Please replace the line "your dusty eyes as cold as cane" with "your dusty eyes cold as clay". Neko publishes all of her lyrics on her website, which I think is an indication of how hard she works on and the pride she takes in her lyrics (well-deserved).
You really should watch her music video for this song if your want to understand where she's coming from (http://www.anti.com/videos/maybe-sparrow/. That said, she usually writes songs in such a way that each person can have their own personalized meaning.
I've always loved this song because, from an ecological standpoint, no predator would ever warn its prey. In fact, owls' success as predators comes precisely from their silence. I love the book Watership Down, and it was also a big influence on Neko. Theres a character in that book called the Black Rabbit of Inle, who is essentially the rabbits' equivalent of Death. Theres this inescapable aspect of dying, and killing from the Black Rabbits standpoint, that I think is very similar to the way she describes an owl killing its prey. Its not evil, its jst the way it is. Thats also why replacing "clay" with "Cain" (as was originally posted here) really confuses the meaning of the song. I could go on for hours about this stuff, what a brilliant songwriter...
Please replace the line "your dusty eyes as cold as cane" with "your dusty eyes cold as clay". Neko publishes all of her lyrics on her website, which I think is an indication of how hard she works on and the pride she takes in her lyrics (well-deserved).
You really should watch her music video for this song if your want to understand where she's coming from (http://www.anti.com/videos/maybe-sparrow/. That said, she usually writes songs in such a way that each person can have their own personalized meaning.
I've always loved this song because, from an ecological standpoint, no predator would ever warn its prey. In fact, owls' success as predators comes precisely from their silence. I love the book Watership Down, and it was also a big influence on Neko. Theres a character in that book called the Black Rabbit of Inle, who is essentially the rabbits' equivalent of Death. Theres this inescapable aspect of dying, and killing from the Black Rabbits standpoint, that I think is very similar to the way she describes an owl killing its prey. Its not evil, its jst the way it is. Thats also why replacing "clay" with "Cain" (as was originally posted here) really confuses the meaning of the song. I could go on for hours about this stuff, what a brilliant songwriter...