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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Her Tea Leaves
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The dark birds in the trees and in her garden
I think I'll be there somewhere too
The yarrow by my head where I have fallen
And she will lick her thinner thumb
And ringless finger too and douse a candle
And though she never gave a thing
When autumn comes, she'll be there
Jasmine still in her hair
Her tea leaves dry by the sea
Many men behind her door
Have heard the bathtub run and longed to love her
And though she doesn't wait for me
We never ask the time when we're together
When autumn comes, she'll be there
Jasmine still in her hair
Her tea leaves dry by the sea
The lyrics in Iron & Wine's song Her Tea Leaves paint a picture of a serene and tranquil setting, possibly a garden or a peaceful countryside. The singer in the song contemplates the evening of his days, a symbol of his impending death. He imagines that he will be present amongst the dark birds in the trees and the yarrow in her garden. He reflects on the memory of a woman who he never received anything material from but the way she said his name was enough for them to feel connected, and he believes they will be together.
The woman in the song is a mysterious figure who seems to have left an impression on many men who have come in contact with her. They would hear the bathtub sounds and long to be with her, but she never waits for them. The singer in the song does not seem resentful or bitter, he seems content to have experienced the connection he had with her. The lyrics evoke a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness, the longing for something unattainable, and the acceptance that comes with it.
Overall, the song Her Tea Leaves speaks about the fleeting nature of life, love, and connections. The reference to the tea leaves also adds to the sense of temporality, the tea leaves that were once fresh and fragrant have dried up by the sea, reflecting on how things change and eventually fade away.
Line by Line Meaning
Come the evening of my days
As I approach the end of my life
The dark birds in the trees and in her garden
The birds in her garden signify a certain sadness that is always present
I think I'll be there somewhere too
I hope to be with her in spirit
The yarrow by my head where I have fallen
The yarrow symbolizes my passing and my connection to the earth
And she will lick her thinner thumb
She has a nervous habit of licking her thumb
And ringless finger too and douse a candle
She uses her thumb and ringless finger to extinguish a candle, which symbolizes the end of something
And though she never gave a thing
She never gave me anything material, but her affection meant everything to me
The way she said my name, we'll be together
Her love for me will unite us even in death and allow us to be together forever
When autumn comes, she'll be there
Autumn signifies the passage of time and the end of life, and she will be there with me
Jasmine still in her hair
The smell of jasmine reminds me of her and our time together
Her tea leaves dry by the sea
The tea leaves represent her connection to nature, and the sea signifies the vastness and beauty of life
Many men behind her door
There were many men in her life, but I was the one she loved the most
Have heard the bathtub run and longed to love her
They heard her preparing for a bath and wished they could be with her and love her like I did
And though she doesn't wait for me
She has moved on, but I still hold onto our love and memories
We never ask the time when we're together
Time stops when we are together, and our love transcends the constraints of time and space
Contributed by Leo E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
duck
I just discovered iron and wine and their songs are actually really nice