The band began when McCarthy left the bands and sideshows of New York City, traveling abroad and singing solo. With an open ticket and two phone numbers in her purse, she set out hoping to find her voice and new inspiration to write from. The songwork from this time period was captured on the first Faun Fables CD EARLY SONG (1999), and captured the attentions of Nils Frykdahl (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), a musician and voice artist whose work she'd admired in a theatrical rock show called 'Idiot Flesh.' They began collaborating in 1998, sharing an instinct to weave theater into music and learning from each other's contrasting approaches to songmaking.
Since that time, the couple has built an eclectic following circling the roadways of North America in a sturdy pickup truck and touring abroad on foot, train and plane. The culmination of their longstanding partnership --a work that combines their writing and showcases their range of character-- is Faun Fables' new & sixth full-length album, LIGHT OF A VASTER DARK, released by Drag City in the winter of 2010. Previous releases include THE TRANSIT RIDER, MOTHER TWILIGHT (2001), FAMILY ALBUM (2004), and A TABLE FORGOTTEN (an EP).
In addition to Frykdahl, McCarthy has also collaborated with several other musicians, namely Will Oldham, multi-instrumentalist Kirana Peyton, violinist/thereminist Meredith Yayanos, reed player Cornelius Boots, harmonica player Mark Stikman, and Dawn's sister, Sheila McCarthy.
Captured by the heart of oral tradition, McCarthy draws inspiration from anywhere: Polish art songs, Icelandic volcanoes, The Singing Nun, recovery theater, etc. Recent studies include Wlodziemierz Staniewski's Gardzienice Theater, Cassie Terman's action theater training, narration work with Elaine Clark and a primitive technology workhop called Rabbitstick.
In 2004, Faun Fables signed to Drag City records and finally climbed Hanging Rock in Australia. They are currently based in northern California.
Subsequent albums include The Transit Rider (2006), Light of a Vaster Dark (2010), Born of the Sun (2016)
Roadkill
Faun Fables Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been through your land countless times
Without asking your leave.
But now it seems that I am free to go on my way
While you would left there broken
With only burning father sun
To grieve and bleach your bones
As white as the moon.
To the vulture flying low along the line of the highway:
You won't have to wait very long
To eat your fill.
'Cause the river of grey that divides the horizon
Will surely leave a carcass in its wake,
A twisted golden braid of fur and meat,
Turning black,
Black as the road.
As black as the grey road.
And the grey road is the great worm
That meets itself on the far side of the world.
And the grey road is the great worm
That eats its tail beneath our feet.
To the man selling blankets on the side of the highway:
The sign says you're friendly and nice,
And I have no doubt that's true.
But one of these mornings you gonna rise up singing,
A song that your grandfather knew
but your father forgot
And buried
And was paved over by the grey road,
The same road that you walk now
As nice as a man.
As nice as the last man.
And the grey road is the great worm
That meets itself on the far side of the world.
And the grey road is the great worm
That eats its tail beneath our feet.
The lyrics of Faun Fables's "Roadkill" explore the relationship between humanity and the natural world, specifically the ways in which humans often take for granted the vast landscapes they inhabit and the creatures who share that space. In the first verse, the singer addresses a dead coyote lying beside the highway, acknowledging how frequently we ignore the territory we cross through. The coyote's life has been taken without consent, whereas our own choices seem limitless. The singer recognizes how unfair this is, and they use vivid language to paint a picture of the coyote's remains, which will soon be picked apart by a vulture.
The second verse complicates this theme by including the presence of a vulture, an animal typically associated with scavenging and death. The singer’s intrigue into the circumstances raises the question: how are we any different from the vultures that circle the sky, waiting for the next carcass to appear? The singer notes how desperate we can be for survival, and the vulture who waits patiently in the sky for its next meal is no exception. The lyrics suggest that, like the vulture, humans are also prey to the "great worm," an image of nature that devours everything in its path. The final verse then brings the focus back on the human, specifically on the man selling blankets on the side of the road. Though he may seem friendly, the singer doesn't know him personally, and he appears to carry his own secrets - an intangible past that's been paved over by the great worm, as though it never existed.
Overall, "Roadkill" encourages a respectful appreciation for the natural world, conveying the deep connectedness and mutual vulnerability between humans and the environment. It is a poignant reminder of the power of the natural world, and how important it is to respect and honor our surroundings.
Line by Line Meaning
To the coyote lying dead on the side of the highway:
Addressing the coyote carcass, the singer admits to traversing its territory without permission many times before, but now realizes that it's the coyote who is motionless on the roadside, a broken victim, while the singer is leaving. Only the scorching sun will watch over its bones, which will turn white like the moon.
You won't have to wait very long
To eat your fill.
The singer speaks to a vulture flying overhead, predicting that soon it will be able to feast on roadkill lying on the highway. The river in the distance guarantees that there will be more dead animals to consume, whose fur and flesh will turn black like the road.
And the grey road is the great worm
That meets itself on the far side of the world.
And the grey road is the great worm
That eats its tail beneath our feet.
The grey highway is likened to a worm that devours its own tail, uniting the two ends of the world. Its endless cycle, which we walk upon, is like a metaphor for life and death.
The sign says you're friendly and nice,
And I have no doubt that's true.
The singer approaches a roadside vendor selling blankets and notes that the sign indicates he is a kind and likable person, which the singer does not doubt.
But one of these mornings you gonna rise up singing,
A song that your grandfather knew
but your father forgot
And buried
And was paved over by the grey road,
The singer suggests that the vendor will soon remember an old family song that has been forgotten for generations due to the march of time and progress, symbolized by the grey road that has been built on top of it.
The same road that you walk now
As nice as a man.
As nice as the last man.
The singer reflects that the man selling blankets, like everyone else, is walking on the same grey road, which is neither good nor evil but just exists. The man is considered kind, but no different from any other person who has walked that same road.
Contributed by Jayden K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.