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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Love You This Hound
Iron & Wine Lyrics
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Walk and meet me, we'll meet tomorrow
Watch me growing, watch me dying
Hear my laughing, my hound a-crying
Ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh
Walk on lightly, live what you do
While you're walking I'll be beside you
Watch you growing, watch you dying
Ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh
In the song Love You This Hound by Iron & Wine, the lyrics talk about walking away from sorrow and meeting again tomorrow. The singer asks the listener to walk lightly and live their life while telling them that he will always be beside them. He talks about watching the listener grow and die while he himself will also grow and die. The singer talks about hearing his love for the listener while his hound cries. The song is a beautiful reminder of how life is both beautiful and tragic, and how we must cherish the moments we have with the people we love because time is fleeting.
The first two lines of the chorus, "ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh" is said to represent a prayer that has no words, and is more of a universal sound that can be recognized in any language. The hound's crying can also represent a depth of emotion that can not be conveyed through words. The song is a perfect example of how music can evoke emotion without explicitly stating what it is. It's the feeling of sadness and loss when someone you love is gone, but at the same time there is hope for the future and a reminder to live life to the fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
Walk on lightly far from sorrow
Travel gently without any burden of grief
Walk and meet me, we'll meet tomorrow
Join me for a walk and let's plan to reconnect the next day
Watch me growing, watch me dying
Observe my progression and my demise
Hear my laughing, my hound a-crying
Listen to my joyous glee and the sound of my dog weeping
Ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh
Nonverbal expression signifying the intensity of emotions
Walk on lightly, live what you do
Proceed effortlessly and enjoy what life has to offer
While you're walking I'll be beside you
As you stroll, I'll be present with you
Watch you growing, watch you dying
Observe your development and your passing away
Hear me love you, this hound a-crying
Hear me expressing my affection for you while my dog vocalizes its sorrow
Ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh, ah-ooh
Nonverbal expression signifying the intensity of emotions
Contributed by Arianna J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.