So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
I've never had a way with women
But the hills of Iowa make me wish that I could
And I've never found a way to say I love you
But if the chance came by, oh, I, I would
But way back where I come from, we never mean to bother
We don't like to make our passions other people's concern
And we walk in the world of safe people
And at night, we walk into our houses and burn
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
How I long to fall just a little bit
To dance out of the lines and stray from the light
But I fear that to fall in love with you
Is to fall from a great and gruesome height
So you know, I asked a friend about it on a bad day
Her husband had just left her
She sat down on the chair he'd left behind, she said
"What is love? Where did it get me?
Whoever thought of love is no friend of mine"
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Once I had everything, I gave it up
For the shoulder of your driveway and the words I've never felt
And so for you, I came this far across the tracks
Ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt, and I'd do it again
For tonight, I went running through the screen doors of discretion
For I woke up from a nightmare that I could not stand to see
You were a-wandering out on the hills of Iowa
And you were not thinking of me
Oh, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
I, I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
But the hills of Iowa make me wish that I could
And I've never found a way to say I love you
But if the chance came by, oh, I, I would
But way back where I come from, we never mean to bother
We don't like to make our passions other people's concern
And we walk in the world of safe people
And at night, we walk into our houses and burn
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
How I long to fall just a little bit
To dance out of the lines and stray from the light
But I fear that to fall in love with you
Is to fall from a great and gruesome height
So you know, I asked a friend about it on a bad day
Her husband had just left her
She sat down on the chair he'd left behind, she said
"What is love? Where did it get me?
Whoever thought of love is no friend of mine"
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Once I had everything, I gave it up
For the shoulder of your driveway and the words I've never felt
And so for you, I came this far across the tracks
Ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt, and I'd do it again
For tonight, I went running through the screen doors of discretion
For I woke up from a nightmare that I could not stand to see
You were a-wandering out on the hills of Iowa
And you were not thinking of me
Oh, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
I, I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
Iowa, oh, ooh, oh
Iowa, oh
I, Iowa
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There was a time when she was driving through Iowa and the hilly landscape really caught her attention. She said it was very curvy and reminded her of, and here she was dong the hourglass/woman gesture as if she didn't want to say then she just said, "You know, boobs." She thought it made you sort of take a step back. She said "I placed sort of an uptight narrator in that scenario so see what would happen". This song could have been called almost anything, but she was in "Iowa" so that's what it was called. She did say that it could not be called Wyoming because the "Grand Tetons would be just TOO much!"
This song does hint to her bisexuality. In fact, in an interview with a Toronto magazine, Williams finally let her fans know that she is in fact bisexual. However on May 4, 2002, she married Michael Robinson, an old friend from her college.
Haha! Clearly someone has been to Dar's concerts! Dar always "talks" in between songs and tells stories about the songs or what inspired her perhaps. I remember this story well =) VampedVixen's got it!
just to quote it to explain, "I had everything, and I gave it up, for the shoulder of your driveway and the words I never felt"
"what is love? where did it get me? whoever thought of love is no friend of mine."
gosh. dar williams is incredible ... and this song is one of her best. we've all become so jaded in this world, it's hard to imagine falling in love and having it be ok. there's something appealing about the prospect of falling in love, but it's mostly too scary even to think about. at least for the subject of this song.
i am in love with this song. dar williams is wonderful.
Ahh, I love this song, but this may be because I'm in a way 'from' Iowa. Beautiful song.
One of the few songs that hint at Dar's bisexuality.
The first two verses seem to be all ponderings about her bisexuality, and maybe regrets for never having fully explored it? I don't really understand the 3rd verse though... is she talking about how she has put it all in the past, and now she is in a committed relationship with a man? (but still dreaming about the past regrets?)
I think this song is perfect. There is never the right time to tell you that i love you, but i wish there was; I fear falling in love with you because it scares me to much to think of how hard and far i could fall for you, and the worst thing i can dream about is you with someone else, not thinking about me. Looking back at my life, and all the romance and would be romance, and men i have loved, those words pretty much sum up them all.
This is one of my all time favorite songs for so many reasons. The idea of going to any limit for your heart really touches me. The idea that love is so fragile and painful and beautiful touches me.
I once made a trip from Cincinnati to Omaha and the first day of the trip was horrible--all flat and farms that looked the same. Beautiful in their own right as they may have been, it got a little boring. And then I hit Iowa and it was hilly and green and curvy and I remember being so moved by it's beauty. Iowa was my favorite part of the whole trip.
Sometimes it feels like my whole life is about running...not necessarily away, but all the meaning in my life is mapped out in distance and given names like Dallas and Athens and especially Chicago...and sometimes this song just feels like getting past all of that, all of the past and all of the heartache and making it to somewhere beautiful.
I might not be there and maybe I'm still the same girl who'd go to any length for boys I shouldn't. And maybe I'll never learn. But it still feels good to hear this song and be somewhere else for a moment.
One of the best songs ever... I'll never get tired of it! Though I don't really get the bisexualitything.. "I've never had a way with women", wouldn't that mean she's never really thought about women, but almost wishes she had because of the beautiful hills?