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."
http://www.ironandwine.com/
Wolves
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her colored hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Whoever got that brave?
Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher?s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
On a rooftop waiting for day
And you know what he's gonna say
Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there
The lyrics to "Wolves" by Iron & Wine paint a picture of a haunting, eerie landscape with dark imagery, both real and metaphorical. The mention of wolves in the first line sets the tone for the song, establishing a sense of danger and unpredictability. The bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall and the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees add to the atmosphere of desolation and abandonment.
The presence of a woman with colored hair leaning like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall suggests fragility and vulnerability in the face of the dangers surrounding her. The kitchen floor and the foreign change in a pocket seem to allude to a sense of transience and the constant movement of people, as if everyone is just passing through.
The song of the shepherd's dog takes on a sinister tone, with the pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away. Whoever got that brave? The wolves in the middle of town and the daughter at the penny arcade add to the sense of danger and the theme of innocence lost. The postcard hidden in winter clothes and the mother and baby with a cross to bear are also symbols of fragile hope and desperate journeys amid the darkness.
Overall, the song "Wolves" is a haunting ode to a world that is dangerous, unpredictable, and sometimes cruel, but also mesmerizingly beautiful in its way, and always mysterious.
Line by Line Meaning
Wolves by the road
Wild animals are in close proximity to civilization
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
A symbol of the transience of human possessions, juxtaposed with the enduring presence of nature
She leaned on her colored hair
A person utilizing their appearance as a form of expression and identity
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
A beautiful and fragile thing in the midst of unpredictable natural phenomena
And the roll on the kitchen floor
An intimate moment shared between people
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
A nefarious character whose actions are a source of discomfort or conflict
Song of the shepherd's dog
A metaphor for the plaintive cries of a guiding force in a chaotic world
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
A moment of reckoning for a character who is trying to escape a dangerous situation
Whoever got that brave?
A rhetorical question, emphasizing the gravity of the situation
Wolves in the middle of town
A continuation of the motif of nature encroaching on human society
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
The sound of a traditional and comforting institution trying to assert itself over the disorienting forces of nature
To wave to the butcher's boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
A person attempting to maintain a sense of familiarity and normalcy in a strange situation
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
An ambiguous and disturbing scenario, in which different interpretations are possible
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
A moment of anticipation and tension, in which an important event is about to take place
On a rooftop waiting for day
A sense of isolation and vulnerability, enhanced by the cover of darkness
And you know what he's gonna say
A sense of inevitability about the outcome of the scenario
Wolves at the end of the bed
The culmination of the recurring motif of nature posing a threat to human safety and comfort
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
A hidden object that holds sentimental value, contrasting with the stark reality of the surroundings
She beat in the back of a truck
A traumatic event being relived or recounted
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
A sense of desperation and urgency in the face of a crisis
And then run down the canopy rows
A frenzied escape or chase through a natural environment
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Two vulnerable individuals facing adversity
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
A small but still significant detail or inconvenience in an otherwise dangerous or difficult situation
You'll never get him out of there
The persistence of an unwanted or harmful presence, despite efforts to eliminate it
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ujjwal Parashar
Lyrics-
Wolves by the road
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her colored hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd?s dog
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
Whoever got that brave?
Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher?s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
On a rooftop waiting for day
And you know what he's gonna say
Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there
Anuja Ghosh
Wolves by the road
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her colored hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd?s dog
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
Whoever got that brave?
Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher?s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
On a rooftop waiting for day
And you know what he's gonna say
Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there
Giuseppe Hergé
I love the percussion from this album
Ujjwal Parashar
Lyrics-
Wolves by the road
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her colored hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd?s dog
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
Whoever got that brave?
Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher?s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
On a rooftop waiting for day
And you know what he's gonna say
Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there
Catherine S. Todd
thanks - now I don't have to look them up. gracias!
RickyTann
One of the greatest songs on the planet!
Luis Baeza
Yes iron and wine , he's a good singer
Anuja Ghosh
Wolves by the road
And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall
She leaned on her colored hair
Like a butterfly wing in a summer rainfall
And the roll on the kitchen floor
Some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change
Song of the shepherd?s dog
A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb who was going to try to run away
Whoever got that brave?
Wolves in the middle of town
And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees
To wave to the butcher?s boy with the parking lot music everybody believes
And then dive like a dying bird and then they do with the daughter at the penny arcade
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Waiting around the jack caught the rooster
On a rooftop waiting for day
And you know what he's gonna say
Wolves at the end of the bed
And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes
She beat in the back of a truck
To the trailers when we trying to find the bullet hole
And then run down the canopy rows
Some mother and a baby with a cross to bear
Song of the shepherd?s dog
Little brown flea in the bottle of oil for your woolly wild hair
You'll never get him out of there
1wiilover802hater
This song gives me trip hop vibes
King Jeremy Sir Cornwell
is the shepherd leading you to water? or leading you to death?
King Jeremy Sir Cornwell
choose your shepherd wisely.
ahjajai
woof