In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"
On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow"
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
"If I show you the roses, will you follow?"
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
And I lent down and planted a rose 'tween her teeth
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"
On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow"
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
"If I show you the roses, will you follow?"
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
And I lent down and planted a rose 'tween her teeth
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day
Lyrics submitted by typo, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Where the Wild Roses Grow Lyrics as written by Nicholas Cave
Lyrics © PREMIERE MUSIC GROUP, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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He lusted after her from the first moment. She was pure, free and full of vitality. Her virginial state was as much of an allure as her beauty. But from the moment they lay together, that part of her was gone. On the second day, he's already realised that the previous day, when they were together, is never going to be surpassed. Anything alse will seem cheap next to that. She'll get older, her innocence is fading, they will argue etc. So he invites her down to the river. Then, to preserve her integrity and his memories, he slays her on the third day. That's why all beauty must die - if you've achieved perfection, what is left to live for?
great song. just MAGNIFICENT. especially the third verses, when she starts off saying "on the third day", and he starts it with "on the last day". they both have thier sides of the story which makes this song perfect.
I think the chorus on this song is really interesting, it seems like she's too naive to realise that newspapers give murder victims sensationalist headline names (ie. "the wild rose") and genuinely can't understand why they don't use her real name.
I get a ominous feel about this song. The music and the way it's performed is just so beautiful but the lyrics are absolutely terrifying. Is there anyone who knows if there's a tale, myth or true story behind the lyrics. Also I think the "the wind light as a thief " is a reference to him beeing about to steel her life. I really like that the ending is kind of given away already in the second line: "... was Elisa Day"
It is a rewrite of a traditional folk song known as "The Oxford Girl", "The Wexford Girl", "Hanged I Shall Be" (Performed by the Albion Band under this title), "The Miller's Apprentice" and many other titles. <br /> <br /> Oysterband also rewrote it but from the point of view of the gossips in the local pub and the reporters writing about the crime. Their version is called "The Oxford Girl" and begins: - "I met a man whose brother said he knew a man who knew the Oxford girl"
Thats a really interesting insight, xpixiex, I hadn't considered the possibility of 'The Wild Rose' being used by newspapers etc as a name for the murder victim. Anyway, I think the firstverse sheds light on the notion of the murderer killing in order to preserve beauty:
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
[As early as the first ambigous line of the verse, Nick Cave introduces the motive of killing in order to preserve the image of beauty for eternity. In particular, he subverts the notion of 'the one' i.e. the one person with whom you spend the rest of your life with, by tying it in with the killers' predeliction for murdering beautiful women and selection of a victim.]
She stared in my eyes and smiled For her lips were the colour of the roses That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
[The comparison of her lips to bloody roses growing by the river bank is a premonition of what is to follow with the victim's murder.]
Also, in the third verse, the rose metaphor is tied into the notion of a flower representing female chastity:
On the second day he came with a single red rose Said: "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow" I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed He said, "If I show you the roses, will you follow?"
Vocal performances are great, and the last few stanzas are lovely and disconcerting. Which is the great thing about Nick Cave - he begins the song having the listener think it's a mushy ballad with lyrics straight from a romance novel ("From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one," "My trembling subsided in his sure embrace") and it ends with him killing her. Genius!
If I had to be critical, I would say that the chorus could have been changed. I understand he's going for a "Gaelic tale" effect here, but it sounds so awkward and redundant.
I love that "wind light as a thief" line. That is such an unexpected simile, I think.
oh this is a sad song, makes me feel sad.
i'm not sure about necrophelia, it never actually mentions what happens after the murder. to me this song's about a man (a deeply disturbed one at that), who feels a desire to destroy something beautiful. he find's the most beautiful girl he can ("more beautiful than any woman I'd seen"), woo's her and akes her amid the wild roses to which he keeps comparing her where he kills her.
alternately this song could be about a man who murders his girlfriend in order to preserve her beauty. however the line "From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one" along with "On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow" makes it sound as though he'd planned the whole thing from before he ever met her.
whatever it's about it's a brilliant song, it's so macabre and yet, so beautiful i love everything about this song
I love how it starts off with the chorus, and how it uses the past tense "But my name was Eliza Day". It made me think the first time around, why "was"? It became clear soon enough... =\ I love thing song. I think it's absolutely hauntingly beautiful. It really paints a bewitchingly vivid scene.
I also like how it seems like a run-of-the-mill love ballad, but every now and then, something makes you feel as if something's not quite right. Until the end comes and you find out why.
Hauntingly beautiful.
I wonder if no one else thinks the name Elisa Day is a word pun meaning "a lie a day". I believe both the original story and lyrics suggest it.