Banhart is considered to have an eclectic style, with many of his songs seemingly following a stream-of-consciousness vein, being hard to decipher and non-literal. His music tends to consist of fairly simple guitar melodies with minimal other instrumentation, and his lyrical themes are often surreal and naturalistic. His involvement in the Los Angeles artist community is reflected in Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, released in September 2007. He gained some underground notoriety in New York for performing several of his early shows with underwear on his head for the duration of the performance.
Banhart's most recent tour of the United States saw him perform with his full band, which is currently known as Power Mineral. Power Mineral included Andy Cabic (Vetiver), Greg Rogove (Priestbird), Noah Georgeson, Luckey Remington, Pete Newsom, Otto Hauser (Vetiver, Currituck Co., Espers, Nick Castro), Kevin Barker (Currituck Co.), and others. The band claims to rechristen itself when a name comes to them, and has previously been known as Fried Hummingbird, Vagina Burglars, Hairy Fairy Band, Las Putas Locas, Stoner Boner, Spiritual Boner, Bummer Hummer, Brain Taint, Love Fart, Bathhouse Of The Winds, and First Woman Millionaire among other names.
Banhart was discovered by Michael Gira of Swans, who released his Oh Me Oh My... The Way the Day Goes by the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming… album on his own Young God Records label in 2002. In 2005, Banhart (along with Andy Cabic and Revolver USA) created the Gnomonsong record label. In 2006 he helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival.
Banhart also was one of the younger musicians responsible for "rediscovering" the music of folksinger Vashti Bunyan. Bunyan is a guest vocalist on his album Rejoicing in the Hands.
Legless Love...
Devendra Banhart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Webless love and fragrant mud
Caged in birds cased in words
I buried your hair in a bed of swords
I buried your legs in a knifeless snake
I buried your songs in a drowning snail
The lyrics of Devendra Banhart's "Legless Love" portray an ethereal and surreal take on love as a complex, multi-layered emotion. The use of contrasting pairs of words, such as legless and spider, webless and fragrant, and caged in birds and cased in words, depict the duality of love as both liberating and confining. The reference to the burial of hair in a bed of swords, legs in a knifeless snake, and songs in a drowning snail, add to the mystical and almost mythical nature of the song.
The lyrics also evoke a sense of loss, as if the singer is mourning the loss of something or someone. This is exemplified through the use of burial, as if the singer is letting go of memories or moments that can never be regained. However, the fragrant mud serves as a symbol of love's ability to grow and flourish even in the midst of loss and tragedy, giving a glimmer of hope and optimism amidst the melancholy imagery.
Line by Line Meaning
Legless love and spider love
Love that cripples and love that traps like a spider's web
Webless love and fragrant mud
Love that is free from any bindings and is refreshing like the fragrance of mud after rain
Caged in birds cased in words
The love that is trapped in the cages of communication and imprisoned in the words of promises
I buried your hair in a bed of swords
I gave up on you, and put the memories of you to rest in a painful way
I buried your legs in a knifeless snake
I let go of the idea of you, without the hurt and the betrayal that comes with it
I buried your songs in a drowning snail
I buried the feelings that your songs once ignited, in something that would never sing again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DEVENDRA BANHART
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Thais Nicols
on Mi Negrita
<3