This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
The bells will ring
Church steeple's catching fire
And if you promise spring
Then I know you are a liar
Cause in the spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles will burn my feet
And if you join our chorus
You'll never fear anymore
So here it comes, just the chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Souverian
Souverian
The elder
Souverian
Souverian
The free
Souverian
Souverian
The felled heart
So very young
So very young
Were we
Birds were singing
Still my lover won't return to me
You promise spring
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips scar my lungs
And the thistles are burning my feet
So here it comes, the chorus
You will never fear anymore
If you join our chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get over
over the elders
and under the elders
pretend that you're older now
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get older
over the elders
under the elders
bending the branches down
We were so very young
Still my lover won't return to me
Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles still burn my feet
Church steeple's catching fire
And if you promise spring
Then I know you are a liar
Cause in the spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles will burn my feet
And if you join our chorus
You'll never fear anymore
So here it comes, just the chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Souverian
Souverian
The elder
Souverian
Souverian
The free
Souverian
Souverian
The felled heart
So very young
So very young
Were we
Birds were singing
Still my lover won't return to me
You promise spring
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips scar my lungs
And the thistles are burning my feet
So here it comes, the chorus
You will never fear anymore
If you join our chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get over
over the elders
and under the elders
pretend that you're older now
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get older
over the elders
under the elders
bending the branches down
We were so very young
Still my lover won't return to me
Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles still burn my feet
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I am surprised no one has pointed out a few interchangeable words that are alternated throughout the song. During the "Souverian" Chorus, I believe he is saying "So very young" on every other line; "So very young, the free". Try it next time you listen. Also, more importantly at the end, the word "Alder" is used in place of "Elder" on a few lines. It makes more sense too.
"Under the alders The older get younger The younger get over Over the elders Under the alders Bending your branches down"
It's a song about growing old and dying as well as the contrast of youth and age I believe. The trees are used to symbolize age and themes like spring are used to symbolize youth.
"Souverian Souverian the elder So very young the free Souverian Souverian we feld her So very young so very young were we"
So who is Souverian? A google search turned up a farmer named Souverian P. Frigon who was born in 1850 in Canada and immigrated to Iriquois County, Illinois (Andrew Bird's home state). Might just be a coincidence, but this Souverian being a farmer fits in with the pastoral images of parsnips, thistles, thrushes, and grasses.
Perhaps Andrew Bird is spinning a story around a real but mostly unknown figure?
My favorite part of the sing is:
"So here it comes the chorus You'll never fear anymore If you join a chorus We will meet on a fatal shore"
Obviously you think it's going to break into the chorus... and then... silence... and the song just keeps going. It's cruel, in a beautiful Andrew Bird type way. I'm not exactly sure what he means by it, but when I first heard this song that part hit me really hard.
@Soupsoncreep, I am viewing the Chorus as a group of angels, so basically, here comes the angels to take you to heaven, and if you join the chorus, you will meet the one you lost.
This song is really beautiful.
let go, perhaps?
"Under the elders<br /> the older get younger<br /> the younger get over<br /> over the elders<br /> and under the elders<br /> pretend that you're older now."<br /> <br />
This song really stood out to me on his new album, at least of what I've heard of it. It's so heartbreaking.
For some reason, this song reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins song Today.
Etymology:From Old French soverain
Souverain= french used as noun or adjective = sovereign= Exceptional in quality.
Of course...he just could have made up the word because it sounded right too. (smirk)
Souverian is a first name (and is used as such in the song). But your etymology there may explain why he picked it for this song.
is anyone else seeing the sovay/souverian similarities here? i can already see a similar discussion unfolding on this page that seems to be following the whole "what does the word sovay come from" discussion on the sovay page
sovay=sauvee=sophie=etc, etc....
he could have just carried it out more and created souverian
i hope someone is following me here, afterall i am pretty deHIGHdrated
Ignore the title. "Souverian" is just a pretty French word Mr. Bird liked. He was asked about it in an NPR interview just before the album release.
Host: I don't know if I'm saying this right, Sou- Bird: "Souverian," yeah. It's French. Host: Oh, what's it mean? Bird: I do not know.
You know him, he'll use random words even if they don't add to the theme or message.
BTW, for the curious, "souverian" means being powerful or having control.
Haha, that definitely makes sense. But in the context of the song, it still seems to be used as a name ("Souverian the elder" "Souverian was free").
It could be about Cuthulu and Innsmouth on the shore... Mayhap he is a fan of HP Lovecraft.<br /> <br /> Or it could about acts of Hubris, the river Styx, and bending the branches down could be about Tantalus being stuck in Hades being unable to reach the fruit and water... <br /> <br /> BTW--he seems to have morphed the lyrics from the 1st stanza lately into:<br /> "The church steeples pushing higher" instead of the printed lyrics of catching fire.
A breakup song...?
Andrew Bird tends to move away from complete and explainable meaning in order to allow the listener to come to their own conclusions, or just enjoy the sound of the words. But, as he's mentioned in interviews, much of this album was written after a breakup. The lines in the verses seem to say that he can see that everything around him is supposed to be fine, but there's just a deep feeling that it will never go away.
"Thrushes sing Still my lover won't return to me..."
Andrew Bird uses a lot of plays on words, homophones ("Souverian" and "so very young"), and verbal/aural palindromes (e.g., "Oh No" and "On Ho") in his writing. Perhaps a big reason he used the word "Souverian" was because it is homophonic with "so very young." When you juxtapose different words together that sound the same, your brain tries to make some connection where there previously wasn't one... one of the great things about art.