Hey Rosetta! was a Canadian seven-piece indie rock band from the northeaste… Read Full Bio ↴Hey Rosetta! was a Canadian seven-piece indie rock band from the northeastern province of Newfoundland and led by singer and songwriter Tim Baker. The band announced in October 2017 that they would be taking an indefinite hiatus

In 2005, frontman Baker arrived home from a road trip with a suitcase full of poems and melodies. Hey Rosetta! was formed soon after with the addition of a string section (cellist Romesh Thavanathan and violinist Kinley Dowling) and rhythm section (bassist Josh Ward, drummer Phil Maloney, and guitarist Adam Hogan). Since that time, they blossomed into a powerful group whose explosive live shows earned them a devoted following.

The band's album, Seeds, was produced by Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, Wintersleep) and revealed a maturing lyrical depth and an atmosphere rooted to the band's passion for epic musical experiences.

It was while recording 2008's breakthrough album Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) that Tim Baker began to fully realize his vocal and lyrical abilities, and the band made a huge creative leap forward. Into Your Lungs garnered a slew of awards and critical accolades, was short-listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize, and Hey Rosetta! were named one of Billboard's Top 5 new Canadian acts.

During the three solid years of touring after Into Your Lungs was released the concept of Seeds was born. "The title track, "Seeds", came about while out on the highway a few years ago" muses Baker. "In a way it's about what our lives had become, and how we're like seeds that float around into different fields and cities, bringing something and trying to build something for the people that come to see us."

The group developed the sonic landscapes found on Seeds while maintaining an extensive tour schedule that took them to Australia, China, Europe, the US and on numerous tours of Canada (including a tour of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut). The band then holed up in Newfoundland to finish the songs before traveling to Halifax, NS to record with renowned producer Tony Doogan at The Sonic Temple. "Tony was really incredible at getting all the sounds and tones we'd dreamt up. He's an amazing engineer and for all his Scottish bluster and pop-rock dogma, he is very sensitive, patient, and a gifted producer," says Baker (who wrote all of the songs except "Downstairs", "Young Glass", and "Seeds" which were co-writes with guitarist Adam Hogan).

Thematically, Seeds explores everything from depression to procreation. "Young Glass" was written after reading J.D. Salinger's "Franny and Zooey". Baker explains:

"It's sort of directed at the novel's main character, Franny.. it describes a sleepwalking scene that didn't actually occur in the book, but one that I imagined. We spent a lot of time flying and sleeping on planes and in airports and I was always finding myself in half-waking states, feeling, as one does, all alone somewhere between dream and reality. When I'd wake up, I was always surrounded by people, going about their business. I like that; a sort of evidence that even when we think we are completely alone, we are not. So I wrote Franny, a character who is plagued by such thoughts, a song about it. but it's really about everyone".

First single "Welcome" is a song about Baker's close friends who were expecting a baby:

"I wrote a song for the little soon-to-be, who now is a 18 month old girl named Madeleine; healthy and beautiful, just like her parents" explains Baker, "I was just sitting with them talking to the unborn baby in a sort of cynical, joking way. You know, like "stay in there as long as you can kid. Sorry, but it's a mess out here..." and so on. Later, alone, I was thinking about what it means to bring new life into the world, how it's sort of sad but also so hopeful and kind of religious".

Hey Rosetta! decided to break up at the end of 2017.

Parson Brown
Hey Rosetta! Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Couldn't shake the cold away
A year alone, stock still and stuck in snow

Two black eyes, this phony smile
My senses dead, my body bent in ice

Then you took off your winter clothes
And you leaned against with your eager innocence

My brittle knotted wrists twitched
Reaching out for it

When we're running from the hospital, don't stop. don't stop.
Though the guards'll call, and the cops'll come, don't stop. don't stop.
They do not know us. we don't stop because of our love. our love.

And we don't need their law, like the paper it's written on, it will fade. it will melt away.
Like snow, it runs to the river below

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hey Rosetta!'s song Parson Brown are about the power of love to conquer all, even the coldest and most desperate of circumstances. The opening lines describe the singer's feelings of isolation and helplessness, unable to shake off the bitter cold of a year spent alone in the snow. The imagery of two black eyes and a phony smile suggest that they have been through some kind of trauma, and that they are struggling to keep up appearances even though their senses and body are numb with cold and pain.

Then comes a turning point in the song, as the singer encounters someone who is able to break through their icy shell. They take off their winter clothes and lean against the singer with "eager innocence", a phrase that suggests both vulnerability and possibility. The singer's wrists twitch with longing, reaching out for the connection that they have been missing for so long.

The final section of the song is a stirring call to action, as the two lovers run away from a hospital, pursued by guards and cops who do not understand their love. They do not let themselves be stopped by authority or convention, knowing that their love is more important than any law that can be written on paper. The metaphor of snow running to the river below is a powerful one, suggesting that just as snow melts and flows away, so too can the constraints of the world be overcome by the power of love.

Line by Line Meaning

Couldn't shake the cold away
Despite my best efforts, the icy grip of loneliness and despair remained inescapable.

A year alone, stock still and stuck in snow
For a full year, I remained immobile and trapped in the oppressive weight of emotional isolation.

Two black eyes, this phony smile
My outward appearance may be deceiving, but inside I am inwardly bruised and broken.

My senses dead, my body bent in ice
The bleakness of my emotional landscape has rendered me numb and frozen, physically and mentally.

Then you took off your winter clothes
By removing your outer layers, you allowed me to glimpse the warmth and vulnerability beneath.

And you leaned against with your eager innocence
You approached me with a childlike enthusiasm that was at once refreshing and disarming.

My brittle knotted wrists twitched
Despite my deep-seated emotional pain, my yearning for human connection remains fiercely alive.

When we're running from the hospital, don't stop. don't stop.
We must persevere in the face of adversity and remain steadfast in our love, no matter what obstacles arise.

Though the guards'll call, and the cops'll come, don't stop. don't stop.
Even when confronted by authority figures or external forces that seek to tear us apart, we must stay true to each other.

They do not know us. we don't stop because of our love. our love.
The depth of our love is uniquely our own, and no external force can diminish its power or sway us from our path.

And we don't need their law, like the paper it's written on, it will fade. it will melt away.
The laws and regulations of society may seem immutable, but like snow melting in the warmth of the sun, they too will eventually crumble and lose their power.

Like snow, it runs to the river below
Just as a melting snowflake flows inexorably towards the river, so too does societal law eventually give way to the unstoppable force of love.

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Timothy John Baker

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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