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Loom of the Land Lyrics
It was the dirty end of winter
Along the loom of the land
When I walked with sweet Sally
Hand upon hand
And the wind it bit bitter
For a boy of no means
With no shoes on his feet
And a knife in his jeans
Along the loom of the land
The mission bells peeled
From the tower at Saint Mary's
Down to Reprobate Fields
And I saw that the world
Was all blessed and bright
And Sally breathed softly
In the majestic night
O' baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
The elms and the popiars
Were turning their backs
Past the rumbling station
We followed the tracks
We found an untrodden path
And followed it down
The moon in the sky
Like a dislodged crown
My hands they burned
In the folds of her coat
Breathing milky white air
From deep in her throat
O' baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
I told Sally in whispers
I'll never bring you harm
Her breast it was small
And warm in my palm
I told her the moon
Was a magical thing
That it shone gold in the winter
And silver in the spring
And we walked and walked
Across the endless sands
Just me and my Sally
Along the loom of the land
O' baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
Along the loom of the land
When I walked with sweet Sally
Hand upon hand
For a boy of no means
With no shoes on his feet
And a knife in his jeans
The mission bells peeled
From the tower at Saint Mary's
Down to Reprobate Fields
Was all blessed and bright
And Sally breathed softly
In the majestic night
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
Were turning their backs
Past the rumbling station
We followed the tracks
And followed it down
The moon in the sky
Like a dislodged crown
In the folds of her coat
Breathing milky white air
From deep in her throat
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
I'll never bring you harm
Her breast it was small
And warm in my palm
Was a magical thing
That it shone gold in the winter
And silver in the spring
Across the endless sands
Just me and my Sally
Along the loom of the land
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep
Song Info
Submitted by
luckyjim On Oct 09, 2005
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Hmmm, i never took this song as being particularly sinister. Nothing about it struck me as such. I'll say, the Lolita reference is a bit unnerving, but the whole idea that he is a pedophile isn't working for me. If the knife is significant, and only mentioned once, and if the Lolita reference is also significant (which is debatable, considering the nature of the quote) then the line "The wind it bit bitter, for a boy of no means" should also be significant. They are both young, not just the girl. Infact, the only impression we get of her being young is a small breast, and that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with age.
I think the knife, like many of the strange details that accompany the characters from this album, serves to describe the boy. He is poor, has no shoes, and carries a knife possibly for protection, or maybe hunting.
Once the idea that he kills her is tossed out there, the whole chorus becomes somewhat spooky. "Please don't cry.....now go to sleep" .....eerie. I guess the benevolence in me never read this song as being violent, and even after hearing the claim, i'm still not sure it is. The "i'll never bring you harm" line could serve that point, but that just sounds like the kind of thing a killer in a Nick Cave songs might say right before he kills someone. The untrodden path might lend to a murder scene, but i'm still not convinced, especially since they are both there at the end. I think it's just a sad song about a poor boy and his girl, walking along the beach, staring at the moon, maybe I'm just naive and romantic.
indeed, the least sinister song of Cave's. i thought it might be a faint reference to a possible murder "out of unbearable love" (as usual for Cave), but reading the text through and through i conjecture NO. at first glance (and also second and all consequent ones) this song reminds me of some days of my youth lived in a depressive, almost deserted town.
indeed, the least sinister song of Cave's. i thought it might be a faint reference to a possible murder "out of unbearable love" (as usual for Cave), but reading the text through and through i conjecture NO. at first glance (and also second and all consequent ones) this song reminds me of some days of my youth lived in a depressive, almost deserted town.
This is the song that made me fall in love with Cave´s music once upon a time when it was released and still to this day it brings a lovely heaviness upon my chest and tears in my eyes... and so on... Some people suggest that the character actually kills the girl at the end of the song, but doesn´t necessarily have to be the case, does it? Although it´s a melancholy and eerie piece, not every song Cave writes is a murder ballad... Trivia: The line "the elms and the poplars / were turning their backs" is taken from Vladimir Nabokov´s "Lolita", Cave´s no 1 favourite novel.
Reminds me, Florence Sally Horner was an 11 year old girl who was kidnapped by a middle aged Frank La Salle in 1948 I think. She was taken across USA as his sex slave for 2 years. It is said that this story inspired Lolita.
Such a lovely song...imo.
I agree with you drunken_tantrum; although, I do think that this song is inspired by the book "Lolita" (one of my av novels also) and it is actualy about a pedophile making love to this young girl. I do not neccessarily think that he kills her. Since he says " I told Sally in whispers I'll never bring you harm, her breast it was small and warm in my palm."
He mentions the knife, which seems significant. Probably why many people think he kills her in the end.
There's a convention in plays that you don't bring a gun on stage unless somebody's going to fire it. I'm sure the same applies to knives etc in songs. He may not kill her, but the threat is there.
Beayty,sheer beauty...Heart-melting!
But,could any native speaker explain what the phrase "loom of the land" means?I am greek and i know a loom is an apparatus that weaves!Thanks!
A wonderful song indeed.
A wonderful song indeed.
As you say a loom is an apparatus that weaves things - usually a tapestry. A tapestry is in some ways like a painting on cloth and is very contoured and tactile due to the weaving mechanism. What Nick is alluding to is the landscape in which 'he' and Sally are walking in being like a tapestry. Hard to describe in a few words but I hope that helps.
As you say a loom is an apparatus that weaves things - usually a tapestry. A tapestry is in some ways like a painting on cloth and is very contoured and tactile due to the weaving mechanism. What Nick is alluding to is the landscape in which 'he' and Sally are walking in being like a tapestry. Hard to describe in a few words but I hope that helps.
I think this song was probably inspired by numerous sources. I was reading a short story that struck me as being somewhat similar to this song and may have been partly inspirational. It's a beautifully written and very dark story by Leonid Andreyev called The Abyss. It's free to read online if anyone is interested. It's a similar story but what triggered the comparison was the word usage that is similar to Nick Cave’s song. I just thought I'd bring it to the table for interest sake.
This song as others mentioned has a scent of crime in the air, but not necessarily that's the beauty of it, it only guides you to some possible outcomes it gives you some signs of sorrow that you might interpret as girl got killed but it can't be for sure. I think that this contrast is used only to describe his love for the girl, as to somewhat fatal.