She continues to release numerous solo albums and collaborations and has composed the soundtrack for a horror game entitled The Path.
Coming to rock and experimental music from a complex, fascinating background (both her parents were FBI agents; her upbringing in the South included such elements of extreme American religious faith as snake-handling ceremonies; and before her direct involvement in music she participated in "unorthodox sex work," to use her own words, in various U.S. cities), Jarboe, who has always preferred to be known by her sole name, has long been known as one of the fiercest spirits in modern music. She is an intelligent and aggressive artist possessed of striking musical skill who has rejected the music industry's all-too-easy stereotyping and exploitation to create shockingly powerful visions. Helping strongly in this is her one-of-a-kind vocal talent, ranging from emotive blues/gospel tones to wild shrieking, matching excellently with her wide-ranging preference in musical styles. Joining the band Swans two years after it came into being, Jarboe soon became the co-leader of the band with founder Michael Gira; together the pair released some of the most striking, musically extreme recordings of recent years, both as Swans and as the side project band Skin. Jarboe's solo career began in earnest in 1992 with the release of Thirteen Masks, followed a couple of years later by a collaborative effort released under the name Beautiful People with Larry Seven, who also worked on Thirteen Masks and various Swans tracks before that time. The next official release was 1995's Sacrificial Cake, described as a "Swans Related Product," and released in concert with Gira's own solo debut, Drainland. After this, Swans took precedence as she and Gira finished the group's farewell albums and tours; her first post-Swans release, Anhedoniac, appeared in 1998. Shortly thereafter she made a trip to Israel for artistic inspiration for a planned follow-up, Disburdeen Disciple. However, she contracted an illness while visiting there, leading to hospitalization on return to America. A sampler for Disciple has appeared as a teaser, but the main album itself was not completed or ready for release. A collaboration with Telecognac, titled Over, appeared in 2000.
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The Body Lover
Jarboe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The body snatcher's day be gone
With blackened teeth and ruddy skin
And swigging long upon his gin
He's weak with his breaking back
The corpse he carries in his sack.
The bulging burlap caked with clay
Is foul yet musky from where it lay
Inside her cold and lonely grave
The mournful wind sings songs of praise:
How lovely she in her blue dress
Behold the tempting virgin flesh
Her sunken eyes filled with blind grace
Her shrunken lips with secret tastes
For raven hair in tangles coiled
Upon white satin, he hath toiled.
He'd held her dainty feet and sighed
The downy smooth upon her thighs
And wrapped within his fraying scarf
One little heart floats in a jar
Swaying quiet now lifts his head
This robber stops to toast the dead
And pray will he in town lust waits
For paid he'll be by pounds just weighed
This night he'll roam the streets of mud
He's slushing down these roads of blood
Tonight he'll own the meat and mud
This night he'll roam the streets of mud
He's slushing down these roads of blood
Tonight he'll own the meat and mud
He'll drink these streets
He'll eat this blood
How lovely she in her blue dress
Behold the tempting virgin flesh
Ravished only by one called
Death
The Body Lover is a dark and twisted song that is seemingly about a body snatcher who preys on the corpses of women. The song describes a day in the life of this body snatcher, starting with the sunrise and the end of his working day. The snatcher is depicted as a repulsive character, with blackened teeth and ruddy skin, drinking gin and weak from the hard labor of carrying corpses. The imagery of the bulging burlap sack filled with the earthy scent of the grave is disturbing, highlighting the disrespect and disregard for the dead. The mournful wind that sings songs of praise creates an eerie and unsettling atmosphere that further emphasizes the dark and depraved subject matter.
The second verse goes into further detail about the snatcher's victims. The imagery used here is particularly graphic, with descriptions of the victim's sunken eyes, shrunken lips, and downy smooth thighs. The snatcher is almost portrayed as admiring these features, adding to the macabre tone of the song. The inclusion of the heart in the jar and the snatcher's toast to the dead add to the grotesque nature of the subject matter. The repeated refrain of "How lovely she in her blue dress, behold the tempting virgin flesh, ravished only by one called Death" emphasizes the grim and disturbing nature of the song.
Overall, The Body Lover is a haunting and disturbing portrayal of a body snatcher and his victims. The use of descriptive imagery and unsettling atmosphere creates a morbid yet fascinating look into the twisted mind of a person who preys on the dead.
Line by Line Meaning
At last it's coming up, the sun
The dawn has arrived
The body snatcher's day be gone
The day of the corpse-stealing man is over
With blackened teeth and ruddy skin
His teeth are black and his skin is reddish-brown
And swigging long upon his gin
He is drinking his gin for a long time
He's weak with his breaking back
His back is breaking and he is weak
The corpse he carries in his sack.
He is carrying a corpse in his sack
The bulging burlap caked with clay
The burlap sack is bulging and covered with clay
Is foul yet musky from where it lay
The corpse smells bad, yet has a musky aroma
Beside his shovel, oh precious rubble
The rubble beside his shovel is precious to him
Inside her cold and lonely grave
The corpse is buried in a cold and lonely grave
The mournful wind sings songs of praise
The wind is singing melancholic songs of worship
How lovely she in her blue dress
The deceased woman is beautiful in her blue dress
Behold the tempting virgin flesh
Her virgin flesh is tempting to behold
Her sunken eyes filled with blind grace
Her sunken eyes are filled with grace, but cannot see
Her shrunken lips with secret tastes
Her shrunken lips have a hidden taste
For raven hair in tangles coiled
Her hair is coiled in tangled locks
Upon white satin, he hath toiled.
The corpse has been placed on white satin with care
He'd held her dainty feet and sighed
The body seeker held her delicate feet and sighed
The downy smooth upon her thighs
Her thighs were smooth and soft
And wrapped within his fraying scarf
He has wrapped something in his worn-out scarf
One little heart floats in a jar
There is a single heart floating in a jar
Swaying quiet now lifts his head
The body snatcher now lifts his head silently
This robber stops to toast the dead
The corpse-stealer stops to commemorate the deceased
And pray will he in town lust waits
He is hoping to find some paid lust in town
For paid he'll be by pounds just weighed
He will be paid by weight for what he brings
This night he'll roam the streets of mud
Tonight he will wander the muddy streets
He's slushing down these roads of blood
He's walking through bloody roads
Tonight he'll own the meat and mud
Tonight he will possess the meat and mud
He'll drink these streets
He will drink the streets
He'll eat this blood
He will consume this blood
Ravished only by one called Death
The only thing to ravish the corpse is Death
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind