Beneath the Balcony Lyrics

Lyric discussion by kyle171 

Cover art for Beneath the Balcony lyrics by Iron & Wine

Sam rocks the banjo on this song and I love it.

The song starts off as striking me as a boy who thinks he is humble and pious but he's actually pretty bitter and isn't really that intimate with God.

I see the "sword across his knees" reference as a nod to the Bible calling itself the sword of God.

And I don't see the "...still some fucker made.." reference about guns ruining lives. At all. I maybe see it as another reference to misplaced anger.

@kyle171 right now, I agree and disagree a tad. I think you’re on the money with the overall theme, and there’s certainly something going on in here about mob mentality as it relates to religion and dogma. But I think the hostility towards “guns,” at least metaphorically as they represent war, enable misled youth (“boys”) to do so much damage when suffering from dogmatic belief, is genuine. Thus, I believe the old lady at the end is a counterpoint to the guy in the beginning—her form of “faith” or “piety” being genuine and not just dogmatic or about power (which...