First, comments on the other interpretations. I wouldn't jump to concluding it is about dealing with bisexuality or lesbianism, but that possibility is there in that the song is about disappointed with an intimate relationship with a young man. The other is the idea that her mother is a mine-worker, actually working underground in a coal mine, seems to be a bit too literal.
Still, a skillful great song with deliberate lyrics that allows the listener to form several meanings
First the questions:
What or where is the Stoney End?
What does she say happened?
Why doesn't she want to see the morning?
Why does she want to be held like a baby by her mother- 'Mama cradle me again?'
As for context: songwriters don't have to write directly about their own experiences but we do know that Laura Nyro wrote Stoney End before she turned 18. We can look at the story as being told from a young woman's, age 15-17, perspective.
That said- Here is my interpretation.
It is a story of a young woman' first love and sexual experience, and her emotions and disappointment about it. She is angry, emotionally hurt, dismissive of the boy, but is also being hard on herself using societal and religious mores. She seeks the comfort of her mother to make it all right- to go back to being a child but she knows that there is no turning back she has to move on.
The young woman was raised in the church 'on the Good Book Jesus' and knows the strict sexual code and is aware of the Old Testament biblical punishment of stoning for sexual intercourse outside of marriage. But she has 'read between the lines' and recently moved past the religious framework she had been taught. The Stoney End is the catch-all term for the fall from grace- the collage of religious/purity/virginity/marriage views that had been taught to her and was recently important to her. At one point in her young life, she didn't think that she would ever be at the Stoney End, but now she is.
We don't know much about her mother but only that this child had been 'born in love'. I tend to take this line as that she the child was born without sin, but could also mean that her mother had been successful in finding a loving marriage partner something the young woman would want to emulate. However, the next line 'her poor mother worked the mines' suggests a realization that there is more to her mother's story. 'Working the mines' besides being the rhyme for 'between the lines' is probably not meaning that her mother was a poor, underground coal miner, but instead starting poor, her mother worked hard 'to find a successful mate' -so not specifically the connotation of 'a gold digger', but that her mother was successful in finding a good, golden, mate. and her daughter was then 'born in love.' We know that the boy in this song is not going to be this young woman's mate, but a teaching experience of regret. The young woman does not know yet what will come out of this night- a pregnancy?
The young woman's whirlwind of realization and reflection suggests that her mother might have had similar experiences that the daughter never knew of. Her mother did not stumble upon a bonanza, but instead 'worked the mines' implying that she might too, have had several relationships before finding her mate.
The sunny morning in the forecast is coming, but the young woman isn't ready for it. Everything is 'not okay', it won't be immediately all bright and sunny as is nothing happened. She is still angry and hurt and is working it through and what it means. She wants her mother's comfort and wishes she might be a child again. She knows that wish is impossible. She sees herself in a new light, berates, and steels herself. 'Never mind the forecast 'cause the sky has lost control, 'cause the furies and the broken thunders come to match my raging soul.' The musical lift and emphasis when singing 'come to match my raging soul' implies she, through her tears and anger, is heading in a new direction. Yet still, a good cry and hugs from her loving mother will still help.
I have just come across an alternate lyric that was released on a 1966 promotional 45.
The first lyrics are different:
I have just come across an alternate lyric that was released on a 1966 promotional 45.
The first lyrics are different:
'I was born from love
And I was raised on Golden Rules
'Till the love of a Winsome Johnny
Taught me love was just for fools'
'I was born from love
And I was raised on Golden Rules
'Till the love of a Winsome Johnny
Taught me love was just for fools'
The replacement of this first lyric, which is pretty straightforward with the final lyric deepens the meaning and songcraft by introducing her mother and also better sets up the religious motif and tension of the Stoney End.
The replacement of this first lyric, which is pretty straightforward with the final lyric deepens the meaning and songcraft by introducing her mother and also better sets up the religious motif and tension of the Stoney End.
First, comments on the other interpretations. I wouldn't jump to concluding it is about dealing with bisexuality or lesbianism, but that possibility is there in that the song is about disappointed with an intimate relationship with a young man. The other is the idea that her mother is a mine-worker, actually working underground in a coal mine, seems to be a bit too literal.
Still, a skillful great song with deliberate lyrics that allows the listener to form several meanings
First the questions: What or where is the Stoney End? What does she say happened? Why doesn't she want to see the morning? Why does she want to be held like a baby by her mother- 'Mama cradle me again?'
As for context: songwriters don't have to write directly about their own experiences but we do know that Laura Nyro wrote Stoney End before she turned 18. We can look at the story as being told from a young woman's, age 15-17, perspective.
That said- Here is my interpretation. It is a story of a young woman' first love and sexual experience, and her emotions and disappointment about it. She is angry, emotionally hurt, dismissive of the boy, but is also being hard on herself using societal and religious mores. She seeks the comfort of her mother to make it all right- to go back to being a child but she knows that there is no turning back she has to move on.
The young woman was raised in the church 'on the Good Book Jesus' and knows the strict sexual code and is aware of the Old Testament biblical punishment of stoning for sexual intercourse outside of marriage. But she has 'read between the lines' and recently moved past the religious framework she had been taught. The Stoney End is the catch-all term for the fall from grace- the collage of religious/purity/virginity/marriage views that had been taught to her and was recently important to her. At one point in her young life, she didn't think that she would ever be at the Stoney End, but now she is.
We don't know much about her mother but only that this child had been 'born in love'. I tend to take this line as that she the child was born without sin, but could also mean that her mother had been successful in finding a loving marriage partner something the young woman would want to emulate. However, the next line 'her poor mother worked the mines' suggests a realization that there is more to her mother's story. 'Working the mines' besides being the rhyme for 'between the lines' is probably not meaning that her mother was a poor, underground coal miner, but instead starting poor, her mother worked hard 'to find a successful mate' -so not specifically the connotation of 'a gold digger', but that her mother was successful in finding a good, golden, mate. and her daughter was then 'born in love.' We know that the boy in this song is not going to be this young woman's mate, but a teaching experience of regret. The young woman does not know yet what will come out of this night- a pregnancy?
The young woman's whirlwind of realization and reflection suggests that her mother might have had similar experiences that the daughter never knew of. Her mother did not stumble upon a bonanza, but instead 'worked the mines' implying that she might too, have had several relationships before finding her mate.
The sunny morning in the forecast is coming, but the young woman isn't ready for it. Everything is 'not okay', it won't be immediately all bright and sunny as is nothing happened. She is still angry and hurt and is working it through and what it means. She wants her mother's comfort and wishes she might be a child again. She knows that wish is impossible. She sees herself in a new light, berates, and steels herself. 'Never mind the forecast 'cause the sky has lost control, 'cause the furies and the broken thunders come to match my raging soul.' The musical lift and emphasis when singing 'come to match my raging soul' implies she, through her tears and anger, is heading in a new direction. Yet still, a good cry and hugs from her loving mother will still help.
Typo. 'the song is about disappointment with an intimate relationship with a young man.
Typo. 'the song is about disappointment with an intimate relationship with a young man.
I have just come across an alternate lyric that was released on a 1966 promotional 45. The first lyrics are different:
I have just come across an alternate lyric that was released on a 1966 promotional 45. The first lyrics are different:
'I was born from love And I was raised on Golden Rules 'Till the love of a Winsome Johnny Taught me love was just for fools'
'I was born from love And I was raised on Golden Rules 'Till the love of a Winsome Johnny Taught me love was just for fools'
The replacement of this first lyric, which is pretty straightforward with the final lyric deepens the meaning and songcraft by introducing her mother and also better sets up the religious motif and tension of the Stoney End.
The replacement of this first lyric, which is pretty straightforward with the final lyric deepens the meaning and songcraft by introducing her mother and also better sets up the religious motif and tension of the Stoney End.