In the late 1980s Brickell was the lead singer with the (now renamed) folk-rock group Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, whose 1988 debut album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars was a critical and commercial success. The band's follow-up album, Ghost of a Dog (1990), fared less well. As a solo artist, Brickell released Picture Perfect Morning (1994) and Volcano (2003). In 2006 she reunited with some of the original members of the New Bohemians and they released the Stranger Things album.
Brickell had a role as a folk singer in the 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July. Her version of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is featured on the film's soundtrack. Many computer users know her from the "Good Times" video which was included as part of the multimedia samples on the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM.
Brickell married songwriter Paul Simon in 1992. They have three children.
The One Who Went Away
Edie Brickell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And there he swore he loved no other, then he came running home to me.
And will she cry all night? and will she cry all day?
And will she cry all night? just for the one who went away?
Out on the moor shes waiting for him
Shes like a wolf under the moon.
And I am sighing here beside him.
Hes right behind me lying spoons.
And will she cry all night? just for the one who went away?
Oooo, oooo
She is an early morning silhouette.
Against a slowly rising sun.
Shes walking home and all her clothes are wet.
And she is frozen to the bone.
And will she cry all night? and will she cry all day?
And will she cry all night? just for the one who went away?
Oooo, oooo
I crept away while he was sleeping.
I took my bag and left our home.
When he awakes hell look for me.
And hell find himself there all alone.
And will he cry all night? and will he cry all day?
And will he cry all night? just for the one who went away?
"The One Who Went Away" by Edie Brickell tells a story of a love triangle. The singer's partner had been unfaithful and had gone to meet their lover on the moor, where they swore their love for each other. Meanwhile, the singer was lying beside the partner but felt alone and sighing. The song also describes the other woman's perspective - waiting on the moor like a wolf under the moon, walking home with wet clothes, and possibly crying all day and all night for the partner who left her. Eventually, the singer took their bag and left, wondering if the partner would cry all day and all night for her.
The lyrics evoke feelings of sadness, loneliness, and betrayal. The wet grass up to the woman's knees and her frozen bones suggest a sense of isolation and vulnerability. The image of the wolf under the moon adds a sense of wildness and desperation to the other woman's character. The repetition of the question "will she cry all night?" emphasizes the pain of separation and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
Out on the moor he met his lover, in the wet grass up to her knees.
He met his lover in the moor where she was standing in wet grass up to her knees.
And there he swore he loved no other, then he came running home to me.
He made a promise to love no one else and then returned home to me.
And will she cry all night? and will she cry all day?
Is she going to cry endlessly at night and day?
And will she cry all night? just for the one who went away?
Is she going to cry all night just because the one she loved went away?
Out on the moor shes waiting for him
She is still waiting for him in the moor.
Shes like a wolf under the moon.
She is like a wolf howling under the moon.
And I am sighing here beside him.
I am still here next to him but I am sighing.
Hes right behind me lying spoons.
He is sleeping behind me, and we are lying like spoons.
Oooo, oooo
Musical interlude.
She is an early morning silhouette.
She looks like an early morning silhouette.
Against a slowly rising sun.
She is walking home with the sun slowly rising behind her.
Shes walking home and all her clothes are wet.
She is walking home with all her clothes wet.
And she is frozen to the bone.
She is extremely cold to the point of being frozen to the bone.
I crept away while he was sleeping.
I left quietly while he was sleeping.
I took my bag and left our home.
I took my bag and left the place we called home.
When he awakes hell look for me.
When he wakes up, he will start looking for me.
And hell find himself there all alone.
He will realize that he is all alone.
And will he cry all night? and will he cry all day?
Will he cry endlessly at night and day?
And will he cry all night? just for the one who went away?
Will he cry all night just because the one he loved went away?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EDIE BRICKELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind