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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Lovesong of the Buzzard
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish
Tomorrow I'll be kissing on her blood red lips
No one is the savior they would like to be
The love song of the buzzard in the dogwood tree
With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line
Springtime and the promise of an open fist
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist
Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down
The opening lines of the song "Lovesong of the Buzzard" paint an image of a peaceful and calm afternoon with Lucy seeking refuge under a dogwood tree. However, the next line about "solace of a poison fish" highlights the idea of poisonous or harmful elements being a source of comfort for someone. This juxtaposition suggests that perhaps Lucy is going through a difficult time, the pain of which is akin to that of a poisonous fish. Yet, despite this, the singer anticipates a future where they'll be kissing Lucy's blood-red lips, thereby contradicting the sense of discomfort that was earlier portrayed.
The idea of the untenability of the human savior complex is captured in the following lines where the singer notes that "no one is the savior they would like to be". This statement is juxtaposed with the "love song of the buzzard in the dogwood tree”, which adds a poetic and surreal dimension to the track. The final verse describes a playful and light-hearted interaction with Lucy in the backdrop of the impending dusk. The last line, "with the pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down," captures the fleetingness of life's moments and a sense of urgency to enjoy them before they disappear. There is depth in the song's enigmatic lyrics, and it leaves the listener room for interpretation and reflection.
Line by Line Meaning
In the failing light of the afternoon
As the sun begins to set in the late afternoon
Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Lucy seeking refuge from the sun under the shade of the dogwood flowers
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish
The fleeting comfort found in something that is ultimately harmful - like eating poisonous fish
Tomorrow I'll be kissing on her blood red lips
The artist anticipates being intimate with Lucy, whose lips are described as red like blood
No one is the savior they would like to be
People often fall short of their own expectations of being a hero or savior
The love song of the buzzard in the dogwood tree
The singer imagines a buzzard singing a love song while perched on a dogwood tree
With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line
In the midst of chaotic traffic, the singer pictures a group of horses calmly trotting along and even laughing
And the cradle's unimaginative sense of time
Time moves on steadily and predictably, much like the repetitive motion of a cradle
Springtime and the promise of an open fist
With the arrival of spring comes the potential for new beginnings and opportunities to grasp
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist
A permanent reminder of something beautiful on a part of the body that is damaged or symbolic of pain
Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow
Lucy makes light of the physical exertion of being in the sun by asking the singer to wipe her forehead
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down
In a moment of peace as the sun sets, the artist and Lucy have a small token that represents hope and a better place
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
saxatile
In the failing light of the afternoon
Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish
Tomorrow I'll be kissing on her blood red lips
No one is the savior they would like to be
The love song of the buzzard in the dogwood tree
With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line
And the cradle's unimaginative sense of time
Springtime and the promise of an open fist
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist
Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down
saxatile
In the failing light of the afternoon
Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish
Tomorrow I'll be kissing on her blood red lips
No one is the savior they would like to be
The love song of the buzzard in the dogwood tree
With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line
And the cradle's unimaginative sense of time
Springtime and the promise of an open fist
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist
Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down
Mary Mills
"The noises these buzzards make - raucous and elemental. The old birds make a kind of throaty chuckling to their young, but if they have a love song, I have not heard it."
(Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain, pg. 16)
diff1star 2032
I've love this song for nearly 10 years.
Difceo
Eva Sunstone
It's ok if we all hear something different in the lyrics. I thought it was literally about what romance might be from a buzzard's perspective. What seems like carnage to humans is a romantic bounty for two buzzards in love. Just a thought.
Bear PlaysStuff
I like that idea, two buzzards in love :)
Md. Rahfi Hassan
অনেক ভাল লাগলো
Loved it
Andy Blanton
Damn, for such a high view count, very few likes/dislikes. And damn, for such a high like to dislike ratio, people really hate this song and this album.
PlaceboJesus
Wut
Michael Z-C
11/06/2019: no, i won't keep trampling myself like this
john darwin
sonic perfection .