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Oh! Hark! Lyrics

Once again I leave my grave
Dirt and daisies hit the pave
No sooner than I have turned
I hear the devil cooking up a new storm

My world ends on a regular basis
Yeah I fed quick and lonesome places
No sooner that I am dead
I feel the ravens tugging at my hair

Oh! Hark!
Do you a hear a voice like velvet through the night sky
Do you hear the fickle hand of fate at my side
And all those that god has sined with hope in his stride

And watch out
Watch for them camouflaged and crouched in the shadows
Oh they couldn't hold a candle up to you
But they stand as tall as you in broad daylight too
Oh! Hark!

Once again I leave my grave
And dirt and daisies hit the pave
But no sooner than I am dead
I feel the ravens tugging at my hair

Once again I leave my grave
Like a bird out of its cage
No sooner that I have won
I feel the storm clouds plotting against the sun

Oh! Hark!
Do you a hear a voice like velvet through the night sky
Do you hear the fickle hand of fate at my side
And are those the goddesses of hope in your stride

And watch out
Watch for them camouflaged and crouched in the shadows
Oh they couldn't hold a candle up to you
But they stand as tall as you in broad daylight too
Oh! Hark!

Oh! Hark!
Do you a hear a voice like velvet through the night sky
Do you hear the fickle hand of fate at my side
And are those the goddesses of hope in your stride

And watch out
Watch for them camouflaged and crouched in the shadows
Oh they couldn't hold a candle up to you
But they stand as tall as you in broad daylight too
Oh! Hark!
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4 Meanings

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Cover art for Oh! Hark! lyrics by Lisa Mitchell

This song is pretty uplifting, for a song about death!

I particularly love the part where there's all the kids singing 'WATCH OUT!!!' too cute

I'm not sure about that 6th line, and the line about god in the Chorus is definately wrong but I've not idea what she's singing. Anyone?

Not Valid

I think maybe instead of 'And all those that god has sinned with hope in his stride' it might be 'Are those the goddesses of hope in yester eye'.

Love this song :)

Not Valid
Cover art for Oh! Hark! lyrics by Lisa Mitchell

Not sure if it's about death... seems like it might be a vampire story actually... if that's correct, wonder if it refers to any particular story/novel. I was thinking that it seems, with the lines like "I hear the devil cooking up a new storm" and so on, that it might be some hero vampire story, like Angel (the spin-off from Buffy), since it seems like it refers to fighting evil and so on... "my world ends on a regular basis" goes with Angel too, since he regularly has to deal with an impending apocalypse.

I agree that this seems like a vampire story. "Plotting against the sun" is also something I took into consideration.

Not Valid
Cover art for Oh! Hark! lyrics by Lisa Mitchell

Oh Hark! The song commences with Lisa leaving the grave. this immediately gets the listener thinking of death and being risen from the dead. However the coming out of the grave here is more likely to mean a return to life after a retreat or of hiding away ( from society) and the reference to the devil cooking up a storm in the third line reveals the still present maleavolent forces which led to the 'death' or social retreat in the first place.

This decoding is confirmed by the start of the second verse where Lisa states "My world ends on a regular basis" thus the end here refers to the feelings of hurt/despair/loneliness and the need to hide away (in her grave). But no sooner has she hidden away than there are those Ravens seeking to eat her flesh ( take advantage of her absence by perhaps slandering her name or saying falsehoods)In the NGV painting 'Anguish', ravens wait by the body of a lamb while the mother stands over her dead baby refusing to leave her to the mercy of the hungry ravens. The lamb is innocent and pure (white) while the Ravens are dark, many and symbolise evil. In her video for the song Lisa is also in white and the other dances are all in black and outnumber her greatly. The good fighting against the overwhelming numbers of bad.

However, despite these overwhelming forces of evil, Lisa hears the voice of an angel (oh hark) and this inspires her to rise from her grave with hope in her stride. And yet although there are voices which offer positivity Lisa's own self doubts and her fear she is at fate's mercy drags her back. Once again the songs sways back to those undermining forces many of them camouflaged. In the famous book "Catcher in the Rye" The main character is unable to come to terms with society and is forever seeing the phoney's and this depresses him and makes him wish to reject the society with which he lives. Likewise, Lisa finds those who pretend to be well intentioned are camoufleging their perhaps evil or at least selfish motives.

Finally Lisa compares the good of perhaps her friend (the angel) "They couldn't hold a candle to you!" and yet laments they stand as tall as you. Those phoney's/morally bankrupt/selfish or just evil are given an equal position in society and this is the world Lisa finds hard to accept.

A great song with strong symbolism and a good video which owes gratitude to Kate Bush.

Cover art for Oh! Hark! lyrics by Lisa Mitchell

Lisa Mitchell's album Wonder was a feature album of the radio station Triple J when it came out. She came in and talked about the songs that they played from the ablum and I remember her saying that this song was a reference to when she once lived in this place that was really small, like a grave. I can't remember if there was anything else to it or not, sadly that is all I remember. You might be able to find some more info on the net about it... but I am not sure.

Brilliant song, whatever it stands for.