Poetic lyricists

by Susan M

Who you got? I’m gonna talk about three: Iron & Wine, Gillian Welch, and Low.

Iron & Wine’s latest album, The Shepherd’s Dog, is one of my favorites of the entire decade. The songs all flow together so well, yet stand perfectly on their own, too. And the lyrics are so awesome. One of my favorites is “House by the Sea.” (All songs are posted to the radio.blog.)

There is a house by the sea
Two jealous sisters, they’re waiting for me
And one is laid on the floor
And one is changing the locks on the doors
And I’ve been buying their time on my knees
And I’ve been selling them blankets to bleed on

Around the house by the sea
The scent of roses and raspberry leaves
And there is smoke in my clothes
Too much time with just smoke in my nose
But I’ve been making the meaning they lack
And I’ve been burning that book they come back to

There is a house by the sea
And an ocean between it and me
And like the shape of a wave
The jealous sisters will sing on my grave
And I’ve been living to run where they’ve led
And I’ve been dying to rise from their bed
But I’ve been sparing my neck from their chain
And they’ve been changing the sound of my name
And I’ve been swimming to them in my sleep
And I’ve been dreaming our love and our freedom

One of the problems with poetic lyrics is figuring out what they mean. Or part of the fun, I guess I should say! I think this song can be interpreted to mean many different things, but I tend to think it’s about drug addiction. Or something that makes you feel trapped, anyway. My favorite line is “They’ve been changing the sound of my name.” He has a real knack for expressing things in interesting ways.

Gillian Welch’s lyrics amaze me. They’re usually very easy to understand, unlike I&W, who can sometimes make no sense to me. I could have chosen any number of songs to share, but I’ll go with something short—but not sweet. It’s amazing how vivid a picture she can paint with such few words.

One morning, one morning as work I begun
What did I see riding out of the sun
On the road from Lexington?

One rider, one rider bent in the breeze
Down on his saddle, low to his knees
Coming through my willow trees

Now closer, the terrible work of the gun
Was stiffened and black where his blood all had run
But I knew my wayward son

One morning, one morning the boy of my breast
Came to my door unable to rest
Even in the arms of death

Rather gruesome, but so powerful.

Low is kind of funny. I always feel like their lyrics are saying something really significant, but I’m not always sure what it is. One of my faves from their most recent album, Drums & Guns, is “Violent Past.”

All I can do is fight
Even if I know you’re right
All I can do is fight
Pretty fingers holding fast
Maybe it’s your violent past
Maybe it’s your violent past
All you can do is hide
God bless the darkness of the night
All you can do is hide
Pretty fingers, the golden calf
Maybe it’s your violent past
Maybe it’s your violent past
Maybe it’s the violet path
Maybe it’s your violent past
Maybe it’s the violet path
Maybe it’s your violent past

So what is the violet path? And why the reference to a golden calf? I did a search for “violet path” and only found World of Warcraft references. Well, that, and apparently Low were originally thinking of naming the album Violet Path. Any ideas? My favorite lines in the song are “All you can do is hide, God bless the darkness of the night.” Sometimes just going to sleep is the only way to escape.

9 Comments

  1. There are a lot, of course, but I love ‘Sometimes (Lester Piggot)’ by James:

    There’s a storm outside, and the gap between crack and thunder
    Crack and thunder, is closing in, is closing in
    The rain floods gutters, and makes a great sound on the concrete
    On a flat roof, there’s a boy leaning against the wall of rain
    Aerial held high, calling come on thunder, come on thunder

    Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul

    It’s a monsoon, and the rain lifts lids off cars
    Spinning buses like toys, stripping them to chrome
    Across the bay, the waves are turning into something else
    Picking up fishing boats and spewing them on the shore

    The boy is hit, lit up against the sky, like a sign, like a neon sign
    And he crumples, drops into the gutter, legs twitching
    The flood swells his clothes and delivers him on, delivers him on

    Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul

    There’s four new colors in the rainbow
    An old man’s taking polaroids
    But all he captures is endless rain, endless rain
    He says listen, takes my head and puts my ear to his
    And I swear I can hear the sea

    Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul

    Comment by Norbert — April 1, 2008 @ 11:51 am

  2. Please, nobody say U2.

    Comment by Brian V — April 1, 2008 @ 1:27 pm

  3. Here’s a favorite:

    Holt Boulevard
    Between Gary and White
    Hooked up with some friends at the Travelodge
    Set ourselves up for the night

    Carpenter ants in the dresser
    Flies in the screen
    It will be too late by the time we learn
    What these cryptic symbols mean

    And I dreamt of a house
    Haunted by all you tweakers with your hands out
    And the headstones climbed up the hills
    And the headstones climbed up the hills

    Send somebody out for soda
    Comb through the carpet for clues
    Reflective tape on our sweatpants
    Big holes in our shoes
    Every couple minutes someone says he can’t stand it any more
    Laugh lines on our faces
    Scale maps of the ocean floor

    And I dreamt of a camera
    Pointing out from inside the television
    And the aperture yawning and blinking
    And the headstones climbed up the hills

    If anybody comes to see me
    Tell ‘em they just missed me by a minute
    If anybody comes in to our room while we’re asleep
    I hope they incinerate everybody in it

    And I dreamt of a factory
    Where they manufactured what I needed
    Using shiny new machines
    And the headstones climbed up the hills

    – “Palmcorder Yajna,” by The Mountain Goats

    Comment by Greg — April 1, 2008 @ 2:06 pm

  4. Death Cab For Cutie:

    “What Sarah Said”

    And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to father time

    As I stared at my shoes in the ICU that reeked of piss and 409

    And I rationed my breathes as I said to myself that I’d already taken too much today

    As each descending peak of the LCD took you a little farther away from me

    Away from me

    Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines in a place where we only say goodbye

    It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend on a faulty camera in our minds

    But I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose than to have never lain beside at all

    And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground as the TV entertained itself

    ‘Cause there’s no comfort in the waiting room

    Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news

    And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads

    But I’m thinking of what Sarah said that “Love is watching someone die”

    Comment by MCQ — April 1, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

  5. connor oberst knows how to get his lyric on (the guy gets a lot of hate. I think it’s undeserved. and objectively, man, he’s a great lyricist)

    I’ve also really enjoyed andrew bird’s lyrics lately.

    re: Iron and Wine. I can’t think of a song with better lyrics, maybe ever, than Trapeze Swinger.

    Comment by Jeremy — April 1, 2008 @ 10:05 pm

  6. Oh, I almost forgot, my number one, absolute number one, favorite lyricist of all time - Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows. Nothing beats him. Ever.

    Then there’s the obvious ones like Dylan and Lennon. But those almost don’t count anymore.

    Comment by Jeremy — April 1, 2008 @ 10:15 pm

  7. You know who else is good? Josh Ritter.

    Comment by Susan M — April 2, 2008 @ 7:53 am

  8. I agree with Jeremy about Duritz. I get out “August and Everything After” about once every three months. Anyone heard the new Counting Crows album?

    Comment by MCQ — April 2, 2008 @ 6:29 pm

  9. Pretty much anything Neil Finn has penned!

    Comment by gabby — April 3, 2008 @ 4:54 pm