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Kimberly Lyrics
The wall is high, the black barn,
The babe in my arms in her swaddling clothes
And I know soon that the sky will split
And the planets will shift,
Balls of jade will drop and existence will stop.
Little sister, the sky is falling, I don't mind, I don't mind.
Little sister, the fates are calling on you.
Ah, here I stand again in this old 'lectric whirlwind,
The sea rushes up my knees like flame
And I feel like just some misplaced Joan Of Arc
And the cause is you lookin' up at me.
Oh baby, I remember when you were born,
It was dawn and the storm settled in my belly
And I rolled in the grass and I spit out the gas
And I lit a match and the void went flash
And the sky split and the planets hit,
Balls of jade dropped and existence stopped, stopped, stop, stop.
Little sister, the sky is falling, I don't mind, I don't mind.
Little sister, the fates are calling on you.
I was goin' crazy, so crazy I knew I could break through with you,
So with one hand I rocked you and with one heart I reached for you.
Ah, I knew your youth was for the takin', fire on a mental plane,
So I ran through the fields as the bats with their baby vein faces
Burst from the barn and flames in a violent violet sky,
And I fell on my knees and pressed you against me.
Your soul was like a network of spittle,
Like glass balls movin' in like cold streams of logic,
And I prayed as the lightning attacked
That something will make it go crack, something will make it go crack,
Something will make it go crack, something will make it go crack.
The palm trees fall into the sea,
It doesn't matter much to me
As long as you're safe, Kimberly.
And I can gaze deep
Into your starry eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby,
Looking deep in your eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby,
Into your starry eyes, oh.
Oh, in your starry eyes, baby,
Looking deep in your eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby, oh.
Oh, looking deep in your eyes, baby,
Into your starry eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby
The babe in my arms in her swaddling clothes
And I know soon that the sky will split
And the planets will shift,
Balls of jade will drop and existence will stop.
Little sister, the sky is falling, I don't mind, I don't mind.
Little sister, the fates are calling on you.
The sea rushes up my knees like flame
And I feel like just some misplaced Joan Of Arc
And the cause is you lookin' up at me.
Oh baby, I remember when you were born,
It was dawn and the storm settled in my belly
And I rolled in the grass and I spit out the gas
And I lit a match and the void went flash
And the sky split and the planets hit,
Balls of jade dropped and existence stopped, stopped, stop, stop.
Little sister, the sky is falling, I don't mind, I don't mind.
Little sister, the fates are calling on you.
So with one hand I rocked you and with one heart I reached for you.
Ah, I knew your youth was for the takin', fire on a mental plane,
So I ran through the fields as the bats with their baby vein faces
Burst from the barn and flames in a violent violet sky,
And I fell on my knees and pressed you against me.
Your soul was like a network of spittle,
Like glass balls movin' in like cold streams of logic,
And I prayed as the lightning attacked
That something will make it go crack, something will make it go crack,
Something will make it go crack, something will make it go crack.
It doesn't matter much to me
As long as you're safe, Kimberly.
And I can gaze deep
Into your starry eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby,
Looking deep in your eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby,
Into your starry eyes, oh.
Looking deep in your eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby, oh.
Into your starry eyes, baby, looking deep in your eyes, baby
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---- 'Kimberly', a tender song named after her sister (the fourth sibling), gives a glimpse of Smith's childhood environs. 'Housing developments were a new thing, postwar, they'd build them for poor people in areas that nobody wanted. Ours was literally on a swamp. We lived across the street from an old abandoned barn that got hit by lightning shortly after Kimberly was born. I went outside and I was holding her, watching this barn in fl ames. Hundreds of bats lived in it, and you could hear them screeching, and see bats and owls and buzzards flying out.' ---------
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/may/22/popandrock1
I believe this song might be about Patti's first child who she gave up for adoption, but I'm not entirely sure. Any thoughts?
@Putingrad This is what I'm thinking. The usual conflict is whether it's about her sister or her daughter. The lie that I just noticed it "I rolled in the grass and I spit out the gass". I think it's about pregnancy.
@Putingrad This is what I'm thinking. The usual conflict is whether it's about her sister or her daughter. The lie that I just noticed it "I rolled in the grass and I spit out the gass". I think it's about pregnancy.
The bit about "the storm settled in my belly" would suggest pregnancy, also.
The bit about "the storm settled in my belly" would suggest pregnancy, also.
It's about her sister.
the last few lines are my favorite part of the song. i don't know why but i just love her voice.
something about preserving the innocents of the baby's (her sister's?) mind maybe, and sheltering it from the outside world (and I know the sky will split and existence stop). its very dreamy. 'balls of jade will drop' - jade = green = youth? Its a beautiful love song tho and, to me, illustrates the wonder and love you feel when someone is born. 'palm trees fall into the sea' reminds me of hendrix' 'castles made of sand' and how it symbolises time.
Patti's child was taken by aliens when she was with her baby sister 'Kimberly'. This song was her manifestation of that 'strange and weird experience'. It also affected many of her future experiences.