Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
I can feel a difference
Today, a difference
All of us in our tents
Fearing god like a mistress
We lay on the rocks in the sun
Watching you and your mama row in
I sat up and blinked when you appeared
So pale you were nearly clear
Later I stumbled to my bed
All alone in the branches
I laid in the dark thinking about
All of my friends and their changes
And I do not know
If you know
just what you have done
You are the sweetest one
I have ever laid my eyes upon
It's a beautiful town
With the rain coming down
Blackberry, rosemary
Jimmy Crack Corn
You've got the run of the place
Now that you're running around
And may kindness
Kindness, kindness abound
In this hour of our lives
Hour of effortless plenty
How do we know which parts of our hearts want what
With such base generosity?
Taking so many photographs, so amazed
We've never seen a baby so newlyborn
And when the bulbs do flash as bright as morning
The crowd keeps on gathering like an electric storm
The phantom of love moves among us at will
Each phantom-limb lost has got an angel
So confused like the wagging bobbed-tail of a bulldog
Kindness, kindness prevails
Kindness prevails
Ties and rails, ties and rails fall into line bearing kindness
Where will you go, if not here?
What will you say when you write to us?
And this is a world of terrible hardship everywhere
And I search for words to set you at ease
But there, in the looking-glass, a kite is soaring
Stilling my warring heart and my trembling knees
Clean as a breeze, bright as the day
All of the people gather to say
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, oh, oh, oh"
I believe love will always surround you
Brave as a bear with a heart rare and true
But if you are scared, if you are blue
I have prepared this small song for you
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, ooh"
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, ooh"
"Sweet Esme, Esme
Sweet Esme, Sweet Esme, ooh"
Today, a difference
All of us in our tents
Fearing god like a mistress
We lay on the rocks in the sun
Watching you and your mama row in
I sat up and blinked when you appeared
So pale you were nearly clear
Later I stumbled to my bed
All alone in the branches
I laid in the dark thinking about
All of my friends and their changes
And I do not know
If you know
just what you have done
You are the sweetest one
I have ever laid my eyes upon
It's a beautiful town
With the rain coming down
Blackberry, rosemary
Jimmy Crack Corn
You've got the run of the place
Now that you're running around
And may kindness
Kindness, kindness abound
In this hour of our lives
Hour of effortless plenty
How do we know which parts of our hearts want what
With such base generosity?
Taking so many photographs, so amazed
We've never seen a baby so newlyborn
And when the bulbs do flash as bright as morning
The crowd keeps on gathering like an electric storm
The phantom of love moves among us at will
Each phantom-limb lost has got an angel
So confused like the wagging bobbed-tail of a bulldog
Kindness, kindness prevails
Kindness prevails
Ties and rails, ties and rails fall into line bearing kindness
Where will you go, if not here?
What will you say when you write to us?
And this is a world of terrible hardship everywhere
And I search for words to set you at ease
But there, in the looking-glass, a kite is soaring
Stilling my warring heart and my trembling knees
Clean as a breeze, bright as the day
All of the people gather to say
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, oh, oh, oh"
I believe love will always surround you
Brave as a bear with a heart rare and true
But if you are scared, if you are blue
I have prepared this small song for you
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, ooh"
"Sweet Esme
Sweet Esme, ooh"
"Sweet Esme, Esme
Sweet Esme, Sweet Esme, ooh"
Lyrics submitted by mutinyinheaven_x
Esme Lyrics as written by Joanna Newsom
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about the birth of the child, and Joanna's grievance at the change she has brought. There are themes of reluctant love, but a love that grows. I think it definitely has undertones of lonliness, and bereavement of the changes Esme has brought, yet her softening and the eventual feelings of unconditional love she feels, as exemplified by the lines "the phantom of love...etc."
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Sounds good to me. Very poetic song. I do better with literal songs due to my inability to comprehend deep, profound meanings, so it's nice to have a song explained so eloquently. Thank you.