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Joanna Newsom — Emily
Album: Ys
Avg rating:
3.7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 86









Released: 0
Length: 11:58
Plays (last 30 days): 0
(no lyrics available)
Comments (62)add comment
Well I like it and I like the fact that she's not big on chorus or brevity.  Almost a decade without a play though - it's a shame.
Yes, yes, I know the comparisons with Bjork. The only similarity is that they both have strange voices, the difference of course is that Bjork sucks ass and Joanna is a wonderfully talented and unique singer\songwriter.{#Notworthy}

It is a shame that people dismiss her so quickly, because this entire album is incredibly beautiful.

The meadowlark and the chim-choo-ree and the sparrow
Set to the sky in a flying spree, for the sport over the pharaoh
A little while later the Pharisees dragged comb through the meadow
Do you remember what they called up to you and me, in our window?

There is a rusty light on the pines tonight
Sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow
Down into the bones of the birches
And the spires of the churches
Jutting out from the shadows
The yoke, and the axe, and the old smokestacks and the bale and the barrow
And everything sloped like it was dragged from a rope
In the mouth of the south below

We've seen those mountains kneeling, felten and grey
We thought our very hearts would up and melt away
From that snow in the nighttime
Just going
And going
And the stirring of wind chimes
In the morning
In the morning
Helps me find my way back in
From the place where I have been

And, Emily - I saw you last night by the river
I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water
Frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever
In a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror

Anyhow - I sat by your side, by the water
You taught me the names of the stars overhead that I wrote down in my ledger
Thoough all I knew of the rote universe were those Pleiades loosed in December
I promised you I'd set them to verse so I'd always remember

That the meteorite is a source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee

You came and lay a cold compress upon the mess I'm in
Threw the window wide and cried, "Amen! Amen! Amen!"
The whole world stopped to hear you hollering
You looked down and saw now what was happening

The lines are fading in my kingdom
(Though I have never known the way to border them in)
So the muddy mouths of baboons and sows and the grouse and the horse and the hen
Grope at the gate of the looming lake that was once a tidy pen
And the mail is late and the great estates are not lit from within
The talk in town's becoming downright sickening

In due time we will see the far butte lit by a flare
I've seen your bravery, and I will follow you there
And row through the nighttime
Gone healthy
Gone healthy all of a sudden
In search of the midwife
Who could help me
Who could help me
Help me find my way back in
There are worries where I've been

Say, say, say in the lee of the bay; don't be bothered
Leave your troubles here where the tugboats shear the water from the water
(Flanked by furrows, curling back, like a match held up to a newspaper)
Emily, they'll follow your lead by the letter
And I make this claim, and I'm not ashamed to say I know you better
What they've seen is just a beam of your sun that banishes winter

Let us go! Though we know it's a hopeless endeavor
The ties that bind, they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever
Though there is nothing would help me come to grips with a sky that is gaping and yawning
There is a song I woke with on my lips as you sailed your great ship towards the morning

Come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now
Blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow
Peonies nod in the breeze and while they wetly bow
With hydrocephalitic listlessness ants mop up-a their brow

And everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour
The butterflies and birds collide at hot, ungodly hours
And my clay-colored motherlessness rangily reclines
Come on home, now! All my bones are dolorous with vines

Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight
The way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light
Squint skyward and listen
Loving him, we move within his borders
Just asterisms in the stars' set order

We could stand for a century
Staring
With our heads cocked
In the broad daylight at this thing
Joy
Landlocked
In bodies that don't keep
Dumbstruck with the sweetness of being
Until we don't be told
Take this
Eat this

Told
The meteorite is the source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee



th3boon wrote:
This song and album are amazing. Listen to it about 8 more times and you'll come around.
This is exactly how I feel about this song/album.
I haven't checked out much of her work, and by the looks of things it might not be that great but check out 'this side of the blue', it's an amazing tune.
This song and album are amazing. Listen to it about 8 more times and you'll come around.
mandolin wrote:
...from her wikipedia entry, so - not a bad assessment, fenester... ;)
She probably wrote it herself.
Uncle_Fenester wrote:
Is this Bjork's American hillbilly cousin? You know, the one with the drinking problem?
"She is one of the most prominent members of the modern psych folk movement, although she does not acknowledge ties to any particular musical scene. Her songwriting incorporates elements of indie pop, Appalachian music, avant-garde modernism, and African harp rhythms." ...from her wikipedia entry, so - not a bad assessment, fenester... ;)
Is this Bjork's American hillbilly cousin? You know, the one with the drinking problem?
That just about killed me... the only thing that saved me was reading the commentary and laughing uncontrollably
Please, Please, never again
Q: you know what I like about this song? A: nothing I usually like the bizarre, unusual, and new. But this is just plain awful. But, I still do appreciate the variety...
I'm trapped. Part of me thinks there must be something interesting going on here, some underlying theme that I'm just missing. Like some kind of neo-Renaissance improv, like jazz with lutes and strange vocals. So I want to listen more closely and figure it out. But part of me thinks, "No, when I listen closer this is just unpleasant. Make it go away."
The lowest rated song I've seen on RP Deservingly so!
bokey wrote:
Ha!You've done worse and you know it. Play it Bill!This is twisted.
Ha ha! Nice. :) Maybe, but I did the world a favor and didn't release it.
INSOPORTABLE
suboptimal
I don't want any albums of hers, but to me this sounds good in a mix--on the radio--like this.
Sweet Zombie Jesus! Does this ever end?
Someone kill me before this song does. Man, how bad can it be?
This is what Macy Gray will sound like if she ever ends up a homeless person, drinking ripple out of a bottle in a brown paper bag on the subway in New York. She will have spent her last $1.50 at the Salvation Army for the only musical instrument in the place - a harp. Then, Macy wakes up in a cold sweat giving thanks to the Sweet Lord above she isn't there...yet...
It's making our cat curl up in a ball of depression. No kidding.
Who let her record this?
Lensles wrote:
The first minute or two I thought, hmm, interesting but annoying. Now, I can't believe it's still going.
just what I was thinking-ok, we get it, you can write string arangment but for christ sake -Shut up!
Enough already....!!! I don't often turn off RP but wake me when it's over...
There was a Jews harp in the background for a few seconds there!!LOL I'm going to upload the extended live version !!
Man - Bill daddy ... you have to kill this one ... it just wont stop I think someone stapling my testicles to a stump and pushing me back is somewhat more comforting than listening to this.
The first minute or two I thought, hmm, interesting but annoying. Now, I can't believe it's still going.
Usually not a song-hater but I have to express my repulsion over this one. Like nails on a chalkboard.
STOP STOP
Yuck! ...maybe it'll grow on me? Don't think so.
What the heck is going on?
This must be a joke, right Bill?
...this is really interesting, attention-grabbing to boot, and i don't mean either assessment in a bad way... edit: ...bumped it up to a seven to fight all the ones out there - somehow i'm reminded of an emiliana torrini not from iceland... double-edit: ...i think it's quite likeable and deserves the seven, even...
JohnErle wrote:
Prithee, good minstrels. Why dost thine warbling songstress dress in the manner of a swan?
Hath thee lost all taste in thine noggin? Hast thou gone agog? Yither swan is a wench of artistic character wraught, full of contemporary emotions!
what a great song...to get some work done to... Nevermind, I'm gonna go pee. Maybe it will be done when I get back
ginger wrote:
As a singer/songwriter, I try hard to be forgiving to other artists. Sorry hon', but your voice is really grating on my nerves.
Ha!You've done worse and you know it. Play it Bill!This is twisted.
Please make it stop.
It never ends! *runs, screaming, from the room*
My ears are bleeding! That's never happened before. A -1.
Oh, this is really, really awful!!!!
As a singer/songwriter, I try hard to be forgiving to other artists. Sorry hon', but your voice is really grating on my nerves.
Prithee, good minstrels. Why dost thine warbling songstress dress in the manner of a swan?
Thank goodness that's over. Mediocrity drooling all over itself...
agnes wrote:
Dude, I AM an odd woman, and I'm really disturbed by this song. It's not that I just dislike it... I honestly feel like I'm trapped in a godawful interpretive dance recital by some relative of mine that I CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE IT WILL HURT HER FEELINGS!!!! Props to ole girl for being original, I mean, who else plays the HARP? But I really can't deal with this.
HA! I was getting that same feeling after about 7 minutes (but i'm afraid to lower my score in case she Googles herself).
Stuart wrote:
THAT was weird. I'll give it a 7 to balance the 1's that will follow (cause I like odd women)..... um but its still going...
Dude, I AM an odd woman, and I'm really disturbed by this song. It's not that I just dislike it... I honestly feel like I'm trapped in a godawful interpretive dance recital by some relative of mine and I CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE IT WILL HURT HER FEELINGS!!!! Props to ole girl for being original, I mean, who else plays the HARP? But I really can't deal with this.
Somebody's been listening to some Yoko...
That was... disturbing.
Is this song a half hour long? Seriously, I thought "Lime in the coconut" was the only song that made me turn RP off. This is right there along with it.
My God, does this song ever end?
I think she would be more interesting as a poet than a singer. A "2" for me . . .
A bit long for my taste, but it's an interesting dynamic. A juvenile-sounding voice, but contrasted against Leonard Cohen-style lyrics.
This is fairly dissatisfying.
This is a very long song.
Please stop playing this now. It's killing me. Oh no.... it's still going..
THAT was weird. I'll give it a 7 to balance the 1's that will follow (cause I like odd women)..... um but its still going...
I find her singing voice fascinating. I wonder if the strangeness of it is affected, or if she talks like that too?
ekeyte wrote:
This is the worst song I've ever heard. She sounds like a 5 year-old who is retarded.
AWESOME!!!!
I couldn't be more surprised to hear Joanna Newsom on RP, let alone something from Ys. She is among the most creative and literate of contemporary performers. Van Dyke Parks' orchestration is splendid!
This is the worst song I've ever heard. She sounds like a 5 year-old who is retarded.
Hmm, will have to take some getting used to.
Her voice is really, really making me unhappy. Yikes.