House by the Sea

The song seems to me to be talking about the fundamental difference between men and women, how men have an instinct to spread seed and then move on and how women try to make a home, try to keep them around. The "house by the sea" mentioned in each verse is the happy medium that the male and the girls in this song wish to achieve.

In the first verse, I feel that the sisters have something amorous going on with the singer, who is clearly male; this is perhaps the cause of their jealousy towards each other, or towards any other women he looks at. The one laying on the floor is being inviting and enticing, and the one changing the locks is conspiring to keep the man there. The part about buying their time on his knees seems to refer to the fact that, in lots of hormone-centered relationships like this one, the guy humbles himself before the girl to get into her pants.

The second verse is describing how heavenly the house by the sea is; how great it is when everybody's natural instincts co-incide and love-making is what's going down. Roses and raspberry leaves smell pretty good, and having smoke in your nose, whether it's tobacco or a more illicit substance, is a fun, meaningless thing you do in luxury. Maybe this also links to their being two girls instead of your normal one-on-one relationship - the house by the sea is an irresistable male fantasy."Making the meaning they lack" could refer to the man thinking up reasons to be there, and him "burning the book they come back to" means that he's rejecting their reasons - they think he should stay there, start a family.

In the third verse, the man has left the sisters and has travelled far away, putting an ocean between himself and that heavenly house. "Like the shape of a wave," their regard from him goes from a zenith of love and mating to a nadir of celebrating his death.

The final six lines are particularly potent, amptly and poetically summarizing the relationship. 1: he lives for them, hopelessly in love, and he goes whenever they do. 2-3: Their control over him tightens, and his instincts want him to escape and roam. This goes from simply wanting to leave to trying to escape the metaphysical bondage he's in. 4: They don't call him Sam Beam (or whatever) like they used to, now the name is full of responsability and expectations. 5-6: Having left, he still dreams of the pleasure of that house, and he dreams of "love and freedom" co-existing somehow.

To me, this the "jealous sisters" are sirens, given that they live by the sea and seem to be tempting the singer. Around the "house by the sea" there are beautiful nectars and the temptation of smoking. They've been changing the sound of his name, calling him by repeating his name slowly as if to say "come here." He's torn between giving in to their temptation, "swimming to them in my sleep," and resisting it, "sparing my neck from their chain."

Actually, I just checked, they lived in Bethany, which is about 12 miles from the Dead Sea. So not too close...but still, the rest seems to fit.

I think the jealous sisters may represent the politcal parties: Democrat and Republican. 'One is laid on the floor': the democrats doing nothing. 'One is changing the locks on the door': in the context of the song this seems to mean that while the Republican administration has sent the soldiers out, their welcome home is something less than they expected.

The smoke references in the second verse strike me as the smoke of the battlefield. Smoke in his nose as opposed to the scent of roses and raspberry leaves back home. As a soldier the narrator represents the ideals of our democracy in a way that the posturing of the fat cats in washington grossly distorts, hence 'making the meaning they lack'.

'Like the shape of a wave, the jealous sisters will sing on my grave.' They will lament his senseless death seemingly oblivious that it was their inequities that caused it.

'Living to run where they led' = following orders as a soldier 'Dying to rise from their bed' = implying they are asleep and people are dying for it.

The imagery really harkens back to older trad music. There's also some interesting parallels with the Audrey Niffenegger story, "Three Incestuous Sisters" in which a set of sisters who live by the sea take in this man who two of them fall in love with him... its worth checking out.

i kind of know what you mean, mantooth - on carousel, the vocal effect adds something that might actually take away from the intended effect. i think, however, that the new sound enhances this song. i love the fuller sound; it really sounds like he had a good time layering instruments on quietly but numerously, like he has with his voice on previous tracks.

i'm as in love with folky acoustic guitar iron & wine as anyone. and i'm not disappointed at all with this album, its sounds, its music, its lyrics. these songs are every bit as emotional and haunting as anything sam has written. he can't do wrong, and i'm continually stunned.

I think that he has changed, for certain, but who doesn't? and if he didn't, his style would get old, and people would be bored. I'm not saying one style is better than the other, just that change is necessary. And also, the thematic material of this album is drastically different from previous albums, and he sings to be targeting subjects of a global scale, as opposed to the quiet, intimate themes that he has tackled in the past, such as love, life, feminism and mortality. The music fits the message here, as always.

exactly ^. people may not be liking the new direction he took, but another "sam 'n' his banjo/guitar/etc" album would've gotten boring quick. if you don't like his approach on TSD then listen to his older albums? i'm thinking he would've experimented with his sound sooner or later anyway, if not on this album. anyways, this is probably one of my favorite songs on the new album including wolves and boy with a coin.

i'm a big fan of the new cd. this song is just an example of the potential and genius of sam beam. this new album is perfect live and sets you in an awe to see all the talent that produces this great music.