ly,My interpretation of this song is a commentary of a self-reflection of human's estranged place in what we humans have termed and socially constructed, 'nature'.
It seems that the subject of the song, possibly Ben as he uses first person, goes through this journey of trying to identify their relationship to nature, consciously or subconsciously. The first few lines, the subject suggests that the birch tree is sentient only to be shot down by someone else:
Birch tree lost its branch one day in violent winter
I said, "It was grieving," you said, "It don't feel nothing"
The the subject seems to reflect on the perniciousness of this (anthropocentric) myth / world order that plants and animals can't feel:
'I bet you think everything's in its rightful place
That sentiment is man's disgrace'
In the second verse, my opinion is that a shift occurs and that the subject of the song moves away from their earlier perspective on sentience in non humans and becomes convinced to shoot at the rooks (presumably in the birch tree). In the third verse, the subject is actively shooting at the rookery, but seems to have some level of awareness/internal conflict - acknowledging the age of the rookery (100 years) and the futility of the act.
In the final verse, the subject seems to go back to their civilized/comfortable/ignorant ways - "So I'll go back to working through the gentle hours of the evening. Where the weather and the wine and the company treat me easily."
Then, profoundly, the subject hints at how close they were to tapping into an essential truth about the natural world and humans' connection to it, in this case referencing the 'wind' as the deeper truth:
Unknowing am I of the wind that took my eye
Unknowing am I of the wind.
Anyway, that's my take. Another beautiful provoking sony by Ben.
ly,My interpretation of this song is a commentary of a self-reflection of human's estranged place in what we humans have termed and socially constructed, 'nature'.
It seems that the subject of the song, possibly Ben as he uses first person, goes through this journey of trying to identify their relationship to nature, consciously or subconsciously. The first few lines, the subject suggests that the birch tree is sentient only to be shot down by someone else:
Birch tree lost its branch one day in violent winter I said, "It was grieving," you said, "It don't feel nothing"
The the subject seems to reflect on the perniciousness of this (anthropocentric) myth / world order that plants and animals can't feel:
'I bet you think everything's in its rightful place That sentiment is man's disgrace'
In the second verse, my opinion is that a shift occurs and that the subject of the song moves away from their earlier perspective on sentience in non humans and becomes convinced to shoot at the rooks (presumably in the birch tree). In the third verse, the subject is actively shooting at the rookery, but seems to have some level of awareness/internal conflict - acknowledging the age of the rookery (100 years) and the futility of the act.
In the final verse, the subject seems to go back to their civilized/comfortable/ignorant ways - "So I'll go back to working through the gentle hours of the evening. Where the weather and the wine and the company treat me easily."
Then, profoundly, the subject hints at how close they were to tapping into an essential truth about the natural world and humans' connection to it, in this case referencing the 'wind' as the deeper truth:
Unknowing am I of the wind that took my eye Unknowing am I of the wind.
Anyway, that's my take. Another beautiful provoking sony by Ben.