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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Gray Stables
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The mosses
Laid, shameless in the sun
My lady with her porcelain and her
Weightless
Face, pleasing everyone
Gray stables and the horses of the
Pray daily for the brave
Lady, you were gorgeous in your
Weakness
Wet flowers on the ground
My lady never told me of her sadness
Bones floating in the sound
Brave lady could you see me in the
Darkness
Wait, nameless like a stone
My lady with her watches by the
Mattress
Bathes lately all alone
Gray stables and the horses of the
Righteous
Pray daily for the brave
Lady, would you love me if I left her
Laid breathless in the sun
My lady, like a teacup on the counter
Frail, pleasing everyone
The lyrics to Iron & Wine's song Gray Stables reflect on the complexity of relationships and the human condition. The singer addresses a woman, whom he calls a "brave lady", and observes her in different situations. In the first stanza, the woman is lying shamelessly in the sun, and the singer notes her porcelain face and weightless body as she pleases everyone around her. This image portrays a carefree and confident attitude, but also suggests a certain shallowness or lack of substance.
In the second stanza, the singer sees the woman's weakness, as she is surrounded by wet flowers and sadness. He notes that she never told him about her pain, and he senses that her bones are floating in the sound, implying a sense of detachment or lack of emotion. In the third stanza, the singer wonders if this woman would see him in the darkness, where he feels nameless and forgotten. He also mentions her watches by the mattress, which evoke a sense of time passing and perhaps a fear of mortality.
In the final stanza, the singer poses a question to the woman: would she love him if he left her? He imagines her lying breathless in the sun as a teacup on the counter, suggesting fragility and vulnerability. The overall tone of the song is melancholic, as the singer contemplates the complexities of human relationships and the fleeting nature of life.
Line by Line Meaning
brave lady, i could see you through the mosses
The singer is admiring a woman, even though she may be hiding or obscured by something, like mosses.
laid, shameless in the sun
The woman is relaxed and vulnerable in the sunlight, without caring who sees her.
my lady with her porcelain and her weightless face, pleasing everyone
The woman has a perfect, delicate appearance that makes people happy to look at her.
gray stables and the horses of the righteous pray daily for the brave
The stables and their horse inhabitants are symbols of morality and are praying for strong and courageous people.
lady, you were gorgeous in your weakness wet flowers on the ground
The woman's vulnerability and tenderness make her all the more beautiful to the artist, like sad flowers on the ground.
my lady never told me of her sadness bones floating in the sound
The singer is unaware of the woman's pain, which is hidden but present and felt like bones being carried away on water.
brave lady could you see me in the darkness wait, nameless like a stone
The singer is asking if the woman could still recognize him if he was in darkest anonymity, without any name or identity.
my lady with her watches by the mattress bathes lately all alone
The woman has been washing herself alone, and the watches represent time passing without companionship.
lady, would you love me if i left her laid breathless in the sun
The artist is questioning if the woman would still love him if he left another lover alone and breathless in the sunlight.
my lady, like a teacup on the counter frail, pleasing everyone
The woman is fragile and small like a teacup, but still makes people happy and content around her.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Percy Taylor
Brave lady, I could see you through the mosses
Laid, shameless in the sun
My lady with her porcelain and her weightless
Face, pleasing everyone
Gray stables and the horses of the righteous
Pray daily for the brave
Lady, you were gorgeous in your weakness
Wet flowers on the ground
My lady never told me of her sadness
Bones floating in the sound
Brave lady, could you see me in the darkness
Wait, nameless like a stone
My lady with her watches by the mattress
Bathes lately all alone
Gray stables and the horses of the righteous
Pray daily for the brave
Lady, would you love me if I left her
Laid breathless in the sun
My lady, like a teacup on the counter
Frail, pleasing everyone
ARID FooL
Magik
Margita Red
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Ian Rees
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