The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing Lyrics
I'm made of bones of the branches the boughs and the bough beating light
Well my feet are the trunks, my head is the canopy
And my fingers extend to the leaves in the eves
It's my shine
Was a baby abandoned
Entombed in a cradle of clay
And I was a soul who took pity and stole him away
And gave him the form of a faun to inhabit by day
It's my day
Have removed this temptation that's troubled my innocent child
To abduct and abuse
And to render erect and defiled
But the river is deep to the base of the water
I will fly you
To the far side
I really disagree with the theory that William is Isaiah resurrected. If that was the case, I don't think Isaiah's soul would come back to haunt/escort The Rake to the afterlife in The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!).
Agreed, thank you. Neither would his voice be the voice of a child. Neither would anyone able to wrestle the rake in self-defense be fit for a cradle. "Entombed"? sure, poetic. "Cradle?" I'm going to go pretty strongly toward a literal cradle. I think there's little reason to doubt.
Agreed, thank you. Neither would his voice be the voice of a child. Neither would anyone able to wrestle the rake in self-defense be fit for a cradle. "Entombed"? sure, poetic. "Cradle?" I'm going to go pretty strongly toward a literal cradle. I think there's little reason to doubt.
Granted, all, it would have added a lovely bit of coherency to an already great album, but the support for it just isn't there.
Granted, all, it would have added a lovely bit of coherency to an already great album, but the support for it just isn't there.
"Entombed" could be referring to the fact that if she hadn't saved the baby William, he would've died.
"Entombed" could be referring to the fact that if she hadn't saved the baby William, he would've died.
...Okay, so I know we're focusing a lot on the meaning of this song, but I've gotta go off topic and ignore that for a second...going by just the melody and its use of escalating riffs and tempo changes, I find this song intoxicatingly sexy for some reason. Does anyone else have that reaction when listening to the actual music or am I just really strange?
Such possessive passion for her son... and the emotion and anger that she brings forth in this song. I could listen to it forever....
The Decemberists + Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond= One of the best collaborations yet.
That is so cool about William possibly being a resurrected Isaiah! Ah, man. It's also interesting to think, that, if that's true, an additional reason for the Forest Queen to help the Rake is to 'repay' him for 'giving her her son'...
Anyway, it's the song of the slightly crazy mother figure that wants her son all to herself...
Question though: Is she literally a tree, or does she have a human form, or is it all a metaphor?
Oh, and isn't it kind of funny she says 'Brightest shine, it's my shine', and she [Shara Worden] is in a band called My Brightest Diamond?
"Question though: Is she literally a tree, or does she have a human form, or is it all a metaphor?"
"Question though: Is she literally a tree, or does she have a human form, or is it all a metaphor?"
She isn't a tree. She's all of the trees. She's the spirit of the forest. Most folk tales will have her in some sort of human form when interacting with mortals, but her introduction is both metaphor and literal. She -is- the forest.
She isn't a tree. She's all of the trees. She's the spirit of the forest. Most folk tales will have her in some sort of human form when interacting with mortals, but her introduction is both metaphor and literal. She -is- the forest.
I've seen several interpretations that Margaret was the daughter of Annan Water "A forest's son/A river's daughter". But it makes me think why any parent (be them a body of water or not) would destroy their own children and their significant other. Because after William rescues Margaret, the boat sinks and they drown. Not the best parental figure, methinks.
Well, this is a fairytale. Think about Rumpelstiltskin, the girl's father gave her up to spin straw, knowing she could not, and knowing only to well she would die if she could not spin straw into gold. Look at Zeus in Greek myth. He'd kill his children all the time, I think it's just human nature to think up stories like that.
Well, this is a fairytale. Think about Rumpelstiltskin, the girl's father gave her up to spin straw, knowing she could not, and knowing only to well she would die if she could not spin straw into gold. Look at Zeus in Greek myth. He'd kill his children all the time, I think it's just human nature to think up stories like that.
While sedition's idea is commendable, I don't believe that William is Isiah.
The timeline seems all wrong, if Isiah was able to fight the rake, he must have been at least a preteen, or even a young man.
I believe that this song is the key to the entire story. First: the queen talks of herself with "bones of branches" and "feet are trunks" a canopy. This leads me to think that she's more than just a queen elf or whatnot, but rather the human form of the entire forest that the story takes place in.
Which brings me to my theory of William: there wass never a human baby. Rather, william is a SEED; an infant TREE. The queen is his actual mother, rather than his adoptive mother. She saw him, unable to grow due to being surrounded (entombed) by Clay rather than soil, took pity, and chose to give him an animal form. In "the Wanting comes in waves/repaid", the queen says that she gave him "motion" - an animal/human form.
In The Hazard of Love 4 (Drowned), there is a lyric that says "a forest's son/a river's daughter". I think that means that Margaret is in fact a daughter of the Annan Water, and both the Queen and Annan Water are trying to keep them apart. This also gives the song 'The Wanting Comes in Waves" new meaning: the wave is a literal wave of water: Margaret.
After the rake abducted Margaret, she queen game him the ability to cross the River so that William would be unable to resue margaret Thereby removing the object of his desires.
I also think that the entire Hazards of Love story makes more sense if you take a step back and consider it from a Meta point of view: as a kind of play or musical. The entire story is very Shakespearean, and if you consider the characters from the point of view as plaayers on a stage, some of the odd bits start making sense: the reason all the characters are human, for example, is because it's impossible to have singing and dancing trees and water.
That's what I think anyway, feel free to prove me laughably wrong
i love this interpretation, and i agree that Isiah and William could not be the same person, the timeline is wrong and something that important to the story would have been intimated a little more obviously to the listeners.
i love this interpretation, and i agree that Isiah and William could not be the same person, the timeline is wrong and something that important to the story would have been intimated a little more obviously to the listeners.
As for the Annan water interpretation is makes perfect sense. and this explains why Annan would let the beast through only to save Margaret then take her back along with him on their return
As for the Annan water interpretation is makes perfect sense. and this explains why Annan would let the beast through only to save Margaret then take her back along with him on their return
I think TheRealCJ has a few good points, I must disagree with a few...
I think TheRealCJ has a few good points, I must disagree with a few...
I aagree that the Queen is rather ambiguous as to her form, but I believe that she must have at least some corporeal form (a la the ability for William, and later the Rake, to communicate with in Repaid and The Crossing. If one also looks at the title the Queen's Approach she must have some form rather than the forest, "Mother I can hear your foot fall now, soft disturbance in the dead fall how." The beginnings to the Queen's Rebuke seem to be boasting...
I aagree that the Queen is rather ambiguous as to her form, but I believe that she must have at least some corporeal form (a la the ability for William, and later the Rake, to communicate with in Repaid and The Crossing. If one also looks at the title the Queen's Approach she must have some form rather than the forest, "Mother I can hear your foot fall now, soft disturbance in the dead fall how." The beginnings to the Queen's Rebuke seem to be boasting to me, she is claiming her power, how strong she is. At least, to me. At least, that's what it seems to be saying for me.
It is hard to believe that William was never a human child, given the lines in The Queen's Rebuke. She found him 'entombed in a cradle of clay' and 'swore to save [him] from the world of men.' She states pretty clearly that she found him, not created him, or bore him. She gave him life, as William is pretty clear in stating during The Wanting Comes in Wave/Repaid. The Queen also claims to have found him abandoned, which to me suggests that he once belonged to a person (parents).
In the Hazards of Love part 1, and then A Bower Scene it seems pretty clear that Margaret is simply a human girl from a sort of nunnery or school, perhaps. I took the line 'a forest's son, a river's daughter' as to be a question of the child's sex, rather than saying she is in fact the River's daughter. Of course, I could be wrong, as Annan Water seems to be quite clearly seperated from the forest, since the Queen seems to have little power over it.
The Rake abducted Margaret, and the Queen made a deal with him, giving him permission to do whatever he wanted to her, 'to render her rift and defiled.' Pretty cold, honestly. However, the Queen didn't believe William would make his own deal with Annan Water, saying that the River could kill him as long as he was allowed to rescue his true love.
Anyway, just don't agree with a couple of the things discussed. I think it's possible that Isiaah is William, given that the Queen found a child entombed and abandoned in a cradle of clay, possibly suggesting an Urn. It would be more clear if it were clearly William's voice playing Isiaah at that point. Anyway, just my thoughts.
This is the Forest Queen's song after Margaret has been kidnapped by the Rake. She doesn't want her adopted son to leave the forest or obsess over his lover, so she uses her powers to help the Rake and his victim to the other side of an uncrossable river (Annan Water) to get Margaret out of the way. Beautiful vocals, and explains the hero's origin and shapeshifting.
Also, I'm fairly sure it's "cradle of clay" and "I will fly YOU [the Rake] to the far side."
Woa! I just caught the bit about turning him into a fawn 'by day' so he is a man at night. A typical curse : ) ya know, like Ladyhawk!
I the line as "But the river is deep to the banks and the river is wild", but I'm not 100% sure
Yep.. it is "banks" not "bends"