Beam was raised outside Columbia, South Carolina, United States where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor's degree and the Florida State University Film School with an MFA degree. Until the first Iron & Wine album, Beam's main source of income was as a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design. He had been writing songs for over seven years before a friend lent him a four-track recorder. His friends handed out copies of demos that he had made, and the owner of Sub Pop Records personally contacted Beam and proposed a deal.
Beam released his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002; Beam wrote, performed, recorded, and produced every track on the album by himself at a studio in his home. The album features acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar; its music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, and Ralph Stanley.
In 2003 The Sea & The Rhythm was released, an EP collecting other home-recorded tracks along the same lines as those on the debut. Beam's second album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. The focus still lies on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gives rise to a very different sound.
Beam released an EP titled Woman King in February 2005, and the EP In the Reins, a collaboration with Calexico was released in September 2005. This joint work mostly features new full-band versions of previously recorded Iron and Wine rarities.
One of his most famous songs is a cover, which was featured on a commercial for M&M’s candies and in the 2004 film “Garden State” (and on its popular soundtrack), of "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service.
"Kiss Each Other Clean" is the fourth studio album by Iron & Wine, released January 25, 2011. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of track 10, "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me". The album marks a further change in style – in an interview with SPIN magazine, Beam said “It’s more of a focused pop record. It sounds like the music people heard in their parent’s car growing up… that early-to-mid-’70s FM, radio-friendly music."
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Carried Home
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we were kissing with the radio on
The cat was choking on a rattle snake bone
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The sick kids ate up all the red clay
The late judge teetered in a john boat
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home
The broken window and the pretty blue sky
And cold water for my swollen black eye
We shook some money from your mother's old clothes
When all had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Carried home [Repeat: x16]
In Iron & Wine's song "Carried Home", the lyrics paint a vivid image of a small town where people are gathered around to pay their respects to a soldier who was carried home. The first verse talks about a kettle that was left on for too long while the two lovers were caught up in a moment of passion with the radio playing in the background. The cat is also choking on a bone which could symbolize the danger the soldier faced while he was away. The town gathers around as his body is carried home, indicating that this soldier must have been someone who was well-known and respected in the community.
The second verse talks about the sick children who eat up all the red clay, possibly because there is not enough food to go around. This is followed by a reference to the imminent rain, which could represent a sense of impending danger or difficulty in the near future. The late judge is depicted as teetering in a john boat, possibly suggesting that even the people in power are struggling to keep their heads above water. Once again, the town surrounds the soldier as his body is carried home.
Overall, the lyrics in "Carried Home" paint a picture of a small town that is struggling to survive. The soldier is a symbol of sacrifice, one who gave his life so that others may live. The song is poetic and melancholic, making it a powerful and moving tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Line by Line Meaning
The kettle burned cause I left it too long
I was too lost in the moment with my lover, and I forgot about the boiling kettle until it was too late and it burned.
And we were kissing with the radio on
We were deeply engaged in our moment of passion while the music played in the background.
The cat was choking on a rattle snake bone
Amidst our intimacy, we were suddenly interrupted by the sound of our cat choking on a dangerous object.
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
The entire town was coming together to mourn the soldier who had lost his life in service, as he was brought home.
The sick kids ate up all the red clay
The sick children in our town were so desperate for sustenance that they resorted to eating red clay just to survive.
And every summer there was imminent rain
The rains that came every summer brought both relief and fear - relief for the crops and fear of flooding.
The late judge teetered in a john boat
Even our most respected authorities were not immune to hardship, as evidenced by our late judge teetering on a small boat.
The town had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
The entire town had come together yet again to bid farewell to another fallen soldier, as he was brought home.
The broken window and the pretty blue sky
Despite the beauty of the sky, our town was still affected by loss and struggle, as evidenced by the broken window that could not be fixed.
And cold water for my swollen black eye
The physical pain I was experiencing was a reflection of the emotional pain that permeated our town, and all I had to soothe my injuries was cold water.
We shook some money from your mother's old clothes
When times get tough, we have to resort to unconventional methods of survival, such as finding money in old clothes belonging to our loved ones.
When all had gathered round the soldier boy carried home
Once again, the entire town came together in mourning for yet another fallen soldier, who was now being carried home.
Carried home [Repeat: x16]
The refrain of 'carried home' emphasizes the collective grief of our town over the loss of so many of our soldiers in war.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind