Field Below

I went to a Regina Spektor concert this past November and she said something to preface this song when she performed it. Unfortunately the venue I was in was too noisy for me to hear what exactly she was saying. I think she said it was written for someone very close to her that she lost.

Also bronyraur, I wouldn't think all of her songs give us clues to her personal life or sexual preference. Regina seems to write songs from many different points of view, I doubt all of them are hers. Oedipus Rex is a good example.

Absolutely love this song. Beautiful chord progression. My take on this song is that the city is a cold and lonely place and she's wishing she could be back in a simpler place. She misses her love and wants to look down out of her window and see him. It's hard to get out of bed in the morning and face a world with such darkness and pain.

I think this song might be from a slaves perspective. By field below it would mean a field in the south, where slaverey was most popular. If that was so I think the slave is probably legally free but misses working for their master in the fields because that's what they were raised to do, it's all they know. I thought up this theory when she said "ancient bruises". Obviousy slaves were often beaten and it happened a pretty long time ago. Then she started singing in a tone that sounded like she was drunk but maybe the slave was going unconcious from a beating. It's kind of far fetched but I think it fits.

I always thought this song was abut a girl who used to live in the country, but moves to the city. She gets lonely and depressed, and commits suicide by jumping off a building. I always thought her wanting to see a field below was her wanting to see the fields of her childhood, and regretting dying in the city. The song is so peaceful, that's why it makes me think of someone at peace with their death, falling through the air.

When I first heard the song, I thought it was more about the loss and death of a friend, like most of the second verse, and especially because of the bluesiness of the piano.

"i wish i'd see your face below i wish i'd hear you whispering low but you don't live downtown no more and everything must come and go"

But the more that i look at it now, it seems to reflect her longing for a love.

"and darkness spreads over the snow like ancient bruises i'm awake and feel the ache but i wish i'd see a field below..."

the 1st line seems to talk about New York, and how she feels (darkness=sad obviously). the 2nd, maybe referring to this happening before like him leaving her before but they got back together, or the idea of hurting because of a lost love. the 3rd seems to talk about losing sleep over it all. 4th seems to mean she wants to get away, either somewhere more peaceful and simple, or just to isolate herself.

regardless, this song is so beautiful, the words, her singing, and even the piano. i love it!

As has been said, the best lyrics lend themselves to many interpretations -- this is part of their universality.The NYC-laced interpretations make sense and might in fact be closer to the inspiration for the piece, but RS is an artist and her work seems to be bigger than that by design. Trying not to get too bogged down in specifics, but here's my flawed, perhaps firmly mistaken interpretation:: The song seems to be about a melancholy (maybe even sadder than melancholy) person longing for the past -- the "field below" was a familiar, everyday sight once upon a time, something the speaker took for granted, perhaps even to the point of finding it irksome -- and now it's gone for good. The attraction, of course, is to what is seen in retrospect as a "happier time." The past is of course irrevocable and all the more alluring because it's gone. Tthe annoyances and resentments of reality are gone with it. Maybe associated with a lost love the speaker also took for granted -- the speaker has moved on to the city and has ended the relationship but regrets it, or maybe the initial idea was to have the other person follow but their love didn't last. The memories are like "ancient bruises," meaning that she/he thinks the wounds should have healed by now, but they haven't. Yet the lonely speaker wants or at least feels compelled to remember, deciding that it's better to feel something than nothing, better to hurt than to be numb.

This seems like a song of regret.

when I first heard the name, I immediately thought eloysian fields. (place in the greek underworld where the heroes live forever) after looking over the lyrics more carefully, it doesn't really fit but what else is a field below?

I think this song has to do with missing something you once had. It seems that its about someone who longs for things that are simplistic and country-ish, feilds and roosters.

bronyraur I think you might be mistaken in the assumption that she is gay. As far as I know she has had a long-term boyfriend of a couple of years.

I love this song. You can definately tell that this was influenced by Billie Holliday. I feel that it is about someone dealing with losing someone close to them, and how much that it hurts them