1
Dreamless sleep will fall like a deep, poisoned well
On the steeple birds and this red-light hotel
So lay your pistol down, Granny
The company men never came to you
But don't unknit your brow, Granny
The mice in the yard ate the potted plants you grew
Pour your bitter tea for our sweet, liquored host
Perfect polished stones but this breeze beats you both
So lay your pistol down, Granny
The duty of men never fell to you
When you unknit your brow, Granny
Your friends, they are jewels, twice as beautiful and few
On the steeple birds and this red-light hotel
So lay your pistol down, Granny
The company men never came to you
But don't unknit your brow, Granny
The mice in the yard ate the potted plants you grew
Pour your bitter tea for our sweet, liquored host
Perfect polished stones but this breeze beats you both
So lay your pistol down, Granny
The duty of men never fell to you
When you unknit your brow, Granny
Your friends, they are jewels, twice as beautiful and few
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Friends They Are Jewels Lyrics as written by Samuel Ervin Beam
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
The song is played very slow, helping give feeling to the lyrics showing that life is much more beautiful when we open our minds (lay your pistol down) and that life is short (granny).
Beam also shows the detrimental effects too much caring can have, as if someone had spent so much time polishing stones but forgot to enjoy the breeze, or when spending lots of time growing plants that are just to be eaten by mice. (Perfect polished stones but this breeze beats you both, The mice in the yard ate the potted plants you grew)
As for "The Duty of men never fell to you", I'm not sure but it just might be an accompanying line saying "you've had it easy so far, so why are you even raising your pistol?" in the most lyrically relevant terms possible.
Basically, we should open our minds and enjoy the true beauty in life while we still can, because in the short time we have, there's not much else to do.
That's just my interpretation. I also believe that this is one of my top three Iron & Wine songs ever. It's so beautifully and craftily written.