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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Woman King
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Under the red sunlight
Long clothesline, two shirtsleeves
Waving as we go by
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, wristwatch time
Black horse fly, lemonade
Jar on the red ant hill
Garden worm, cigarette
Ash on the window sill
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, sword I hand
Swing at some evil and bleed.
Black hoof mare, broken leg
Eye on the shot gun shell
Age old dog, hornet nest
Built in the big church bell
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, bloodshot eye
Thumb down and starting to weep.
The lyrics of Iron & Wine's "Woman King" paint a vivid picture of a rural, rustic scene in which the most mundane objects and creatures are imbued with a deep, haunting significance. The opening lines set the tone with their juxtaposition of a blackbird and a raven against the red sunlight, suggesting the play between light and dark, beauty and death that will continue throughout the song. The image of two shirtsleeves waving from a clothesline as the singer travels by suggests a fleeting moment of human connection and poignancy.
The song's refrain centers around the idea of a "woman king," a figure who combines traditionally masculine traits like wielding a sword with traditionally feminine traits such as weariness and sadness. The lyrics suggest that this woman king is a sort of mythical figure, a distant dream that may never be realized, but whose image inspires both hope and despair. The third verse takes a particularly dark turn, with its reference to a mare with a broken leg and the image of an "age old dog" weeping - suggesting that even if the woman king were to arrive, her reign might still be marred by suffering and death.
Overall, "Woman King" is a powerful, poetic exploration of the natural world and the human psyche, blending elements of folklore, mythology, and history to create something hauntingly beautiful.
Line by Line Meaning
Blackbird claw, raven wing
The combination of two different birds, speaking to duality or contrasting ideas.
Under the red sunlight
The setting in which they exist, with red sunlight insinuating a sense of danger or urgency.
Long clothesline, two shirtsleeves / Waving as we go by
The imagery of a clothesline and shirtsleeves waving, representing everyday activities that continue on as others move on.
Hundred years, hundred more / Someday we may see a / Woman king, wristwatch time / Slowing as she goes to sleep.
The passing of time and acknowledging that someday a woman can rise to become a leader, with the imagery of the slowing watch representing the end of her reign.
Black horse fly, lemonade / Jar on the red ant hill / Garden worm, cigarette / Ash on the window sill
A disjointed combination of imagery that brings together opposing forces that make for an unexpected union.
Hundred years, hundred more / Someday we may see a / Woman king, sword in hand / Swing at some evil and bleed.
Looking to a future in which a woman becomes a powerful warrior, fighting against evil and potentially spilling her own blood in the process.
Black hoof mare, broken leg / Eye on the shot gun shell / Age old dog, hornet nest / Built in the big church bell
A continuation of the disjointed imagery that brings together elements of conflict or contrast.
Hundred years, hundred more / Someday we may see a / Woman king, bloodshot eye / Thumb down and starting to weep.
A somber picture of a woman in power, with her tear-filled eyes representing the toll of leadership upon her soul.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Percy Taylor
Blackbird claw, raven wing
Under the red sunlight
Long clothesline, two shirtsleeves
Waving as we go by
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, wristwatch time
Slowing as she goes to sleep
Black horse fly, lemonade
Jar on the red ant hill
Garden worm, cigarette
Ash on the window sill
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, sword in hand
Swing at some evil and bleed
Black hoof mare, broken leg
Eye on the shot gun shell
Age old dog, hornet nest
Built in the big church bell
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, bloodshot eye
Thumb down and starting to weep
caroline haygood
I can't believe this song isn't more popular, one of my favs!
Percy Taylor
Blackbird claw, raven wing
Under the red sunlight
Long clothesline, two shirtsleeves
Waving as we go by
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, wristwatch time
Slowing as she goes to sleep
Black horse fly, lemonade
Jar on the red ant hill
Garden worm, cigarette
Ash on the window sill
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, sword in hand
Swing at some evil and bleed
Black hoof mare, broken leg
Eye on the shot gun shell
Age old dog, hornet nest
Built in the big church bell
Hundred years, hundred more
Someday we may see a
Woman king, bloodshot eye
Thumb down and starting to weep
Brooke Elise777
love love love this song!
legendhero4528
Thank you for the video! You friends are all super awesome! Oh, moments of this video are so sad and terrible.
Geek37
2005...heard this on the stereo in the indie music store in my hometown...I never looked back after that...
Beer Man
Capo 2nd fret Em D with an A thrown in when ya know it!!!
Erin Buckley
OH MY GOD.
EfilsGod
Is that princess Diana on that one salt shaker? Is that the woman king this album is about?
Brandon Moses
Thimble.
Lonna Anderson
Tell me what you're gonna do without opposable thumbs? 😶