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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Peng!
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It felt so simple, so prodigious at the same time
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
Magical days are happenin' in the world
Across the river there are all kinds
Of magical instrument
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
Magical days are happenin' in this world yeah
Across the river there are all kinds
Of magical instrument
While we really keep on living like monkeys
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
Magical days are happenin' in this world yeah
The lyrics to Iron & Wine's song Peng! are open to interpretation. One possible interpretation of the lines "curiosity, far greater than our fear / it felt so simple, so prodigious at the same time" is that the singer is urging listeners to embrace their curiosity and overcome their fear, as doing so can lead to profound and exciting discoveries. The lines "across the river there are all kinds of magical instruments / while we really keep on living like monkeys" suggest that there is a wealth of knowledge and possibility waiting to be explored, but that many of us are content to stay within our comfort zones, living a life that is limited compared to what is possible.
The refrain of "incredible days are happenin' in the world / magical days are happenin' in this world yeah" reinforces the idea that there are amazing things happening all around us, if we only take the time to look. The repetition of the lines about "magical instruments" and "living like monkeys" emphasizes the contrast between what is possible and what we currently settle for.
Overall, the lyrics to Peng! encourage listeners to be curious, adventurous, and open to new experiences, and to recognize the amazing things that are happening in the world around us, even if we sometimes feel like we are living like monkeys.
Line by Line Meaning
Curiosity, far greater than our fear
Our desire to explore and discover is stronger than our fear of the unknown.
It felt so simple, so prodigious at the same time
The experience of exploring the unknown is both simple and profound.
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
The world is experiencing amazing and unbelievable events.
Magical days are happenin' in the world
The world is experiencing events that seem like they are from a magical place or time.
Across the river there are all kinds
On the other side of the river, there are many different things.
Of magical instrument
There are magical instruments on the other side of the river.
While we really keep on living like monkeys
Despite the wonders in the world, we continue to live in primitive ways.
Magical days are happenin' in this world yeah
The world is experiencing events that seem like they are from a magical place or time.
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
The world is experiencing amazing and unbelievable events.
Magical days are happenin' in this world yeah
The world is experiencing events that seem like they are from a magical place or time.
Across the river there are all kinds
On the other side of the river, there are many different things.
Of magical instrument
There are magical instruments on the other side of the river.
While we really keep on living like monkeys
Despite the wonders in the world, we continue to live in primitive ways.
Incredible days are happenin' in the world
The world is experiencing amazing and unbelievable events.
Magical days are happenin' in this world yeah
The world is experiencing events that seem like they are from a magical place or time.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind