| Emily Jane White – Dark Undercoat Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I've always thought it was about myths, the myths we tell ourselves and how reality destroys them, through exploring the cultural myths about how our country was settled, and who settled it. The axes who pacify with gold who walk right into town -- This makes me think of the final season of Deadwood, when predatory capitalism, in the form of George Hearst, arrives in the formerly anarchistic, illegal mining camp, and takes over. He brings his own unique and dreadful brand of industry, backed up by extreme violence. You will sell him your claim, or you will die. And a man stood, he was brought back by lady luck -- He could be a gambler, brought to the mining town for the chance of some quick gold. A cowboy arriving on the scene in the nick of time to try to intervene. And he was so strong, and he was so strong, and he was strong -- Here's the myth, the image we have of the lone gambler, the cowboy on the plains, the mountain man, independent, alone, the rugged individualist. This is the image we have of our ancestors, particularly in Western America. He said, lady where's your dark undercoat? -- Underneath the civilized veneer, something hidden and frightening. Then he rode away, and he rode away, and he died Said I am not strong, and I am not wide, and I am not long I am not strong, and I am not wide, I'm not long -- The myth dies when you learn the reality. We are not strong enough to keep the myths, and reality is not large enough to hold them. Oh, but if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down to the bottom of my love? -- This is a little harder, but I see it as representing the appeal of the myth, the longing to submit to a romanticized ideal of our past and of ourselves. But I am not strong and I am not wide and I am not tall. -- Reality is just not what you wish it were, and history is mostly lies. Oh cowboy, ride the time Ride it high with rhythm and rhyme To the sound of a bleeding ghost train And I am needing to let go of tidal pain -- The stories we tell ourselves, individually and collectively, persist because they do have a painful beauty, the feeling of something being lost. If we lost it, rather than it never having existed at all, maybe we could reclaim it again. When we realize the truth, it's hard. And since she's using Western imagery to explore this idea, I also see the last line as expressing some guilt and pain over what really happened in our history with Manifest Destiny, etc. I don't think this song is meant only to apply to a general Western mythology or specifically to cowboys and Indians, as it were, but that she's using that symbolism deliberately to express something that happens inside ourselves as we grow up and realize how much of what we are taught about our past, both collectively and individually, are lies meant to make us feel better about that past. I could be way off base, but this is what occurs to me when I listen to this song. Whatever the case it is stunningly beautiful. This artist is kind of local to me and just released a new album. I really hope to see her perform soon. |
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| Iron & Wine – Upward Over the Mountain Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Edit, should be "many different moments, many different mothers." | |
| Iron & Wine – Upward Over the Mountain Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I have listened to this song countless times. It never fails to bring tears down my cheeks. So much power, so much beauty, in such simple rhythm and melody. I have always seen this song as being sort of snapshots of many different sons, in many different moments, talking to many different moments, but all with a common thread, the thread of mothers having to let go of their sons. Mothers release their sons into the world, not knowing where they will end up. Upwards, broken, or over? Protecting her or robbing her? In prison, selling her car for the shoes that he gave her, or with money they've saved for the weekend and some friends on the corner? Telling lies, having lost faith, or with a girl, planning a future? I don't think I have spell out where I'm getting the metaphors. One of the wonderful things about this song is that it works on so very many layers, both lyrically and musically. It could be one son, or all sons. It could be one mother, or all mothers. The last verse is the most poignant and the most heartbreaking, the dogs giving birth to puppies. A previous poster said this was about the puppies being born and immediately contaminated (and contaminating) life -- "blood on the flour, fleas on their paws" -- I can't think of a better interpretation. Life is dirty, painful, and messy, right from the beginning. The mother knows this, and that's why she cries til the morning. It's a little obvious, her sons being the pups, born with the fleas on their paws, and yet it is devastating, wrenching at a very primal level. The helpless creatures you see around you, whom you desperately want to protect, and you know you can't. And they may end up in prison, or broken on the mountain. From the moment they come into this world your power to protect them and to guide them is limited. You don't even know how much until they're here, and when you realize it, it breaks your heart. |
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| Iron & Wine – Upward Over the Mountain Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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You're right... the simple beauty of the song is beyond words... |
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