Written mid-March 2013
One thing evident from many of her poems and almost all of her songs is a common and painful theme.
Actor and director Clint Eastwood in his masterpiece, “The Unforgiven” had a theme defined by its title in which nearly all of the characters are unable to find forgiveness – they can’t even forgive themselves.
In her work, the theme – or the title of a movie that might be made from her songs and poems would be “The Unrequited” since she apparently continues to give love that is rarely or at best only briefly returned.
This is particularly evident in a very short song where she is pinning over someone who is clearly unresponsive, and still she holds out hope he will come back to lay with her once he has grown weary of his wandering ways.
As pointed out, this is a remarkably short song, and the song does not fit the mold of an ordinary lyric.
Instead, she seems to be singing a non-riming poem against a background of piano and ethereal harmony, not quite a dirge, but as slowly sung as if one, creating a mood of mourning for something she has lost or is losing, and which might not come back.
She lingers and emphasizes every word like a chant, giving the feeling that every utterance causes her great pain.
From the opening line, it is clear she and (he?) disagree, and she no longer wants to engage in the conflict, “all this noise is breaking me down,” she sings.
The song/poem is drawn together by the repetition of down as well as a repeated line: “You lie where it’s quiet.”
The word “lie” has potential for double meaning, to occupy a calm space, or to “fabricate” or “lie” with his silence.
The line also implies his stone-hearted silence in face of her needs.
As implied, this hardly makes for good company – or companionship, a stone cold in his silence, unmoved by her pain.
“In your eyes, I see my fear,” she sings
Her world is chaotic, and as she alludes in many of her poems, she struggles with sleep at night and still have to face the day time world, “face another noisy day.”
She is weary; he is silent.
“You lie where it’s quiet,” she sings, and yet as angry or fearful as she is, she clearly does not want to let him go, urging him to come back when he’s finished running around.
The implication is that he may have other romantic interests, while she wants an exclusive relationship with him, a very romantic, yet tragic notion.
The song/poem ends on a tragically optimist note that she will still be there when he’s tired of running around.
The unrequited, unrewarded love gives the song its heartrending tone, perfectly matched by the slowness of her singing it, as if she struggles o get each word out, so overcome with emotion.
She comes across as someone who truly cares, while he seems remote, cold and impassionate – and yet somehow in her thinking, he’s still worthy enough for her to wait for.
As suggested earlier, the song is unconventional in that it lacks the usual verse and chorus. But it can be broken down into three stanzas or verses. The first implies the conflict and how all this talk is wearing her down, its concluding line might be interpreted by the old cliché of her talking to a brick wall.
“And you lie where it is quiet.”
The second stanza starts with the claim that he is poor company. She sees her own fear reflected in his eyes, suggesting that he must understand how she feels and how she is struggling to get on in the day-to-day world, and still, he remains unmoved, “you lie where it’s quiet.”
In the third stanza, she tells him to do what me must do and come back when he’s tired of running around.
She’ll be there waiting to lie down with him.
She repeats the word “down” at the ending line of the two final stanzas, “down follows the word “quiet. in the second stanza, as if suggesting a quelling of the racket she has to live with.
The use of the word down in the final stanza that follows the word “lay” implies more than just sex, but something more intimate.
The song works partly because of its simplicity and her ability to use her voice to elicit emotion with more subtle background harmonies creating a hymn-like feel.
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