This is so amazing. It's got such a sad mood to it. I really have to buy this guy's albums! I love his acoustic guitar tracks, but I hope he does more with piano.
This is just one of them songs where you just stare aimlessly into the distance or at something inconsequentially and think about your life just recalling memories.
Beautiful song. I have taken it upon myself to give an interpretation. Cause I have fucking too much free time. Reader beware, this is gonna be a long goddamn read. I'll give a recap at the end though, for all you TL;DR people out there. _______________________________________________________ "Oh I wish I was the sparrow in your kid's eye I could fly above this summer all day long" The "your" is most likely the narrators lover. The narrator wishes to be closer to "your kid", expressing that this potential closeness what making him feel as if he were "Flying above this summer". Note the positive metaphorical language. "On an island in the heart he has to carry" The narrator wishes he has a special place (an island) in the kid's heart. The phrase "the heart he has to carry" shows that the narrator feels sympathy for whatever emotional turmoil this kid is going through. "Past the many you have let into your song" Talking to a lover, the narrator expresses that she has "let many into her heart". Recap: The narrator is talking to a lover, focusing on how he wishes he had a special place in her kid's heart, past the many she has let into her "song" (into her life). He doesn't show much regard for his lover, but focuses instead on her kid, wishing that the kid (whom he seems to show sympathy for, i.e. "The heart he has to carry") would him dearer than all the other men the kid's mother has been with. (All those she has let into her song, if you will) "And I said oh my Lord, why am I not strong Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on" The narrator wishes he was strong. He compares strength to the wheel that keeps "travellers travelling on". This comparison makes me believe that the narrator has a wish to leave this family behind, he washes he had the strength of the wheel so he could travel like the traveller. But he doesn't, and so he can't move on. "Like the wheel that will take you home" The narrator expresses a yearning for his lover to "come home". But again, she probably won't be coming home. RECAP: This is how I see it so far... The narrator is stuck in this semi-relationship with a single mother who keeps seeing all this other men. (The ones she is letting into her song) This is making the narrator deeply upset. He wishes he had a special place in the kid's heart, past all the other men. He shows sympathy for the kid and the "heart he has to carry", recognising it must be hard for the kid to not have a father, but instead have a mother who is seeing all these different men. More than anything, the narrator wishes the three of them could be a family, but his lover (the kid's mother) keeps fucking about, seeing all these other men. The narrator wishes he could let her and the kid go, that he could just leave them, that he could have the strength og the wheel that keeps the "travellers travelling on" or the strength of the wheel that brings her back to him. But he doesn't, and so he despairs. "And in the forest someone is whispering to a tree now This is all I am so please don't follow me" The switch between a third-person and second-person narrative makes me think that the person in the forest who is whispering to a tree, is actually the narrator himself, whispering his concerns to no one, to the trees of the forest if you will. The narrator seems deeply troubled and by saying: "This is all I am so please don't follow me" it makes it seem as if he is about to do something to himself. This line represents a self-loathing of sorts. "This is all I am", as if to say: "This is all I am and nothing more". "And it's your brother in the shaft that I'm swinging" The guy is talking to the trees. "It's your brother in the shaft that I am swinging", as in the shaft of the axe he is using. The shaft of an axe is also made of wood. Get it? "Please let the kindness of forgetting set me free" This line is pretty obvious. This poor man is walking through the forest, expressing his troubles to the trees, remembering all the good times he has had with his lover and hating how things are. Wishing he wouldn't remember all the good times, wishing the "kindness of forgetting" would set him free. (Great line by the way) "And he said oh my lord why am I not strong Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on Like the wheel that will take you home" See interpretation at first chorus. "And on this Sunday someone's sitting down to wonder Where the hell among these mountains will I be?" Now... This is where it gets interesting. My interpretation of this is that the "someone" who is sitting down to wonder, is actually the kid. This poor little kid is sitting somewhere, wondering which one if these adults is going to take care of him. Where the hell among these "mountains" is the kid going to be. Mountains being a reference to how tall all these adults most seem to a little kid. In my mind, the narrator is walking about in the forest, sad as fuck, again expressing concerns for the kid. Where is he going to be now? Where does he belong? His mother doesn't seem to show much regard for him and he has no father. The only one who seems to really, genuinely give a shit about this kid, is in the forest talking to trees, about to do something stupid. So now that the narrators has fucked off, who among these "mountains" is gonna look after the kid? "There's a cloud behind the cloud to which I'm yelling I could hear you sneak around so easily" First line is an expression of all the trouble in the narrators life at the moment. It's not just the fact that his lover is seeing other men, it's also the fact that the kid is caught in the middle of it all. A cloud behind a cloud. Second line doesn't really need much of an interpretation, it's pretty straight forward. The narrators lover has been seeing other men, but this is absolutely no surprise to the narrator, who has known for quite a while, yet stuck around in the hope that she would "come home" so the she, the narrator and the kid could be a family. "And I said oh my lord why am I not strong Like the branch that keeps hangman hanging on Like the branch that will take me home" Now... We all know where this is heading at this point. "Hangman" is a pretty obvious clue. The narrator is talking to God, for a final time, asking: "Why am I not strong, like the branch that supports a hangman, like the branch that will take me home." The narrator wishes he was as strong as the branch he is planning to hang himself from, in despair about the whole situation. _______________________________________________________ So... To recap this entire fucked up emotional rollercoaster... A guy falls in love with a single mother. He loves her and he loves her kid. He wishes more than anything that they could all be together. This is all screwed up by the mother, who keeps seeing other men. So what is the narrator suppose to do? He wishes he had the strength to leave, but he doesn't. So he walks out to the forest, expressing all his concerns to the trees and clouds. He keeps remembering how happy he was, being a part of this family, and he wishes he could forget all these happy moments. He has known the whole time that his lover has been with other men. He expresses a final concern for the kid, who he really loves, before he decides to hang himself in complete despair... Great song. Amazing lyrics.
@NatSkatt37 I don't know all the chords but I know the intro chords, please mind that the piano is slightly untuned: Ab Eb/G Fm Bbm7 Eb, variation: Ab Eb/G Fm Db
I always played it Db instead of the Bbm7 because the seventh chord kinda felt too busy for me haha. But I also play the Eb/G as a Cm and it's. kinda heartbreaking.
@DanJames97 hahaha you fuckin hit the nail on the head. i read your comment and it then it occured to me exactly what i did for 4 mins straight without realizing it.
Our generations Bob Dylan...I know it's a controversial way to label him, but he NEVER fails to make me feel how i imagine our parents felt when they listened to "Blood on the Tracks" or "Blonde on Blonde"....and then some. My girlfriend has exquisite taste, yet always seems to complain about his voice, but i think it's nothing short of angelical, original, and straight from the soul.
@Neonb1bLes Comparisons to Bob Dylan are valid. But this whole generation gap thing is garbage. Young people now can still listen to both Bob Dylan and Tallest Man On Earth. I just feel like some people think that just because they weren't around for most of Bob Dylan's career, means that they have to find some younger guy who's like him. There won't be another Bob Dylan. There will, however, be other poets, and great musicians..and that's what I see when I listen to The Tallest Man On Earth...
