Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
This incredibly sad song from Have One on Me (2010) appears to be dedicated to Joanna Newsom’s lost infant. Referred to by Slate’s Jonah Weiner as “a nine-and-a-half-minute ache”, the song’s subject was almost certainly a miscarried child, or perhaps an aborted pregnancy. What is clear is that she i...
[Verse 1]
This is the song for Baby Birch
I will never know you
And at the back of what we've done
There is the knowledge of you
[Verse 2]
Well, I wish we could take every path
Could spend a hundred years adoring you
Yes, I wish we could take every path
'Cause you know I hated to close the door on you
[Verse 3]
Do you remember staring up at the stars
So far away in their bulletproof cars?
When we heard the rushing, slow intake
Of the dark, dark water and the engine breaks
[Verse 4]
And I said, how about them engine breaks?
And, if I should die before I wake
Will you keep an eye on Baby Birch?
Because I'd hate to see her make the same mistake
[Bridge 1]
When it was dark, I called and you came
When it was dark, I saw shapes
When I see stars, I feel in your hand
And I see stars and I reel again
[Verse 5]
Well mercy me. I'll be goddamned
It's been a long, long time since I last saw you
And I have never known the plan
It's been a long, long time, how are you?
[Verse 6]
Your eyes are green, your hair is gold
Your hair is black, your eyes are blue
I closed the ranks, and I doubled back
But you know I hated to close the doggone door on you
[Bridge 2]
We take a walk along the dirty lake
Hear the goose cussing at me over her eggs
You poor little cousin, I don't want your dregs
A little baby fussing over my legs
There is a blacksmith and there is a shepherd
And there is a butcher-boy
And there is a barber who's cutting and cutting away
At my only joy
I saw a rabbit as slick as a knife
And as pale as a candlestick
And I had thought it'd be harder to do
But I caught her, and skinned her quick
Held her there, kicking and mewling
Upended, unspooling, unsung and blue
Told her "Wherever you go, little runaway bunny, I will find you"
And then she ran, as they're liable to do
[Outro]
Be at peace baby, and be gone
Be at peace baby, and be gone
Baby Birch was written by Joanna Newsom.
Baby Birch was produced by Joanna Newsom.
Joanna Newsom released Baby Birch on Tue Feb 23 2010.