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.

Seventeen
Hey Rosetta! Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

We watch the land
And imagine our bodies buried within
All the blurring green
Imagine our bodies hovering

We're always on the edge
We're always on the edge of something bigger than this.

Said: I ain't married yet,
Not some marionette,
I cut my strings and I went wandering

Between two poles
One was dirt and the other was gold
They push and pull
If one is evil is the other one good?
Is it good?
Cause we're always on the edge
We're always on the edge of something bigger than this
Cause we're always on the edge
We're always on the edge of some impossible trick

I spit my piece
The words are sweet
But they hardly speak
So I shut my teeth and I won't say anything

I'm losing you. I can see it.
I'm losing you. I can see it.
I can see it. I can see through. the thin skin's moving. I can see through it.

Like a loose balloon, I am lost and loving the view

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of the song seem to suggest an underlying sense of mortality and the transience of human existence. The singer and their companions are looking out at the land, perhaps reflecting on the idea that one day their physical bodies will become part of the earth, buried within its soil. Yet despite this morbidity, there is a sense of wonder to the imagery. The "blurring green" could be the foliage of the land they are watching, and the idea of their bodies "hovering" could suggest that they are imagining themselves free of the constraints of the physical world.

The song then shifts to a more introspective focus, with the singer declaring that they have not yet settled into a life of conformity and expectation. They have cut their strings and gone wandering, perhaps suggesting that they have chosen to live life on their own terms rather than being controlled by others. The reference to two poles, one of dirt and one of gold, could be interpreted as a metaphor for the dualities of life - sometimes things are good and sometimes they are bad, or one person's good fortune comes at the expense of someone else's misfortune. However, the singer questions whether these poles are truly opposites, or whether the concepts of good and evil are more nuanced than that.

The final section of the song introduces a tone of melancholy, with the repeated refrain of "I'm losing you, I can see it." The singer seems to be recognizing that things are changing in their life, and they are perhaps losing a sense of connection to someone or something. However, the final line of the song is more ambiguous. The image of a loose balloon could be interpreted as both a sense of being unmoored and free, but also as something that is escaping and potentially lost forever.

Line by Line Meaning

We watch the land
We observe the land

And imagine our bodies buried within
We picture our physical bodies underground

All the blurring green
The greenery seems blurry

Imagine our bodies hovering
We visualize our bodies floating in the air

We're always on the edge
We're constantly near the limit

We're always on the edge of something bigger than this.
We're always close to something larger than our current situation.

Said: I ain't married yet,
I stated that I am not married

Not some marionette,
I'm not a puppet controlled by others

I cut my strings and I went wandering
I freed myself and went on an adventure.

Between two poles
Amid two opposing states of being

One was dirt and the other was gold
One was undervalued, the other was overvalued