Easy

official lyrics:

Easy, easy. My man and me, we could rest and remain here, easily. We are tested and pained by what's beyond our bed. We are blessed and sustained by what is not said.

No-one knows what is coming, or who will harvest what we have sewn, or how I've been dulling, and dumbing, in the service of the heart alone,

or how I am worn to the bone by the river, and, in the river made of light, I'm your little life-giver. I will give my life.

Haven't you seen what I've seen? Don't you know what you ought to do? I was born to love, and I intend to love you.

Down in the valley, where the fields are green, Watch my luck turn, fro and to; pluck every last daisy clean, till only I may love you.

I am easy, easy to keep. Honey, you please me even in your sleep. But my arms want to carry. My heart wants to hold. Tell me your worries. I want to be told.

Sit, and see how the fog, from the port in the bay, lays like snow at the foot of the roanoke;

hear the frog, going courting, till the day he croaks, saying, even then, There is light in the river. There is a river made of light. C'mon, little life-giver. Give your life.

Who asked you? Who asked you if you want to be loved by me? Who died, and made you in charge of who loves who?

All the livelong day, if I have my way, I will love you. But One can't carry the weight, or change the fate, of Two. I've been waiting for a break. How long's it gonna take? Let me love you. How about it? How about what I have to say? How about that livelong day? How am I gonna stay here without you?

Easy, easy. You must not fear. You must meet me, to see me. I am barely here. But, like a Bloody Mary, seen in the mirror: speak my name and I appear.

first off, i don't think that the narrator is joanna at all. she states in an interview that this album is not just a collection of songs, but a narrative-- a story that is intended to be listened to all the way through. to paraphrase joanna in the interview (with time, i think): why would you skip from chapter to chapter in a book? i am going to be contributing my interpretations on each song on the album, in sort of a play-by-play, as i don't believe anyone has done it yet. despite occasional offshoots in which joanna sings of characters such as lola montes and dick turpin, i believe this album is highly cohesive. Even these "offshoots," i think, relate well to the story that unfolds.

that said, i think that this first song is about a new relationship. maybe not brand new, but new in the grand scheme of things. i agree with previous contributors that it is about a woman who loves a man that doesn't really want to be loved. there are definitely fertility references, which make perfect sense, given the theme of the album. the "life-giver" lines, however, also imply that she loves this man so much she would give her life for him.

the narrator wants the relationship to be easy. she says that love comes easily to her, and implies that it does not for her lover, but i believe it's just as difficult for both of them. she wants to be able to love someone easily, unconditionally, but it's a difficult thing to do, and obviously this is not the right person for her. she is desperately trying to make it work: all this trying completely negates the idea of it being "easy" at all.

when the relationship ends for the last time, later on in "does not suffice," she speaks of taking all her things and moving out-- "everything that could remind [him] of how easy [she] was not." these pieces sort of serve as bookends for the album. they wrap it up into a beautiful package, telling a story as intertwined and emotionally involved as any. the narrator is not only at conflict with her lover, but with herself. it's not just him that isn't easy-- it's her.

"we are tested and pained by what's beyond our bed" indicates that the narrator and her lover, who is obviously either difficult or just uninterested, have troubles in their relationship (and in life) daily. The narrator views this as a test-- and wants to believe that they both do-- however, her lover probably only thinks of it as a pain. "we are blessed and sustained by what is not said," according to my interpretation, is the narrator's attempt to believe that her boyfriend's lack of loving words means little, if anything at all. she wants to believe that he loves her, and she is sustained by this belief even though he says nothing to indicate that it might be true.

in this song, she struggles with the fact that he doesn't want to let her in. later, in "good intentions paving company," the line "...how i said to you, 'honey, just open your heart'" relates back to this song. she wants him to open his heart, here, and let her love him the way that she longs to.

Listening to it now for the first time, can't say anything about the lyrics as I'm just listening to the music and her voice now. BEAUTIFUL. Plenty of drums. And I like the Ys-esque flute in the middle somewhere.

I believe this song is about a one-sided relationship. Honestly, describing its meaning in some ways feels to me like taking away from the song itself because it's so beautiful, it should be left alone, but I can't so that and I've concluded the meaning to be rather simple.

I find it to be about a relationship in which one person loves tremendously and the other cares very little. The "easy" I believe is more a plea than anything. The narrator (Joanna, presumably) is trying so very hard to convince her "man" that it will be easy, she is easy, she doesn't need much. However, directly after proclaiming "Honey, you please me, even in your sleep," she admits she wants to carry, hold, and listen. Her fields of green (where she possessively plucks every last daisy, not leaving any for any other admirers to wonder whether he ("[her] man" mind you) loves them or not) turn to a foggy river, cold with metaphorical snow. She finally bursts into an angry and crazed plea, turning childish taunts into a sad statement of, "Who died and made you in charge of who loves who?" and asking, pleading, "Let me love you. How about it?" and then wondering, "How am I gonna stay here without you?"

She eventually admits she'll be there, whenever he decides he needs her and musters up the energy to at least call for her.

There are portions of the song I'm unsure on. At one point I thought for sure there were references to pregnancy, or something of the sort. The river stuck me as a very fertile image, and lines like, "No-one knows what is coming, or who will harvest what we have sewn," and, "But One can't carry the weight..." seemed to refer to a pregnancy. When I read that Bloody Mary (the mirrored-game I've heard of, of course, but don't know much about the history or legend in detail) is sometimes known as a woman who murdered her children, or had her child murdered (or even a queen who suffered many miscarriages, possible self-induced), I was sure that I'd find connecting ideas strung throughout the whole thing. There's also the whole "life-giver" title, which could very obviously be referring to pregnancy. However, I can't seem to make the theory hold water given the entirety of the song.

I also believe she said (though I didn't read the interview) that "Does Not Suffice" was the counterpart to this song. In that song, she sings, "how easy I was not," clearly referencing this song. In that, I believe the "easy" in not entirely truthful. She knows she's not easy, can't be easy, because she's worth more than that.

But, in this song, she concedes and stays, though even the frog tries harder than her significant other, "going courting till the day he croaks."

I haven't fully delved into all the other songs, but there is another reference to a stalking and obsessive sort of love in "Soft As Chalk" and definitely other references to pregnancy, or at least impending motherhood that never happened. Even though Have One On Me is a collection of songs, less cohesive than Ys, I still get the feeling there will be common themes and I'm so excited to pick through them and make connections.

Oh, and I love the violin, flute and cello in this song. It's so beautiful, so eerie, and such a pleasure to listen to. I imagine two people on a bed in the middle of a forest or swamp (not sure where that came from) while a river of light runs alongside them. It's quite a cluster of images, but I love it.

I really like littlelifegiver's thoughts. Mine are mostly the same. This song (and so many on HOOM) has a desperate pleading quality to it. If you've ever been in this kind of a relationship--and i suppose most people have--where there's an imbalance and growing rot/decay/estrangement, I think you would relate to many of the sentiments here. I like how she oscillates between feelings of ease and tranquility and desperation at her love not being requited. These lyrics are intense.

I think this was written as a pseudo-conversation b/t Jesus and Joanna. I don't usually pickup on the religious/spiritual under/overtones in her music (even on this album- jackrabbits is the only other song i see any spiritual struggle in... at least for now), but i can't hear anything else in this song. Before I go any further, I should say a few things: 1) I could definitely be projecting here, as I come from a family that is constantly trying to lure me into Christianity with sentiments like "Jesus just wants to love you", "It doesn't have to be as difficult as you make it, God already loves you just the way you are now."... etc, etc, etc. 2) I'm a religious studies minor (philosophy major), thus the excessive biblical references; but i'm graduating this semester, thus the complete lack of actual ch:vs references. 3) I'd love to hear/read what this is actually about... i know this "meaning" i hear could really just be ridiculous.

....So (finally) here's my verse-by-verse interpretation:

Easy, easy. My man and me, we could rest and remain here, easily. We are tested and pained
by what's beyond our bed. We are blessed and sustained by what is not said. ^^"my man and me"... a tongue-in-cheek reference to contemporary christianity for the emphasis of a "PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP!" w/ JC? remaining in christianity is the easiest route if you were raised in it, though a christian lifestyle faces unique tests/pains outside the comfort (bed?) of the xian community. blessing and sustainment are promised throughout the Bible (Old+New testaments) to those that follow God/JC... but moreso I'm thinking the last 2 lines either refer to "the meek shall inherit the earth", or how you're supposed to feel "blessed and sustained" by a figure (JC) who isn't really here to say anything to you.

No-one knows what is coming, or who will harvest what we have sewn, or how I've been dulling, and dumbing, in the service of the heart alone, ^^^ apocalyptic fears and "reaping what you sew" in lines 1+2? religion and spirituality are notorious for being "matters of the heart, not the intellect" (dulling and dumbing)? frustrations with relying on faith alone?

or how I am worn to the bone by the river, and, in the river made of light, I'm your little life-giver. I will give my life. ^^^I feel like this is where her JC narrative comes in, "worn to the bone, BY the river"= crucified/tortured... but then "in river of light/life giver/giver you my life"= river of light referring to the resurrection, which is what gives the believers eternal life (right?). JC gave his mortal life for believers' eternity.

Haven't you seen what I've seen? Don't you know what you ought to do? I was born to love, and I intend to love you. ^^^"i was born to love"= "god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that you may seek everlasting life"... JC knows all the shitty-ness of our existence and just wants to make it better?

Down in the valley, where the fields are green, Watch my luck turn, fro and to; pluck every last daisy clean, till only I may love you. ^^^"yea though i walk through the valley of the shadows of death"... and the picking of daisies "till only i may love you"= a reference to God being a "jealous god"... wanting no other deity/thing before him?

I am easy, easy to keep. Honey, you please me even in your sleep. But my arms want to carry. My heart wants to hold. Tell me your worries. I want to be told. ^^^OK- this is an entire verse of the (sweet-tender-father-figure) JC quotes, just written in the vernacular.

Sit, and see how the fog, from the port in the bay, lays like snow at the foot of the roanoke; ^^^ehhhh.... i know this is a HUGE stretch.... fog laying like snow= not being able to see what is/isn't in front of you a port= an entrance point *foot of roanoke (the river?)= another eternity reference? ....this verse seemed out of place until I thought that, in context, perhaps this is an allusion to the overwhelming difficulty and confusion one faces when loosing faith (or beginning/attempting to revive it)?

hear the frog, going courting, till the day he croaks, saying, even then, There is light in the river. There is a river made of light. C'mon, little life-giver. Give your life. ^^^I haven't the slightest here. Is this a reference to the folk song? because that frog gets eaten by a duck IN the river, after running away from the brutal murder scene of his fiance mouse and her uncle rat. haha... obviously i'm missing something here! help!

Who asked you? Who asked you if you want to be loved by me? Who died, and made you in charge of who loves who? ^^^this tone is exactly that of the JC from the gospels, particularly in the letters of paul... (in his early career, JC was kinda douchey and could totally talk shit to a person/mass of people while simultaneously converting them to the new school of thought).

All the livelong day, if I have my way, I will love you. But One can't carry the weight, or change the fate, of Two. I've been waiting for a break. How long's it gonna take? Let me love you. How about it? How about what I have to say? How about that livelong day? How am I gonna stay here without you? ^^^this is all about free will? the decision to "accept jesus into your heart"?

Easy, easy. You must not fear. You must meet me, to see me. I am barely here. But, like a Bloody Mary, seen in the mirror: speak my name and I appear. ^^^this is such a perfect closer... "not fear/meet me see me/barely here"= "fear not, for i am with you" (but not really, not in the flesh.)... ...and finally "like a bloody mary, seen in the mirror: speak my name and I appear"= remember playing that game at sleepovers when you were a kid??? the kids who believed they'd see the image would be HORRIFIED and cry into the night/thrill at the rush of such terror and shock; while those of us who had doubts could do it all night without results (while the believers/seers convinced us that is was real, we just weren't doing it right). JC says, "speak my name and believe in me".... ok, you get it.

To me this song is about a potential relationship; the feelings you have when you have a big old crush on someone and you can't see why you shouldn't be together. I adore the lines

"I've been waiting for a break. How long's it gonna take? Let me love you."

Just gorgeous and it rings so true; you can imagine being with someone and have a burning desire in your heart but until they "allow" you to love them by reciprocating your feelings, the relationship can't go anywhere or be real. I think everyone knows the frustration of having a fabulous life with someone playing out in your head but in reality they barely know you're alive.

I find this song heartbreaking and adorably charming at the same time. Typical of Joanna Newsom :)