Jennifer released her debut EP, Truth Love Work, in 2000. 'Time Out' wrote, "O'Connor is another Liz Phair or Elliott Smith waiting to happen. Her understated guitar-based songs lack the primping, preening and obviousness of Phair and the sad-sack whining of Smith. Rather, her matter-of-fact lyrics tell stories that us regular joes can relate to." Her self-released, self-titled debut followed in 2002, and Red Panda released the acclaimed 'The Color And The Light' in May 2005.
'Over The Mountain…' is her 3rd full-length, but it has the immediacy of a debut. The past year saw many personal upheavals which informed it more than she expected. "It's been so tumultuous, I think that inevitably crept into my songs," she says. "I wouldn't say that I always write from experience, but I did a lot of it on this record." For her most emotional songs yet, she self-produced and got rid of reverb and extraneous sounds, giving them an urgency that her other records didn't always have. She explains, "There's a lot of space; we purposefully pared everything down to what was necessary for the song."
While Jennifer writes (and often performs) alone on guitar, each song here (save the acoustic single-take "Today") is fleshed out with a band that includes her longtime drummer Jon Langmead, James McNew (Yo La Tengo) on bass, Kendall Meade (Sparklehorse, Mascott) on keyboards & vocals, and other friends including Britt Daniel (Spoon) on vocals, and Al Weatherhead, who produced 'Color...' & plays guitar on many tracks.
The record was recorded by Jim Bentley at The Fort in Brooklyn.
Websites:
http://myspace.com/jenniferoconnor
http://jenniferoconnor.net
http://matadorrecords.com/jennifer_oconnor
Here With Me
Jennifer O'Connor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I love the cool way you look at me
And we've got a lot of time to get this right
At least that's how I hope it's gonna be
When you go looking for a little light real late at night
And you don't like the things you see
I'll be right here waiting in the dark for your knock
I want you here with me
I hold you close and whisper in your ear
"There's nothing to fear"
I know the things you want to be
I don't know if they will ever come for anyone
Oh, I want you here with me
I want you here with me
I want you here with me
I want you here with me
The lyrics of Jennifer O'Connor's song Here With Me are open to interpretation, but overall the song seems to be about a person expressing their affection for someone who is struggling with insecurities and self-doubt. The first verse mentions "misery loving the cruel way that you speak to yourself," which suggests that the subject of the song is someone who is hard on themselves and prone to negative self-talk. Despite this, the singer loves the way that this person looks at them and hopes to work through their issues together with them.
The second verse reinforces this idea, with lyrics about "looking for a little light real late at night" and not liking what one sees. The singer pledges to be there in the dark and wants the other person to stay with them, expressing a desire for them to be "here with me." The final verse seems to offer some reassurance and encouragement, with the singer holding the other person close and telling them there's "nothing to fear." While the singer doesn't know if the other person's dreams will ever come true, they want to be there to support and comfort them.
Overall, the song Here With Me seems to be a heartfelt expression of love and empathy for someone who is struggling, and a desire to be a source of comfort and support for them through their difficulties.
Line by Line Meaning
Misery loves the cruel way that you speak to yourself
Your negative self-talk feeds into your unhappiness.
And I love the cool way you look at me
I appreciate the way you look at me with a calm and collected demeanor.
And we've got a lot of time to get this right
We have plenty of time to figure out what works best for us.
At least that's how I hope it's gonna be
I'm optimistic about our future together.
When you go looking for a little light real late at night
When you feel lost and alone, seeking some form of hope.
And you don't like the things you see
And you're dissatisfied with what you find.
I'll be right here waiting in the dark for your knock
I'll be here for you, whenever you need me, even if you're coming in the midst of the night.
Oh, I want you here with me
I crave your presence, here by my side.
I hold you close and whisper in your ear
I embrace you intimately, and speak softly to reassure you.
"There's nothing to fear"
There's nothing to worry about, everything's going to be okay.
I know the things you want to be
I understand your aspirations and the direction you want to go.
I don't know if they will ever come for anyone
I'm uncertain if these dreams can or will become a reality for anyone.
Oh, I want you here with me
Despite the uncertainties, I still want you to be here with me.
I want you here with me
I repeat, I want you here by my side.
I want you here with me
Once more, I want you to be present here, with me.
I want you here with me
One final time, I really desire you to be here with me.
Contributed by Cameron W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.