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When Were You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been) Lyrics
Hey there new friend across the sea
If you figure things out, would you figure in me?
Wouldn't it be a thing to live somewhere quietly
Where there's a breeze and there's a reason for us to be?
I look at people here in the city and wonder
Whether they're lonely or like me they're not content
To live as things are meant to be
When were you happy?
And how long has that been?
Who speaks for them and then again
Who speaks for me?
My vote was never counted
So who upon this Earth knows what it is that I believe?
We are all looking for answers
Where no answer can be found
Or is that a concern of mine
Because I have time
To question my ground?
Hey there new friend across the sea
If you figure things out, would you figure in me?
I find the more I think the harder it is for me to breathe
When were we happy? And how long has that been?
If you figure things out, would you figure in me?
Wouldn't it be a thing to live somewhere quietly
Where there's a breeze and there's a reason for us to be?
Whether they're lonely or like me they're not content
To live as things are meant to be
And how long has that been?
Who speaks for me?
So who upon this Earth knows what it is that I believe?
We are all looking for answers
Where no answer can be found
Or is that a concern of mine
Because I have time
To question my ground?
If you figure things out, would you figure in me?
When were we happy? And how long has that been?
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This is an amazing piece of music. It combines elements of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Richard Thompson but, in the end, it's...Laura Marling. It's (yet another) showcase for Laura's beautiful, delicate guitar playing.
The song deals with LM's move from her home in England to her move to Los Angeles - her "new friend across the sea" - where she went to make ONCE I WAS AN EAGLE. The song answers its own question in this couplet - "we are all looking for answers/where no answer can be found". Laura knows she'll never figure it all out - this world, other people, or even herself - but she'll keep on searching. And there's beauty in that,