Monkey & Bear Lyrics
Where monkey and bear usually lay,
They woke from a stable-boy's cry.
The horses got loose, got grass-sick!
They'll founder! Fain, they'll die!"
By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey?
And remain in your place for your season,
And had the overfed dead but listened
To that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom...
"We'll get out of here, fair and square!
They've left the gate open wide!
Here is my hand, where is your paw?
Try and understand my plan, Ursula.
My heart is a furnace;
Full of love that's just and earnest.
Now you know that we must unlearn this
Allegiance to a life of service,
And no longer answer to that heartless
Hay-monger, nor be his accomplice
(That charlatan, with artless hustling!),
But Ursula, we've got to eat something
And earn our keep, while still within
The borders of the land that man has girded
(All double-bolted and tightfisted!)
Until we reach the open country
A-steeped in milk and honey
Can you bear a little longer to wear that leash?
My love, I swear by the air I breathe:
Sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
Darling, there's a place for us;
Can we go, before I turn to dust?
Oh my darling, there's a place for us.
Oh darling,
C'mon will you dance, my darling?
Oh, the hills are groaning with excess
Like a table ceaselessly being set.
Oh my darling, we will get there yet."
Past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards
All night, 'til finally
Much farther than the stone that bear threw
To mark where they'd stop for tea.
And don't look backwards;
Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture.
And their applause caws the kettle black,
And we can't have none of that!
(Though cast in plaster,
Our Ursula's heart beat faster
Than monkey's ever will).
They have got to pay the bills,
Hadn't they?
That is what the monkey'd say.
Or a kite, jerking tight at its tether,
In her dun-brown gown of fur
And her jerkin of swan's down and leather
The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure
Of the children, who'd shriek,
Throwing coins at her feet
Then recoiling in terror.
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
Oh darling, there's a place for us;
Can we go, before I turn to dust?
Oh my darling, there’s a place for us.
C'mon, will you dance, my darling?
You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill
Where you'll ever-after eat your fill.
Oh my darling, dear, mine,
If you dance,
Dance, darling, I'll love you still"
Shone a weak and miserly light
Where the monkey shouldered his lamp.
The bear had been wandering
A fair piece away from where they were camped.
The bear'd been sneaking away
To the seaside caverns, to bathe.
For he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves,
Also afraid what the village people would say
If they saw the bear in that state;
Lolling and splashing obscenely,
Well, it seemed irrational, really: washing that face
Washing that matted and flea-bit pelt
In some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine.
But monkey just laughed, and he muttered,
"When she comes back, Ursula will be bursting with pride."
Saying: you've been rolling in muck!
Saying: you smell of garbage and grime!
Far out,
By now,
By now,
Far out, by now, Bear ploughed
'Cause she would not drown.
Up and fell down in the water like knobby garters.
Then the outside-arms of the bear
Fell off as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes
Low'red in a genteel curtsy.
Bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders,
And, with a sigh, she allowed the burden of belly
To drop like an apron full of boulders.
Where it's worn translucent in places,
You'd see spots where almost every night of the year
Bear had been mending suspending that baseness.
Now her coat drags through the water,
Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows
In the magnetic embrace,
Balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow.
Left there!
When Bear left Bear,
Left there!
When Bear stepped clear of Bear...
For lack of another interpretation on this site, here is mine... I hope someone points out to me the things I've added in and missed out of the meaning, because there may be some :-)
Anyway, I think it's a discussion on the nature of freedom, wrapped up in a kind of 'creation narrative'. The name Ursala comes directly from the fact that 'Ursa' is Latin for 'Bear'... thus the 'Ursa Major' constellation being called the 'Great Bear'. Given Joanna's oft-displayed celestial fascination, I think the story that's so wonderfully woven here, then, is of the origin of that constellation.
The song is about a cunning and duplicitous monkey's exploitation of a performing bear... promising friendship and freedom, but all the while keeping her trapped in the old slavery as she works towards the unattainable dream, "A-steeped in milk and honey", offered in Monkey's words. He feigns love, pretends that he is working for Bear's good - "My heart is a furnace/ Full of love that's just and earnest" - but his intention is to keep her boxed in. This is seen in his being troubled when she gets a taste of life outside his control, and in his scheme to dissuade her from getting away at that point... in reality, he is using her performances for his own profit (thus the irony in 'But still/ They have got to pay the bills/ Hadn't they?/ That is what the monkey'd say').
There is a hopelessness in that: the promise is amazing, but the bear's present reality is that she is bound by fancy clothes (so opposite to the freedom of the wild), a leash, the tragic dancing for the pleasure of the children who love her for her intrigue, but are terrified of her; and really, despite Monkey's words, there is no indication that if Bear stays where she is, she will ever come out of this cycle. That is a lonely and constricted place, the kind of place where oppression makes one fade away to death.
The meaning therefore comes down to the conflict between the desire for freedom, and the consequence of escape... also the tragedy of slavery within an illusion of liberty. I think the comment of the song on this topic may be seen in comparing and contrasting the start of the song and conclusion. The first few stanzas give the warning of the horses who escaped through an open gate, and died in their indulgence; the proverb is to "stay by the gate you are given", not to seek change or look beyond what you are told and offered, for fences keep us safe. But Bear, if she sees past the illusion that keeps her going in her slavery, is really in a place where she is as good as dead anyway. So the message of the song is perhaps a reckless one: as she breaks free in the final imagery, there is no indication of what happens to her, beyond the purely positive portrayal of her vivid and exhilarating liberation, totally separate and oblivious to Monkey and his scheming. We do not know what happens when time moves on, as it must, and she steps out of the seaside caverns. We only know that she had no choice, and that only in this is there any meaning or fulfillment. There is a strong and overriding caution of the cost of escape in the mirroring story of the horses... but in accepting that and plunging into it Bear transcends it, and finds herself eternally free in her existence shining in the night sky, a testimony to light the way and give direction to all those who hear her story and come after her.
This presents a message that though it is safer to stay locked in the places and mentality in which we are already positioned... perhaps by the cords of society's attempts to lock up our potential through a facade of convincing lies and elusive, unattainable hopes... we do have an option of breaking out. This is both foolish and wonderful - vital. The ideal ending, the image of Ursala's freedom, implies that it is worth anything. The only advice offered about how one may pull this off is in the revelation that Monkey is a liar... perhaps we do not have to listen to the "You've been rolling in muck!... You smell of garbage and grime"... perhaps the bear is stronger than the monkey...
Inspired by this story, perhaps today is the day when we can throw off the wearisome restraints of conformity, and step blindly into an unknown which is frightening, perhaps fatal, but which is good, for it typifies truth and the Freedom we have always dreamed of - and in the true tradition of all story-telling, this ideal is worth everything.
Great stuff. Glad you did this so I don't have to. I think this is Joanna Newsom's clearest song in terms of its meaning, although it's still quite open to interpretation.
Great stuff. Glad you did this so I don't have to. I think this is Joanna Newsom's clearest song in terms of its meaning, although it's still quite open to interpretation.
The monkey is made out to be quite underhanded and sly - and is obviously the antagonist here. But there's no indication that the bear would be better off for escaping. When the bear finally does venture into the caves, she ends up drowning, 'lowered in a genteel curtsey' (still a slave to her domestication).
The monkey is made out to be quite underhanded and sly - and is obviously the antagonist here. But there's no indication that the bear would be better off for escaping. When the bear finally does venture into the caves, she ends up drowning, 'lowered in a genteel curtsey' (still a slave to her domestication).
There are no assumptions made about the nature of control here, just observations. I...
There are no assumptions made about the nature of control here, just observations. I think she's quite careful not to put any obvious political slant on this. Yes, the bear dies. But was she better off experiencing this freedom and then dying in the wild, than she would have been had she lived a longer but less fulfilled life under control, ie. in the farm/dancing for the monkey? Brilliant song. Always entertaining. Well worth a sit down with the lyric booklet.
This a really great write up. You've given me the inspiration to do some more thinking about this song now - a song which I always rather disliked: I've always found the (overly?) elaborate "Monkey and Bear" metaphor so distracting and weighty. (But loved most of Newsom's other stuff).
This a really great write up. You've given me the inspiration to do some more thinking about this song now - a song which I always rather disliked: I've always found the (overly?) elaborate "Monkey and Bear" metaphor so distracting and weighty. (But loved most of Newsom's other stuff).
It never actually states that the bear is shedding her skin or fur or transcending her body in any way. I think the last few verses simply mean that she is shedding her costume, which metaphorically is like shedding her skin I suppose, but not necessarily by literal interpretation. She simply swims until the costume (that has burdened her for so long) literally falls off her body, allowing her stomach and shoulders to stretch and breathe with unbridled, new-found freedom.
Then she uses the discarded threadbare coat to catch minnows in the sea to finally eat bountifully like the monkey always promised she would.
The final verse, when Bear left Bear, seems to imply that she is leaving her old role (and the costume that represented it) behind to become a new bear, a free bear, no longer oppressed or controlled.
The song sees to be a fable depicting the nature of freedom, the illusion of control, and the futility of trying to make someone (or some animal) be someone they are not, or act in ways against their nature.
The very last line about burying your teeth, almost seem to imply that she might eventually seek revenge on that damned monkey. Or it could just mean that she is finally free to act like a real bear rather than a hay-fed circus act.
@hudsucker The song says her legs fell off and she shed her shoulders and allowed the burden of her belly to drop like dropping boulders and all that's left is her empty coat of fur. Her body literally comes apart as she transcends physical reality. The only way for her to be not oppressed is to leave this earthly existence. This is a great article on the song: http://allthebirds.tumblr.com/post/14974282311/sooner-or-later-youll-bury-your-teeth-the and it references the myth of Callisto the bear, who transcends earth to become Ursa Major.
@hudsucker The song says her legs fell off and she shed her shoulders and allowed the burden of her belly to drop like dropping boulders and all that's left is her empty coat of fur. Her body literally comes apart as she transcends physical reality. The only way for her to be not oppressed is to leave this earthly existence. This is a great article on the song: http://allthebirds.tumblr.com/post/14974282311/sooner-or-later-youll-bury-your-teeth-the and it references the myth of Callisto the bear, who transcends earth to become Ursa Major.
@grayson116 I interpret her legs and shoulders falling off as the legs and shoulders of her costume, not her actual body parts, as evidenced by the following stanza that has her using that same costume to catch minnows. While I do love the idea that she eventually transcends her body to become one with the stars, I don't think the lyrics imply her body is falling apart in that verse or that the song implies her leaving her physical body... yet. The entire song is very literal and straightforward in tone and verse up until this point, and to suddenly become...
@grayson116 I interpret her legs and shoulders falling off as the legs and shoulders of her costume, not her actual body parts, as evidenced by the following stanza that has her using that same costume to catch minnows. While I do love the idea that she eventually transcends her body to become one with the stars, I don't think the lyrics imply her body is falling apart in that verse or that the song implies her leaving her physical body... yet. The entire song is very literal and straightforward in tone and verse up until this point, and to suddenly become cerebral and murky at the end would seem out of place in my opinion. But metaphorical stuff is always open for interpretation I suppose.
@grayson116 I interpret her legs and shoulders falling off as the legs and shoulders of her costume, not her actual body parts, as evidenced by the following stanza that has her using that same costume to catch minnows. While I do love the idea that she eventually transcends her body to become one with the stars, I don't think the lyrics imply her body is falling apart in that verse or that the song implies her leaving her physical body... yet. The entire song is very literal and straightforward in tone and verse up until this point, and to suddenly become...
@grayson116 I interpret her legs and shoulders falling off as the legs and shoulders of her costume, not her actual body parts, as evidenced by the following stanza that has her using that same costume to catch minnows. While I do love the idea that she eventually transcends her body to become one with the stars, I don't think the lyrics imply her body is falling apart in that verse or that the song implies her leaving her physical body... yet. The entire song is very literal and straightforward in tone and verse up until this point, and to suddenly become cerebral and murky at the end would seem out of place in my opinion. But metaphorical stuff is always open for interpretation I suppose.
poor bear.. damn monkey!
Regarding the bit about 'baring her teeth'
The song is full of bear the animal, bear as in put up with, bare as in show, bare in not much there, etc. Lots of wordplay as in so many other songs on Ys.
Question: if the transcription is correct, does anyone have a theory why Bear appears uppercase in some places and lowercase in others?
THis is the only song I've heard off the new album. It is not yet released in Australia. It's a very brave move. I didn't enjoy this song. Maybe it'll grow on me.
As to the music, I love it... it is incredible... I was saying to a friend today that this artist is incredibly clever, and it's so intricate and abstract and profound and strange and beautiful, all at once! I love the way she uses language and pictures and stories. This music strange, it had to grow on me, and sometimes I cringe, but it is artistically wonderful... so well controlled that beauty is skillfully retained. It is richer every time I play it... I am utterly fascinated by minutiae of all its facets... I love it how some things in the world captivate you and make you see beauty from a totally unexplored angle, and this is one of those.
totally agree. the first time i heard her music (it was "Cosmia") i wasn't even sure if i liked it, i just knew i couldn't stop listening to it... it's so mesmerizing.
totally agree. the first time i heard her music (it was "Cosmia") i wasn't even sure if i liked it, i just knew i couldn't stop listening to it... it's so mesmerizing.
Or unless you're on a songs meanings site? Hehe :-P
Actually, I must agree... I like getting the meaning behind people's words when they're this clever, and some of my friends at school and I had fun exploring it all. But part of the charm of Joanna's work is in its first impression... it just sounds really good, and the words are all so tasteful and so artistic... aaahhhhh, love it!
Just as a note, the comments at the end weren't necessarily my perspective, just what I thought the song was implying.
Anyway, sorry. If you didn't like it, I suggest you don't read it again ;-)
Pretty straightforward song, beside the fate of the bear. I suppose "when bear stepped free of bear" reffers to the constellation. Very celestial album.
fjording: as Annelise pointed out, the name of the site is "song meanings." If you're just coming here to say OMG I LIEK THIS SONG, I think you might be missing the point. Annelise, I thought that was splendid. Now do the last three songs! ;)
Anneliese, you outdid yourself on this one.
My take is that if you are on the lam, pick the right partner. Reminds me of those placemats in the Chinese restaurants with the 12 zodiac signs...if you are a rat, do not marry a cat.