During the 1980s, his reputation was established through frequent touring and recurring performances on A Prairie Home Companion. Subsequently, his work has been nominated for Grammy awards. He also founded his own record label and named it Red House Records after a home he lived in in Iowa. Red House Records is an independent record label specializing in folk music, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Well known folk artists have signed with Red House Records over the years include Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Tom Paxton and Loudin Wainwright III. A Red House Records compilation, A Nod to Bob, was said to be a tribute from a Minnesota label to a favorite native son - guess who?
On November 21, 2002 he married the singer-songwriter Iris DeMent. His daughters (from a previous marriage) are also musicians.
From: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brown_%28folk_musician%29
Infant Sorrow
Greg Brown Lyrics
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My mother groaned, my father wept:
Into the dangerous world I leapt,
Helpless, naked, piping loud,
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
Struggling in my father's hands,
Bound and weary, I thought best
To sulk upon my mother's breast
The lyrics to Greg Brown's song, Infant Sorrow, are adapted from a poem by William Blake. The poem speaks of the stark reality of birth, where a child is thrown into the unknown and dangerous world, helpless and naked, screaming loudly. The child is compared to a fiend, possibly because of the sheer trauma of being born into a world so alien to what they knew before.
The second verse speaks of the struggles the child faces in adapting to their new environment, as they try to break free from the swaddling bands that bind them. The child is exhausted from the effort and decides to give up and lean on their mother's breast for comfort. The song speaks of the raw emotions of birth and how it is a traumatic experience not just for the mother but also for the child who is being born. It shows how the transition from the womb to the outside world can be difficult.
Line by Line Meaning
My mother groaned, my father wept:
As I was born into this world, my mother struggled and my father cried tears of joy.
Into the dangerous world I leapt,
I was born into a world full of risks and uncertainties.
Helpless, naked, piping loud,
I was born without any control or power, completely exposed, and making loud cries.
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
My entry into the world was like an evil spirit concealed in a cloud, ominous but uncertain.
Struggling in my father's hands,
As I was being held by my father, I fought and squirmed.
Striving against my swaddling bands,
I felt confined by the blankets wrapped around me and struggled to break free.
Bound and weary, I thought best
Feeling restricted and fatigued, I decided it was best
To sulk upon my mother's breast
To withdraw and sulk in the comfort of my mother's nurturing arms.
Contributed by Jake V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.