Eskimo Snow

"All of my words for sadness Like eskimo snow..."

This is playing on the urban myth that there are hundreds of words for snow in Eskimo. He's written his sadness hundreds of ways. These are private feelings ("I hum these prayers in secret") that he plays for everyone ("and sung them through speakers in rooms for people to hear it"). It's difficult to find new ways to express these feelings, especially when beaten down by them ("Even when I'm wasted and numb, With the words for good wine on a philistine's tongue").

The words for good wine on a philistine's tongue being sort of like the opposite to the words for snow on an Eskimo's tongue.

i hear: are hummed as prayers in secret and that old clouds yield

otherwise cool cool, and beautiful song jesus

First "feet of snow" instead of "beat"?

the way i hear it.. "are hummed as prayers in secret, and some put speakers in rooms for people to hear it" as well as "that old clouds yield" great song

so so beautiful, i can't get enough of this.

What an amazing song, been listening to it over and over. Lyrics I hear:

"are hummed as prayers in secret, and sung through speakers in rooms for people to hear it"

and

"of the first feet of snow that old, that old clouds yield"

and

"then I'm, then I'm still here"

This is one of the best songs on the CD as well as in general. Its so simplistic but so powerful. He has such a way with syllables.

But yeah, its "or the first feet of snow that old, that old clouds yield"

Now, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say there's a very deep, almost Christian vibe to this song. Of course, this is just the message I'm getting out of this song, so bear with me. I was raised a Christian, and while I've strayed a bit from the structure of it all, my mother is still devout in her faith, and I remember quite a bit of what I learned.

"All of my words for sadness Like eskimo snow on unmanned crosses all Planted in threes in a field for living trees"

This I take as a sort of reference to the death of Christ on Good Friday, where he was on a cross in the middle of two robbers. Three crosses, or "crosses planted all in threes." The "for living trees" bit I take to mean that the crosses were "planted" there for the benefit of those trees, same as how Christ died for all the sinners of the world. His sadness or darkness is covering these crosses and what they mean like really thick, dense northern snow.

"I hum these prayers in secret and sung them through speakers in rooms for people to hear it Even when I'm wasted and numb With the words for good wine on a philistine's tongue"

Seems like he doesn't have the confidence to speak about this newfound realization of some higher salvation, but then learns to sing it out, even as he strays more and more, "wasted and numb." I don't remember much about the Philistines, but I vaguely recall that they weren't the most holy of people. Maybe more reference to straying to substance, like wasted and numb?

"And I'm under something black and thicker than a sheet for ghosts in the first feet of snow That old clouds yield On the crosses on the chests of dead soldiers in a field"

His "sadness" is getting worse to the point where it's covering him like a thick sheet, or like he himself is being covered in said dense northern "Eskimo snow". The crosses on dead soldiers I think is another reference to some higher salvation out of sacrifice, like how soldiers sacrifice themselves to defend their countries and the citizens contained therein.

"And I'm still here Bearing my watery fruits if fruits at all And I'm still here Barely understanding what truth that rarely calls"

A bit of backstory: when I was little, my mom used to always tell me to "look at the fruit it bears" when talking about life decisions. This is in relation to the Bible verse that says "The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, etc." When he says "Bearing my watery fruits, if fruits at all" it says to me that his life choices aren't bearing the best results, if they're good at all. And furthermore he still can't understand this higher truth. But the main thing that drives it home for me is this: "And I'm still here." Like, this guy fucked up. He doesn't know how to get back on the right path, but he's still trying, he's still "here."

Just given my personal history, this song almost made me cry. I've had some issues with my personal faith, and have once again become a Christian, albeit not in the way that organized churches define it. But something about this song speaks to me. Like, no matter how bad I've fucked up, I'm still here, bearing what "fruit" I can, and trying to understand it all.

And again, this is just my personal interpretation. Don't take my word as law.

i had a completely different take on that first verse, but i really do like that idea. it's interesting all the theories people come up with for songs even though they can't all be right, not that that is a bad thing at all.

the first verse i saw as just a reference to the idea that eskimos have so many different words for snow in it's slightly different forms. to anyone else it is just snow, but they've got it down to a system where subtle differences matter. yoni's got (what we see as) a million ways to say he feels like shit, but he knows the differences

"I hum these prayers in secret and sung them through speakers in rooms for people to hear it Even when I'm wasted and numb With the words for good wine on a philistine's tongue"

remember, yoni used to sing in the choir of his father's temple. i think his father was a rabbi or a cantor or something.