I Am Stretched on Your Grave

This is actually a centuries-old Celtic ballad, also known as "The Unquiet Grave." You can find it in A Celtic Miscellany, and it's been covered by a number of artists, including Dead Can Dance and Eden.

okeee, you might think that your vinyls make you "so cool" but the whole point of this site is to discuss possible meanings of the songs! not tell what you own, cuz no one else cares about that.

so does anyone know the story behind this song? do you think its really about someone who died or is it symbolic of something else?

My grandmother used to sing this song to me as a child, along with many other traditional Irish songs. My grandmothers was a little more sombre.

I think she is singing about her childhood - the young girl, inside, who is dead. To Sinead this girl has "buried", but is still alive and waiting for the older girl/the woman to return. Sinead is attached and in love with herself as a girl and returns there even as others shun here (the priests, etc.) As the dead girl rests, the older woman will be her shelter - keeping the girl alive in her heart and mind.

For the woman the girl is HER pillar of light and brightness. The woman is tired and surrendering, she is choosing to perhaps "return" to the girl soon (death - suicide, madness or old age - but she is happy the end approaches). Any comments around this notion ???

It's about a man mourning for his dead love. The first few verses are self-explanatory - he is sat by (or lying on) her grave, crazed by his grief and wishing he were dead too so they could be reunited ("it's time we were together, for I smell of the earth).

The third verse is him remembering a night that they spent together where he is grateful that they "did what was right" - not having sex before they were married. He goes on to say "your maidenhead still is you pillar of light" so she still has her honour because she's a virgin. I personally don't have a problem with premarital sex but this song is based on a much older Irish poem that was later translated into English and obviously in those days, it was considered sacriledge.

He then goes on to talk about how the priests and friars "approach me in dread" although in other versions of the song they are angry with him. It's all for the same reason though - he is taking too long to mourn and him wishing he was dead is wrong/goes against God because in those days suicide was also considered sinful (ergo, the big "Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew. Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self slaughter..." in Hamlet).

And then the rest is, again, pretty self explantory.

not too impress you with my uber-hipness, but i have this on vinyl & the remixes are wonderful. k.

I really haven't researched this one but its an amazing song. I get this feeling that it's a split she may have had with a lover or friend about God, sprituality etc..Sinead is known for her spirituality..dunno just a guest. The live version is amazing especially when the bag pipes (i think they are bag pipes) kick in.

This makes me think of Wuthering Heights, from a Heathcliff point of view.