An enigmatic folk nomad, McCombs is a quintessentially American artist; "he's quietly become one of (the country's) finest chroniclers of fringe characters, a writer of heart-rending love songs and psychedelic odes to the natural world, a teller of tall-tales with a sense of humor dry as desert wood, and that rare folksinger who actually sings about the folk." His vocals range somewhere between the anxious drone of Lou Reed, the hollow croon of Elliott Smith, the lilting melody of Morrissey, and the driving earnestness and complexity of bards such as Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan. His lyrical style is alternately vivid and weary, laconic and yearning, or drifting into the high-spirited and whimsical.
After cutting his first EP, Not the Way in San Francisco in 2001, McCombs relocated to Baltimore, MD. There he released "Not the Way" in 2002 and recorded his first full-length, A, in 2003 on Monitor Records. He spent the next few years touring: playing All Tomorrow's Parties; and opening for bands such as Modest Mouse, The Decemberists, and Belle and Sebastian; before recording his second LP PREfection, which was released on 4AD in 2005.
McCombs' subsequent releases have been on the highly successful British independent label Domino Recording Co. 2007's Dropping the Writ was named one of Amazon's Best Albums of that year. Catacombs was voted one of the 50 greatest albums of 2009 by Pitchfork Media, and features Academy Award-nominated actress and singer Karen Black on the track Dreams-Come-True-Girl. During this period, McCombs toured with the likes of Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, José González, Beach House, and The Walkmen.
Catacombs also established McCombs' relationship with engineer/producer Ariel Rechtshaid, member of The Hippos and Foreign Born, who produced Grammy-winning hit Climax for Usher, the Plain White T's Grammy-nominated No.1 platinum-selling single Hey There Delilah, and albums for Vampire Weekend, Sky Ferreira, Snoop Lion, and Haim, among others.
In 2010 McCombs played Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, L.A.'s Culture Collide Festival and Invisible Children Benefit. 2011 offered an extensive headlining tour, an appearance at SXSW, and two albums released by McCombs and produced by Rechtshaid: Wit's End in April and Humor Risk in November. The two albums were made simultaneously. In an interview with Pitchfork, McCombs explains: "Wit's End was started years ago and it slowly made its way to the finish line. Humor Risk was just punched out. They're friends but they're different. Wit's End is like a stew; Humor Risk is the raw food diet."
Big Wheel and Others, McCombs' seventh full-length (and first double album) was released in October 2013. The album is rooted in the Americana mythos of the Wild West, from the San Francisco drug culture to the gunslingers and gold rush of the nineteenth century. The album once again features Karen Black on a version of the track Brighter!, her final recording before passing away due to ampullary cancer in August, 2013. Big Wheel is dedicated to her memory.
http://cassmccombs.com
There Can Be Only One
Cass McCombs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They say it’s nothing new
I give my heart away to just one
And it could be only you
Like a master’s baptism of fire
I know you have your ways
And two masters at once, no man can acquire
There’s nothing new under the sun
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one
Broken down for days at a free motel
Under the Oregon ridge
Broken hearts, a lifetime in this hell
I hope it’s water under theWith love it’s either all or none
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one
To saints and martyrs, lovers now and foregone
We are forever committed
But as even martyrs are taught by an Imam
At least we’re grown enough to admit it
All that which is that which shall be done
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one
The lyrics to Cass McCombs's song There Can Be Only One explore the concept of monogamy and the idea that love can only be given to one person at a time. The opening lines, "All that which is that which shall be done, they say it’s nothing new," suggest that the idea of giving one's heart to just one person is not a new concept, but has been a part of human experience for a long time. The chorus, "Who owns my heart? There can be only one," emphasizes this idea, and suggests that love is a finite resource that must be given exclusively to one person in order to be truly meaningful.
The verses of the song add more nuance to this concept. The lines "Like a master’s baptism of fire, I know you have your ways, and two masters at once, no man can acquire, you set my heart ablaze," suggest the intense passion and intensity of falling in love with someone, and the idea that such emotions cannot be divided between two people. The lines "Broken down for days at a free motel, under the Oregon ridge, broken hearts, a lifetime in this hell, I hope it’s water under the" suggest the destructive power of love when it is not given to just one person, and the pain that can be caused when two people try to share a heart.
Overall, Cass McCombs's song There Can Be Only One explores the concept of monogamy and the idea that love can only be truly meaningful when it is given exclusively to one person. The song suggests that the passionate intensity of love cannot be shared between two people, and that attempts to do so can lead to destruction and pain.
Line by Line Meaning
All that which is that which shall be done
Everything that is meant to happen will happen
They say it’s nothing new
People say that love is not original
I give my heart away to just one
I am committed to only one person
And it could be only you
I have chosen you as my partner
Like a master’s baptism of fire
As a difficult test or initiation
I know you have your ways
You have a unique personality and habits
And two masters at once, no man can acquire
No one can love two people equally at the same time
You set my heart ablaze
You stir intense emotions in me
There’s nothing new under the sun
Nothing is completely original
Who owns my heart?
Who has my love and loyalty?
There can be only one
I can love only one person truly
Broken down for days at a free motel
Feeling depressed and staying at a low-quality motel
Under the Oregon ridge
Location of the motel the singer is staying at
Broken hearts, a lifetime in this hell
Feeling sad and hopeless for a long time
I hope it’s water under the
I hope that past troubles are forgotten and forgiven
With love it’s either all or none
Love requires complete commitment
To saints and martyrs, lovers now and foregone
The artist refers to past and present examples of devoted love
We are forever committed
I am devoted to being with you forever
But as even martyrs are taught by an Imam
Even the most devoted can benefit from guidance
At least we’re grown enough to admit it
We are mature enough to understand this
There can be only one
True love is exclusive
Writer(s): Cass Eugene Mccombs Copyright: Die Sect
Contributed by Andrew P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.