"Sadie" -Joanna Newsom

I've never been one to be too concerned with lyrics. I never remember them; no matter how much I want to. (And yes, I am that asshole who sings without knowing the words or sings what I think to be the correct words.) I typically like a song for the overall feeling it gives me or because it just sounds good or makes me move. However, in few instances, certain lyrics will strike a chord inside.

Though I don't particularly love Joanna's voice, there's something ethereal about it. She has a provocative cadence that makes her singing interesting. And, wow, these lyrics are beautiful.

Sadie, white coat,
you carry me home.
And bury this bone,
take this pinecone.

Bury this bone
to gnaw on it later; gnawing on the telephone.
'Till then, we pray & suspend
the notion that these lives do never end.

And all day long we talk about mercy:
lead me to water lord, I sure am thirsty.
Down in the ditch where I nearly served you,
up in the clouds where he almost heard you

And all that we built,
and all that we breathed,
and all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds
is piled up in back;
it burns irrevocably.
(we spoke up in turns,
'till the silence crept over me)

Bless you
and I deeply do
no longer resolute
oh, and I call to you

But the water got so cold,
and you do lose
what you don't hold.

This is an old song,
these are old blues.
This is not my tune,
but it's mine to use.
And the seabirds
where the fear once grew
will flock with a fury,
and they will bury what'd come for you

Down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
you and I, and a love so tender,
is stretched-on the hoop where I stitch-this addage:
"Bless our house and its heart so savage."

And all that I want, and all that I need
and all that I've got is scattered like seed.
And all that I knew is moving away from me.
(and all that I know is blowing
like tumbleweed)

And the mealy worms
in the brine will burn
in a salty pyre,
among the fauns and ferns.

And the love we hold,
and the love we spurn,
will never grow cold
only taciturn.

And I'll tell you tomorrow.
Sadie, go on home now.
Bless those who've sickened below;
bless us who've chosen so.

And all that I've got
and all that I need
I tie in a knot
that I lay at your feet.
I have not forgot,
but a silence crept over me.
(So dig up your bone,
exhume your pinecone, my Sadie)

I don't like to over-analyze an artist's intent or purpose of a song because the beauty- literally and figuratively- of art is in the eye of the beholder. So, perhaps this song's about losing a dog and the mortality that we don't recognize (until it's too late). Maybe it's about loving someone and not talking to them (we all know about this), or the universal fear we all have of growing older and our worlds changing (endlessly). It could be about the challenge of the letting go/holding on to memories, and that ultimately we should all slow our pace. Conceivable, it could be a song about faith v. science or the reconciliation of the two. Whatever her point is, whatever mine is- I like these words.

Just thought I'd share them.