In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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
Well the elms and the poplars
Were al 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 that the moon
Was a magical thing
It shone gold in winter
And silver in 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 try to sleep
O baby please don't cry
And don't you weep
Lay your head upon my shoulder
Now try to sleep
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
Well the elms and the poplars
Were al 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 that the moon
Was a magical thing
It shone gold in winter
And silver in 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 try to sleep
O baby please don't cry
And don't you weep
Lay your head upon my shoulder
Now try to sleep
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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. <br /> 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.