This is one of my all-time favorite songs, hands-down.
I read it as a dialogue between two people: one living and one dead. The living person is a woman living alone in her plain country home, which once belonged to both herself and her former lover. However, her lover has disappeared and she fears that he is dead.
In the song, he is replying from beyond the grave, but she cannot hear him. He is not "with" the cornstalks---meaning he is not living---he is "among" them---meaning he is buried and his remains are, so to speak, part of the cornstalks. In the end his spirit is asking her, "Will you love me if I change?" which I take to mean that he has changed form and is no longer a tangible being, but still surrounds her like the cornstalks he is "among."
The ending, however, is the most moving part:
"There was one life with you before, and one life more, one life more." He is saying to her there is no need to search for me. Yes, I was here with you before, but I am also with you because although you didn't know it, you were and are pregnant and I live inside of you with our child.
I could be stretching things a bit, but I don't think anything will ever sway my interpretation of the song. It is so moving, both lyrically and audibly. Thanks, Will, for making music.
This is one of my all-time favorite songs, hands-down.
I read it as a dialogue between two people: one living and one dead. The living person is a woman living alone in her plain country home, which once belonged to both herself and her former lover. However, her lover has disappeared and she fears that he is dead.
In the song, he is replying from beyond the grave, but she cannot hear him. He is not "with" the cornstalks---meaning he is not living---he is "among" them---meaning he is buried and his remains are, so to speak, part of the cornstalks. In the end his spirit is asking her, "Will you love me if I change?" which I take to mean that he has changed form and is no longer a tangible being, but still surrounds her like the cornstalks he is "among."
The ending, however, is the most moving part: "There was one life with you before, and one life more, one life more." He is saying to her there is no need to search for me. Yes, I was here with you before, but I am also with you because although you didn't know it, you were and are pregnant and I live inside of you with our child.
I could be stretching things a bit, but I don't think anything will ever sway my interpretation of the song. It is so moving, both lyrically and audibly. Thanks, Will, for making music.