Sprout and Bean
Ah well it's another in an endless stream of grey days and so there are many
unlovely things we'll leave to rest beneath the grey smooth waters.
So we'll just say instead we know what Joanna Newsom's "The Sprout and the Bean" is about. The easy part is that she's kinda mopey and down.
I railed and I raved
At the difference between
The sprout and the bean
It is a golden ring
It is a twisted string
A parallel list of nouns: sperm, embryo, egg, DNA. Or, alternately, embryo, child, life, DNA. This is the imagery of conception. So why the "endless dreams of lead"?
And the danger, danger
Drawing near them was a white coat
And the danger, danger
Drawing near them was a broad boat
And the water, water
Running clear beneath a white throat
And the hollow chatter of the talking of the tadpoles
Who know th'outside
Doctors, crossing a river (e.g. Styx, the River of Death), a swan (sometimes a symbol of death), the sound of the children - who were born and so know "the outside". So: a miscarriage. The chorus is addressed to the child who might have been, an invitation to join us in life:
Should we go outside
Should we break some bread
Are y'inter-ested?
Tue May 31 14:36:00 EDT 2005
