Occident

Occident is defined as "The part of the horizon where the sun last appears in the evening", so if we're considering Have One On Me to be the general timespan of a relationship, the conclusion of disc two being the end of the relationship, it makes sense.

beautiful beautiful beautiful so tired of the guessing game...

I think this song can be about Emily again.

Corrected lyrics and better formatting:

Mercy me, the night is long. Take my pen, to write you this song.

Lord: is it harder to carry on, Or to know when you are done?

All my life, I've felt as though I'm inside a beautiful memory, replaying with the sound turned down low.

Long-life, show your face. Slow-heart, curb your taste. Smoke me out of my hiding place. Long-life, state your case.

What in the world are we waiting for- building glowing cities along the shore, where the wind batters, baiting my kin like a matador?

So much value, placed upon what lies just beyond our plans: waving my handkerchief, running along, till the end of the sand.

Long-life, speak your name. I'm so tired of the guessing game. But, something is moving, just out of frame: lSlow-heart, brace and aim.

Breaching slowly, across the sea, one mast- flash, like the stinger of a bee- to take you away, a swarming fleet is gonna take you from me.

The universe is getting loose: sodden spread, from some leaden disuse, rushing, unhinged, towards diminishing lights, like a headless caboose.

I'll wait for you, alongside the ocean, and make do with my no-skin. But then, Long-life, will you let me in? And then, Slow-heart, are you gonna know him? Long-life, speak your name, I wait, while I decry the wait. And when I die, may I relate: Slow heart, congregate.

To leave your home, and your family for some distortion of property? Well, darling, I can't go. But you may stay here, with me.

Outside forces are coming in to tear up what they've built together.

i adore the dichotomy of the phrases: "long-life" and "slow-heart." its as though whom she's addressing in the song is referred to as "long-life," and she would therefore be the "slow-heart." as to why she uses these handles... i'm unsure. perhaps could someone expound upon that?

i agree with skyling's comment. the title of the song definitely indicates where the couple stands in the progress of their relationship. this goes along with my belief that, in "go long", the relationship resumes briefly for a little more than "one last hurrah."

"occident" takes the form of a song (or letter) written to the narrator's lover. she knows that the relationship is basically over, but wonders whether it would be easier not knowing, and simply carrying on as if everything were fine. an argument could be made for either side.

the lines: "something is moving, just out of frame [...] breaching slowly across the sea, one mast-- flash, like the stinger of a bee-- to take you away, a swarming fleet is gonna take you from me" signify that she knows what's left of the relationship is facing an imminent end. she waits for that end, while she decries the wait. this is in keeping with her previous question: it's harder for her knowing when she is done, because then it's just time spent waiting.

I think 'with my no-skin' may actually be 'with my nose-skin', as in "by the skin of your nose." But I'm unsure because I don't have the CD, so if the booklet contains lyrics that say no-skin I'm wrong!

Anyway, I love the syncopation in this song. Great vocals, too.

I'm pretty convinced all of Have One on Me is a breakup album about her and Bill Callahan. I think this is another song about being in love with a travelling man. She is so rooted to her home and she hates waiting for him come back ( something moving just out of range... I wait while I decry the wait) and she hates that the world seems like its set up for people to leave.

Building glowing cities along the shore A swarming fleet is going to take you from me

To leave your home and your family For some distortion of property

I believe she's talking about how property is supposed to be the land you live on and tend to and are tied to. The land you care for, and the person she's talking to just moves around not knowing any land, maybe buying it or squatting on it, but truly has no property because he has no roots.

And she offers him a home with her.

Long life, show your face Slow heart, curb your taste Smoke me out of my hiding place Long life, state your case

This song, and particularly this stanza, seems to be a meditation on (and conversation about) long-term relationships: finding reasons to stick it out through tough or negative times, taking a long-view of the relationship in the context of a whole life, fighting against the impulse towards change, movement and newness.