Abigail Washburn (born in Evanston, Illinois, on 10 November 1977) is an Am… Read Full Bio ↴Abigail Washburn (born in Evanston, Illinois, on 10 November 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with old-time band Uncle Earl, as Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, in the experimental group The Wu Force, and as the duos Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn (with her husband Béla Fleck) and Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn.

Washburn says she never set out to be a songwriter or a recording artist. In 2005 when she found herself on stage in a smoke-filled Beijing club playing her banjo and singing old-time Appalachian mountain music in Chinese to a packed house, she was as surprised as anyone. “A daring, definite talent, whose feel for the folk idiom results in moving material. Soulful is the word,” hailed the Wall Street Journal at the time. “On stage, her voice resonated with the power of a seasoned performer and her poetic hill tunes sounded all the more evocative in Chinese.”

It was in Tennessee in 2000 that Washburn met KC Groves, one of the founding members of the band Uncle Earl, and she went on to spend five years touring with the band. In 2005, in the midst of touring with Uncle Earl, Washburn released her first solo debut, and bilingual album, Song of the Traveling Daughter, (Nettwerk). At that point Washburn joined cellist, Ben Sollee, in performing her music around the globe. In 2005 Washburn, Sollee and a few friends—Béla Fleck on banjo, Casey Driessen on fiddle- toured China and recorded as Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet. In 2006, the US State Department and the American Center for Educational Exchange requested that the group come back to lead the first official tour of a US band in Tibet.

In 2010, Washburn released "City Of Refuge".

As a member of The Wu Force, they played their first show together at the Yugong Yishan music club in Beijing in late 2011 and came back together in early 2014.

Beginning in August 2013, Washburn began performing and recording as the duo Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn with her husband Béla Fleck.

In 2020, Washburn released an album as Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn.

Bring Me My Queen
Abigail Washburn Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Take all my money
Take all my dreams
I'll swim all across
Your ravaging seas

Just don't play me the fool
Don't make it all new
It's time, time, time, time, time

Bring
Me
My queen

She takes all my love
Takes all my notions
Tears 'em all down
'Til the earth loses motion

Bring me my queen
Bring me my queen

She takes all my love
Takes all my notions
Tears them all down
To the ground

Oh, bring me my queen

She takes all your friends
Takes all your lovers
Buries all the bodies
In her heart's deepest cover

Just don't play the fool
Don't make it all new
It's time, time, time, time, time

Bring
Me
My
Queen

She takes all my love
Takes all my notions
Tears them all down
To the ground

Oh, bring me my queen

Bring me my queen
Bring me my queen

Bring me my queen
Bring me my queen

Overall Meaning

Abigail Washburn's song "Bring Me My Queen" is filled with symbolism and metaphorical lyrics that people can interpret in various ways depending on their views and experiences. In the first verse, Washburn talks about giving everything she has, including her money and dreams, to someone she considers her queen. This queen can be interpreted as a lover, a friend, a boss, or a mentor who has power over her. She is willing to do anything for this queen, even if it means crossing dangerous waters. However, she begs this queen not to betray her or make her feel foolish by changing things up.

The second verse further emphasizes the power the queen holds over Washburn's life. She tears down all of Washburn's love and notions, leaving everything in turmoil. This queen takes everything from her, including her friends and lovers, and buries them in her heart's deepest cover. This line can also mean that the queen is a sociopath who collects people's hearts as trophies.

In the chorus, Washburn implores her queen to come to her. She seems desperate to have this queen in her life despite the damage she causes. The line "bring me my queen" can be interpreted as begging for the queen to rule over her life or for her life to be ruled by someone she sees as royal.

Overall, "Bring Me My Queen" is a hauntingly beautiful song that describes a codependent relationship where one person is subservient to another. Washburn's use of metaphors and symbolism makes it unclear whether this queen is a force of good or evil in her life. Nevertheless, the song conveys the emotions of someone who is willing to give everything for someone they hold in high regard.

Line by Line Meaning

Take all my money
I am willing to give up all my wealth to get what I want

Take all my dreams
I am willing to give up all my hopes and aspirations to get what I want

I'll swim all across Your ravaging seas
I am willing to go through great lengths and difficulty to get what I want

Just don't play me the fool
I don't want to be deceived or made a fool of

Don't make it all new
I want what I had before, not something completely different

It's time, time, time, time, time
I have been waiting for this for a long time

Bring
Get me

Me
Myself

My queen
The person I desire the most

She takes all my love
The person I desire receives all my love

Takes all my notions
The person I desire influences and changes all my thoughts and ideas