Jandek is American musician Sterling Richard Smith (born 26 October 1945 in… Read Full Bio ↴Jandek is American musician Sterling Richard Smith (born 26 October 1945 in Houston, Texas). Since 1978, he has self-released more than 70 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk and blues songs.

Jandek plays a very strange and frequently atonal form of folk and blues music, often using an open and unconventional chord structure. Jandek's music is unique, but his lyrics closely mirror the country blues and folk traditions of Eastern Texas.

Barely a handful of people claim to have contacted Jandek, whose steadfastness in anonymity is legendary. Without any conventional attempts at promotion, he releases albums through his own record label Corwood Industries, which is addressed at a Houston post office box. Fans can write to Corwood for a typewritten catalogue and order Jandek’s albums, usually at inexpensive prices. Jandek’s work has been available on vinyl and on compact discs. Many of his albums feature pictures of the same young man (seen above) at various ages; in light of Jandek's live performances it is almost entirely certain that the person featured on the album covers is Jandek himself.

Jandek’s first album, Ready for the House (1978), was first accredited to a band called “The Units” but it was obviously a solo work. Jandek presumably plays acoustic guitar and has recorded much of his work apparently unaccompanied (assuming that the person singing is also the person playing guitar). However many other songs feature female vocals and/or different male vocalists. Others feature bass guitar, electric guitar and/or drums, presumably played by collaborators. No proper credits list has ever appeared on an album, but song titles have included "Nancy Sings" and "John Plays Drums".

Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base which has included Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, Kurt Cobain, Indian Jewelry, and K Records founder Calvin Johnson.

The mystery of Jandek's identity was partially resolved in October 2004 when Jandek performed live in Scotland, at the Instal 04 music festival in Glasgow. This was Jandek's first known live appearance and performed with Richard Youngs (bass) and Alex Neilson (drums). The man on stage was obviously the same man who appears on the album covers. Corwood stipulated that the performance was not publicized in advance. Since then, "The Representative of Corwood Industries" (as Jandek sometimes insists on being called) has played a lot of concerts and recorded all of them for future releases. The last years have seen an even higher release frequency, even for Jandek.

For more information, you may go here:
www.tisue.net/jandek
www.jandekoncorwood.com

Away
Jandek Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

And then heâ??s gone
Heâ??s s gone away
Oh far away
And now heâ??s there
Some other place
Far from your face
In a foreign land
He is no way, away

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jandek's song "Away" seem to be about someone who has left and gone far away from the person singing. The repeated line "he's gone away" emphasizes the sorrow and longing that the singer feels for the departed person. The lyrics suggest that the person who left is now in a "foreign land" and is "no way, away," meaning that the distance between them is too great to bridge. The singer seems to be reflecting on the fact that the person they once knew is now somewhere else, living a life that is separate from theirs.

These lyrics can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on the context in which they are heard. They could be about a lost love or a friend who has moved away, or they could represent a metaphor for the human experience of loss and separation. The haunting melody and sparse instrumentation of the song add to its mournful tone, making it a poignant portrayal of the pain of missing someone who is gone.

Line by Line Meaning

And then he's gone
He has departed

He's gone away
He has left and is not coming back

Oh far away
He is very distant

And now he's there
He has arrived at a new location

Some other place
He has gone to an alternative location

Far from your face
He is now out of sight from you

In a foreign land
He has travelled to an unfamiliar country

He is no way, away
He is definitely not nearby

Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: S. L. BROWN, CHRIS RODRIGUEZ, CHUCK BUTLER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Virgo Sagittarius

8y↑13

I'm breakin' my life in two
I'm breakin' my life for you
Dancin' in circles I'm calling ??? through
Fly away, fly away
Take me, take me away with you
Fallin' the clouds are misty blue
Come on downstairs I'm fallin' nowhere
Please help me through
There are circles of mystery fallin' all around me
Fallin' all around me
I can feel them, I can touch them, I can see
I can see the mystery
And if you see me walkin' down the street
Don't sigh at me, don't sigh, don't sigh at me
Just let me be
Inside of you
Tired of playin all those dark games
Playin', playin', playin
Sayin' what's not meant to be for me
Flesh, flesh and bone
???
???
Oh the mystery

All comments from YouTube:

Ashley Pomeroy

11y↑21

I like it because it sounds like the wind moving over the blasted empty earth just before the dust storm hits.

Will Maclachlan

I like you

Virgo Sagittarius

8y↑13

Antonio IO

Thanks !!

viljanov

12y↑25

It's such a privilege to be the only one to comment... great song! Distant traces of velvet Underground, anyone? but it's pure Jandek all the way. Perfect to listen on a spring evening like this, slightly drunk.