submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Sawdust and Diamonds Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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JOANNA IS GENIOUS. In an interview she says her favorite writer is Hemmingway and that she strives but could never write like him. There is a Hemmingway book entitled "For Whome the Bell Tolls" and here, Newsom sings "and it is the damnable bell, and it tolls, well I believe, that it tolls, it tolls for me!" This is so amazing and beautiful. I am certain their are countless literary references in her songs (aside from the obvious Camus and Nobokov). |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – This Side of the Blue Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Despite all the interesting interpretations of this song, I am almost certain that the entire song revolves around existentialism. Alll its characters- Svetlana, Jaime, and Gabriel, have no intentions and no purpose- it is only stated what they are doing at the moment without any feedback on their actions (reading Camus' The Stranger is identical to this style). I also agree that the quote "see him fashion a cap from a page of Camus" represents the idea of living in a life of pointlessness. "This Side of the Blue" is a reference to the existentialist outlook on the world- regardless of how you look at it, it is meaningless. The echo of the boots- "re-loo re-loo" is the most clear identification of the existentialist theme, paralleling the pointless of Sysephus, who goes about rolling his rock up the hill in the face of certain defeat. Ms. Newsom clearly has a keen understanding and preoccupation with existentialism, which is apparent in her other song such as Only Skin, where she sings "But always up the mountainside you're scrambling... well what is this, scrap of sassafras, eh sysephus?- as well was in Ribbon Bows, where she begs of a dog to "Blink once if God, twice if no God." "The shape of their gonesss" is also another interesting existentialist reference, hinting at the pitiful existence of the human form. Anyways, I am seriously considering Ms. Newsom as the topic of my extended essay for International Bacclaureate. |
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