The imagery of this song references the art of Georgia O'Keeffe, best known for images of the American Southwest and extreme close-ups of flowers. Her work was vivid, colorful, and often interpreted as sensual.
O'Keeffe died in 1986 at the age of 98. This song was released in 1990. Dan Fogelberg, the composer and singer, also focused on the American West. This song makes it clear he considered her an influence. I speculate the lyrics line up to individual paintings, but I'm not familiar enough with O'Keeffe's work to lay it out. I hope an art fan will enlighten us in another comment.
While O'Keeffe had bones as a major theme, one particularly famous work may have inspired the title: "Ram's Head, White Hollyhock and Little Hills," 1935, shows a bleached ram's head against a blue sky over the desert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:O%27Keeffe_Georgia_Ram%27s_Head.jpg
The imagery of this song references the art of Georgia O'Keeffe, best known for images of the American Southwest and extreme close-ups of flowers. Her work was vivid, colorful, and often interpreted as sensual.
O'Keeffe died in 1986 at the age of 98. This song was released in 1990. Dan Fogelberg, the composer and singer, also focused on the American West. This song makes it clear he considered her an influence. I speculate the lyrics line up to individual paintings, but I'm not familiar enough with O'Keeffe's work to lay it out. I hope an art fan will enlighten us in another comment.
While O'Keeffe had bones as a major theme, one particularly famous work may have inspired the title: "Ram's Head, White Hollyhock and Little Hills," 1935, shows a bleached ram's head against a blue sky over the desert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:O%27Keeffe_Georgia_Ram%27s_Head.jpg