About This Track
Newsom talked about its creation;
“The evolution of the song took a long time. I knew from very early on in its life that I wanted it to be a very long song, that it would be vulgar to make it short. But it took me a long time to finish it.
I worked sectionally, I guess - I knew where each section was supposed to go, I knew the story I wanted to tell, more or less, and the order in which I wanted each piece of the story to appear. I know I’m using the word ‘story’ real loosely here, but the song is telling a story, from where I’m standing.
But some of the pieces were a long time coming. I might have had some lyrics, and some instrumental passages, and then I’d get a bit more in the way of words, or a bit more in the way of music, and I’d just kind of whittle away at the thing awhile and then wait it out again.
As far as the specifics of the verse, the “poetic devices” employed and all that - I have to say that it makes me feel uncomfortable to think too much in those terms when I’m looking at my own songs. I love looking at other people’s music real close-up, like that, but I feel like I worked hard enough writing the dang thing, and I shouldn’t really have to go back and explain what I was doing from a technical standpoint or analyze my own style - just makes me feel squeamish and claustrophobic.
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Albums featuring this track
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Ys
Joanna Newsom
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Shouts
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seyahefioa everything in this song is just perfection.
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lesfantomes I love you truly or I love no one.
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Diving-Up Scrap of sassafras, eh Sisyphus?
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janelesque I think this is the best song on Ys, and one of the best songs anyone could hear. Every second truly captures my attention.
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wangle-mcdangle My single favourite song.
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CypheroN All my bones, they are gone, gone, gone.
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MatheusAgostin Last week our picture window produced a half word.
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everette0704 inspiring!! need repeat on the old headphones
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justmade Oh my god. OH MY GOD.
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paulvee When the "All my bones, they are gone, gone, gone." starts, i feel i need to cry
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wanderlustatul Isn't this just the greatest?
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MilkyMoon14 Up there with one of my favourites.
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spreadblood4 don't misunderstand. this whole song is a perpetual orgasm.
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Buggy08 Then down and down, and down and down, and down and deeper.
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chrisjon89 I like the "shallow water" part more too, through to and including the "awful atoll" bit, but the whole thing is amazing really.
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platypuspower i love this so much i want to cry
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BarneyJWY Also, I like the "shallow waters" part a lot better than the Callahan part. Sorry, guess I need to reassess my life.
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BarneyJWY
My favorite Joanna song!
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ElizabethWade Still my favorite song, the part where bill callahan comes in still gives me chills and makes me want to weep when I hear it, almost five years later. What an incredible album.
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volta1995 CALLAHAN
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