2) US ; country singer
1) Singer, writer and concertina player based in the North East of England. With a BBC Folk Award nomination for her work with harmony trio The Devil’s Interval, Emily is already an established musician on the UK folk scene, commended by Shirley Collins and annually touring with Waterson:Carthy. Emily has recently appeared at The Southbank Centre as part of their ‘Folk Roots, New Routes’ series and debuted her new songs at The Sage Gateshead. She is also fast making waves beyond the folk scene, being featured as a soloist on the BBC's adaptation of 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' as well as appearing on alt-folk songwriter Alasdair Roberts’ forthcoming album.
Emily originally hails from Glastonbury, where, raised on a diet of fairytales and deep Somerset folklore she began songwriting at the age of six, starting out with a keyboard, a tape recorder and a thirst for blood-curdling stories. After years immersed in traditional songs, Emily's return to songwriting has already grabbed the attention of the BBC, with Radio 3’s 'Late Junction' recently previewing her new music and ‘Words and Music’ broadcasting live performances of songs from the album at their 'Free Thinking' Festival. Inspired by folktales and Ballads, Emily weaves harmony-rich narratives relaying female experience, accompanied by Viola player Lucy Farrell (fresh from touring with The Unthanks) and Harpist Rachel Newton of BBC folk Award Nominees The Shee. These visceral visions of a darker Albion conjure landscapes where mythical sirens collide in urban backstreets. Emily's debut solo album ‘The Glamoury’ was released in March 2010.
2) US ; country singer : http://www.last.fm/music/Emily+Portman/Country+Girl+Like+Me
Tongue-Tied
Emily Portman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To weave my words with thistledown
Sickle moon on the moor
Turns thistledown silver and fingers raw
I dye a thistle thread
Red for my mother's tongue
Mother's words made scavenging birds
Brash words, a shower of stones,
Drove seven princes from their thrones
Mother's words, the seed of me
Now I'm tongue-bound, tongue-bound till they are free
I dye a thistle thread
Green for the woods where I make my bed
Where the ravens sing, the ravens sing
"Free us of our weary wings"
They sing "weave and spin, weave and spin
Seven shirts for Raven kings
Bite your tongue, swallow your tears
Tongue-bound, stitch-tongue for seven years"
I dye a thistle thread
White for the tears I will not shed
Pale fingers, worn red-raw
Red for the tongue I move no more
Tongue-tied, I am bound
To weave my words with thistledown
Sickle moon on the moor
Turns thistledown silver and fingers raw
(repeat)
The song "Tongue-Tied" by Emily Portman is a haunting and evocative piece that explores themes of language and communication through the metaphor of weaving. The singer of the song is "tongue-tied," or unable to speak her mind freely, and is instead forced to "weave [her] words with thistledown," which is a fragile and delicate material. The sickle moon on the moor adds to the eerie atmosphere of the song, as it turns the thistledown silver and leaves the singer's fingers raw from the effort of trying to communicate.
The singer is shown dying a thread of thistle red for her mother's tongue, which suggests that her mother's words have been passed down to her and shaped her in some way. Her mother's words "made scavenging birds/Wish for a daughter not seven sons," indicating that the singer feels constrained by societal expectations of gender roles and desires freedom from those constraints. Brash words are portrayed as a "shower of stones" that drove seven princes from their thrones, suggesting that speech can have enormous power and consequences.
The singer weaves a thistle thread green for the woods where she sleeps and hears the ravens sing, "Free us of our weary wings." The ravens' wings are a metaphor for the singer's own constraints, as she is "tongue-bound" and unable to communicate freely. They also inspire her to "weave and spin/Seven shirts for Raven kings," suggesting that she is capable of great creativity and resourcefulness. Finally, the singer weaves a thistle thread white for the tears she will not shed, indicating that she is still holding back her emotions and feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Tongue-tied I am bound
I'm unable to speak freely or express myself properly
To weave my words with thistledown
I have to carefully choose my words like how one works with the delicate thistledown
Sickle moon on the moor
The moon appears in a crescent shape over the moor
Turns thistledown silver and fingers raw
The light from the moon makes the thistledown look silver, but it hurts my fingers because I've been working with it all day
I dye a thistle thread
I add color to a thread made of thistle plants
Red for my mother's tongue
I use red to honor my mother's speech, which was powerful despite her gender and the fact that she was often disregarded
Mother's words made scavenging birds
The birds are enticed by my mother's words
Wish for a daughter not seven sons
The birds seem to want a daughter or a female leader, not just another group of male rulers like the ones who were driven away
Brash words, a shower of stones,
The princes spoke rashly and their words hurt others
Drove seven princes from their thrones
Their actions were bad enough to cause seven princes to lose their power and authority
Mother's words, the seed of me
My mother's words shaped me into who I am today
Now I'm tongue-bound, tongue-bound till they are free
I can't speak freely until those unjust rulers are no longer in power
Green for the woods where I make my bed
I choose green to represent the place where I sleep, under the trees
Where the ravens sing, the ravens sing
The birds who accompany me call out their melodies
"Free us of our weary wings"
The ravens are asking to be freed from their tiresome existence
They sing "weave and spin, weave and spin
The birds encourage me to continue working
Seven shirts for Raven kings
The shirts I'm making will belong to powerful creatures like the princes who were driven away
Bite your tongue, swallow your tears
I try to stay silent and not show my emotions, even though I'm sad and angry
Tongue-bound, stitch-tongue for seven years
I will keep working silently and with great care for seven years or until those bad rulers are no longer in charge
White for the tears I will not shed
I use white to represent the tears I'm holding back
Pale fingers, worn red-raw
My fingers are tired and scraped from all the work with the thistles
Red for the tongue I move no more
I use red again to represent my speech, which is silenced due to the current situation
Tongue-tied, I am bound
I'm still struggling to speak or act freely
To weave my words with thistledown
I have to continue being careful with my words and actions
Sickle moon on the moor
The crescent moon is still visible over the moor
Turns thistledown silver and fingers raw
The moon is still making the thistledown look silver and it's still painful to work with it
Contributed by Jasmine M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.