) that it was about Bill Callahan. He is definitely a dark guy (I can't say I'm a fan, but I've been to a concert and left feeling low and depressed) and he is known for his sense of self-isolation. Yet, when they were dating, I think Joanna did bring out a different side in him - so "We are praying I am the one to save you" makes sense. I get the overall idea of the song - a portrait of a man who's feelings of loneliness, alienation, self-imposed exile (maybe we should search for Camus references...haha) make it hard for Joanna to be with him, and she is bemoaning all of these things about him and wishing he would open up. As she says, "Will you tuck your shirt? Will you leave it loose? You're badly hurt, you're a silly goose!" These lines sound like a mother trying to cheer up a sulky kid to me, a little playful on the surface but hinting at darkness underneath. She wants to save him from himself, but she's not sure if she can, and I think the song also exemplifies a strong sense of frustration. But I formulated all this before understanding the Bluebeard and Oldham references. But hey, we love her because her music is multi-faceted and impossible to peg down! I guess any interpretation is fair game :-) Any thoughts on the title? Baseball reference? We know she has been spotted recently with Andy Samberg at baseball games, so I guess she's a fan, but it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the song..unless it just goes with her overall idea of "manliness" (guitars, jaws, fists). And what are firepits? Sorry this is so long... |
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| Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This is so awesome, thanks for the research! | |
| Joanna Newsom – Kingfisher Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Okay, I like all of the responses after my last one a lot. I have some problems with the entire song being addressed to God, but that's beside the point at the moment. I Googled "volcano worship" and found a site listing passages from the Bible involving volcanoes. Most of them relate to Moses and the (Israelites? My Biblical knowledge is lacking...) and present a vengeful, jealous, angry God, which goes perfectly with everyone's ideas about her questioning faith in the face of violence and pain and hardship. It also goes with the idea of following blindly - the Israelites had to trust Moses and, through Moses, God, because only Moses could speak with God. I think, metaphorically, this all represents a quest for Joanna, a quest to "serve with the heart of a child," but all the contradictions she feels. The last stanza really seems to sum this perfectly: It is too short! The day we are born, we commence with our dying! Trying to serve with the heart of a child, Kingfisher lie with the lion! This is a world of death and violence (as the whole song has painted beautifully), and though we are already on our way to death the day we are born (pessimistic, no?), we must trust God and follow dutifully, blindly. The last line is a bit of a doozy, but maybe as drunkanddour suggested, it is a wish, a hope that by following blindly, we will reach the point where the lamb lies with the lion and everyone lives in peace. What throws me is the kingfisher...haha and I have no idea what replacing the lamb with a kingfisher could mean. But just one more justification for this idea of following: the whole middle section goes with the idea of "following blindly" or serving with the heart of a child. I think that in Exodus Moses and the Israelites were told to follow the column of fire, which scholars now believe was an erupting volcano, so it might make sense for them to "chart the loping skies" (loping suggests a lot of movement in the air, which would be the case if ash was flying around). I have no idea, though. The more I write this, the less I believe it. Hopefully someone who is a Bible buff can offer better ideas???? |
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| Joanna Newsom – '81 Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Okay I still wish someone would pose an idea about my last post. But here is something else, much more concrete: "I lay me by the spring for a spell as naked as a trout" is absolutely positively without a doubt taken from Milton's "Paradise Lost," the great epic about the fall of man and original sin in the Garden of Eden. It's definitely one of those books that all English or Literature majors have to read, and I am positive Joanna would have read it. Plus, how many books would write about someone in Eden lying down beside a stream? I just wrote a ten page paper about gender roles in the poem, and knowing that Joanna is a bookworm and a literary freak, I think I can add some useful insights. So the story goes that after having been created, but before meeting Adam, Eve wakes up under a tree. She wanders around, clueless, and lies down beside a stream (I freaked out when I read this and connected it to this song - it was one of those "AHA!" lightbulb-going-off moments). As she's lying there, (this gets kinda weird) she sees her reflection and, like Narcissus, is strongly attracted to her image in the water. She lies there for a while until God comes and says, "Hey! Get up! You are not meant to be with this shadow of an image, you are meant to be with Adam! Here, I will lead you to him." (excuse the paraphrasing) She leaves the stream, but when she sees Adam (again, kinda weird and kinda funny), she says,"Eh, he's not that cute, I'd rather go back to the stream and admire myself," so she turns and tries to run back to the stream. Adam catches her arm and she submits and BAM they are husband/wife. This story has a lot to do with sexuality, self-love, and the relation/power dynamic between man and woman, all things we know Joanna is fond of grappling with in her songs (especially the last). In addition to adding these new facets to the song, I think it makes the first four stanzas clear - she is comparing herself to Eve. The first stanza, she wakes up under the tree and plays around in the dirt, thinking she's alone in the garden, wanders to the stream and lies down. Then the wandering eye could be God, who leads her away, or Adam. In either case, while she is not happy about having to be with him, like Eve, she submits and "hardens her heart to every heart but one," Adam's. (But it could be God too). All this would mean that the song is, as many have already suggested, a questioning of sexuality. Why MUST sexuality come into the picture when she meets Adam? Why MUST she harden her heart to everyone but him? Couldn't they just be friends? Why is there so much pressure on all of us (esp. women) to find a sexual partner? Maybe we're happier playing alone in the Garden of Eden, blissfully ignorant as children. Is sex like a repetition of the Original Sin? Are we impure and hurting our relationship with God every time we have sex? I'm not trying to argue like this is the only interpretation - but I think it is a useful way to dredge up a lot of the issues and questions Joanna is grappling with. Reply if you feel compelled! |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sawdust and Diamonds Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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A few things... 1) I haven't read every comment thoroughly, so forgive me if I repeat previous people. 2) I'm tired of everybody on here acting like Joanna's songs can only be about one thing. Her songs are multi-dimensional and often encapsulate infinite meaning within every couplet or quatrain. I'm not saying ALL interpretations are correct, but unless you're Joanna Newsom, you're not going to know exactly what she intended when she wrote it. Positing your own views is great and I've really changed a lot of my opinions and seen new angles to this song from reading everyone's comments, but I don't think any one interpretation was more valid to me than any other. Two completely different interpretations don't have to be mutually exclusive, and for Joanna, I think they rarely are. 3) That being said, I love how Joanna songs on here always get a million, "This song reminded me of this poem/song/book/movie..." comments. And I LOVE those comments, because they're rarely things that I had thought of. 4) Now my own small addendum: I know that the 5 songs on Ys are about a few things that happened to Joanna over the course of a year, and her attempt to make sense of them and make connections between them in order to surmount them (or something like that). I THINK that one of those events was someone in her family having to have some sort of surgery. I still agree with and love the interpretations about lovers, music, conforming to society, excess, etc., but I think the genius is that all of these things are ideas/meditations she arrived at while contemplating her family member's (I think her brother...if someone can find an article verifying, I'd be very appreciative) chances of survival. I find many images of being worried about someone not making it through a surgery. Even the taxidermy could have this dual meaning (though I like the ideas of the dove being the Holy Spirit and also sawdust and diamonds being the things society fills us with). I think it can be all of these things at once. That's the beauty of symbolism and why Joanna's is so rich. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I have an idea: as you suggested in a previous post, "When it was dark" sounds like a fever-dream. What if the part, starting with "There is a blacksmith" is also part of that fever dream? That helps explain the strangeness of the images. Also, the rabbit, as an extension of the dirty lake (which I agree with as a symbol of the womb), might be a symbol of bad motherhood. Like someone said, skinned rabbits look eerily like babies, and maybe this is like the narrator desperately trying to make some semblance of a baby for herself if she can't have a real one. I don't really like this interpretation, though, it was just an idea. What it does make me think of, though, is the line, "I saw a life and I called it mine" in On A Bad Day. When I was listening to Baby Birch earlier, before reading any of these comments or thinking at all about babies or motherhood, I felt like the kicking and mewling rabbit was almost like a memory of something, or an embodiment of the transitoriness of existence, which went along with my then-interpretation of nostalgia (which I still think is one facet of the song). Grabbing the rabbit, skinning it, "calling it mine," even though it winds up running away in the end, might be a metaphor for trying to hold on to memories or moments that want to slip away and "run, as they're liable to do," or for trying too hard to make something work out when it is destined to run from you (as she says, "Our nature does not change by will"). This is a violent and desperate attempt to cling to something, make it stop kicking, make it stay with us, make it ours. Just thoughts. It's late, so I will probably wake up tomorrow and disagree with all of this. Maybe/hopefully you'll find some of it insightful. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| And this goes perrrrrfectly with On A Bad Day! Nice observation! | |
| Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Niiiice call! Then wouldn't the gold hair, green eyes be Joanna herself? | |
| Joanna Newsom – '81 Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I'm just surprised everyone talks about the '81/A.D. 1 line while glossing over the "seceded from the Union" part. Is it just me, or is this a reference to the Civil War? If not, what else could it be? If it is, what does it mean? | |
| Joanna Newsom – Kingfisher Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Anyone have any ideas on what it means? All I can come up with: "Kingfisher" might allude to the myth of Alcyone, whose husband Ceyx was killed at sea, came to her in a dream to tell her he had died, whereupon she went to the seashore and threw herself in. They were both turned to kingfishers. Also, I guess the whole thing is sort of like an investigation/questioning. Obviously several lines end in question marks, but the part about "The long arm of the law" and "Who has seen it all?" make it sound like they are looking for someone. A murderer, perhaps, considering later there are images of murder (not least in the dream at the end). The lines "Blows rain upon the one you loved, and though you were only sparring there's blood on the eye, unlace the glove, say honey I am not sorry" are pretty unsettling for me, and show this overarching violence. Of course, also the pall, which is a sheet that you cover a coffin with, is an image of death. Unfortunately, I don't know how to put all of these things together. It's hard to tell if Joanna is switching narrators throughout the song, who the kingfisher is, how many people are asking questions and being asked questions, how many people are loving other people or killing other people, etc. The whole middle section, "We came by the boatload" to "Do you consign your soul?" really baffles me. What might the recurring images of bombs/ashes/volcanoes mean? Also, the stanza, "Hung from the underbelly of the Earth" is one of my favorite Joanna stanzas. But I don't understand it at all. Any feedback/thoughts/ideas? |
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