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
Hopeful
Jennifer O'Connor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In our living room and it makes me smile
When you are sleeping in the bedroom
When I'm still half-asleep myself
It is early in the morning
And it's your day off but I've, I've gotta go
And I wish that I could stay here
With you all day
Pretty soon
The stars and moon will come back
And bring the night
Pretty soon
We'll sing a tune that will make the day
Feel alright
And we are hopeful
Full of hope tonight
I've got this friend that I see sometimes
Not as much as I, I'd really like
We used to hang around and play our songs
Until they played themselves
I know it's useless to discriminate
Between the things you love and the things you hate
It doesn't get you any closer
To what you really want
So I tell my friend
I loved him then and I love him even more today
And it feels good just having said
The thing that I wanna say
I'm so grateful
'Cause I know that that's the only way
Pretty soon
The stars and moon will come back
And bring the night
Pretty soon
We'll sing a tune that will make the day
Feel alright
And we are hopeful
Full of hope tonight
The song "Hopeful" by Jennifer O'Connor is a delicate and optimistic ode about the small joys in life that give us hope. The first verse is about the singer waking up early in the morning to go to work, while their significant other is still sleeping. Even though they have to leave, the sight of their loved one asleep and the light shining through the window makes them smile, and they wish they could stay with them all day. This sense of longing and yearning for closeness and comfort is a prevalent theme throughout the song. The chorus is a reminder that even though life can be difficult at times, we can always find hope in the simple things, such as the night sky or a beautiful melody.
The second verse introduces a friend the singer hasn't seen in a while. They used to play music together and hang out, but life got in the way, and they drifted apart. However, instead of dwelling on the past, the singer tells their friend that they still love and appreciate them, and it feels good to have said what they wanted to say. This part of the song underscores the importance of expressing our feelings and being grateful for the people we have in our lives. Overall, "Hopeful" is an uplifting and heartwarming song that encourages us to cherish the present and find hope in the everyday moments of life.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a light through the window
The sight of sunlight shining through our living room window makes me happy.
In our living room and it makes me smile
Seeing the light in our living room brings joy to my face.
When you are sleeping in the bedroom
You are sleeping soundly in the other room.
When I'm still half-asleep myself
I'm still drowsy even though it's the morning.
It is early in the morning
It's the beginning of the day.
And it's your day off but I've, I've gotta go
Although you have the day off, I must leave.
And I wish that I could stay here
I would like to spend more time with you.
With you all day
I want to be in your company for the entirety of the day.
Pretty soon
Shortly in time.
The stars and moon will come back
The sky will soon be bright with stars and the moon.
And bring the night
The night will arrive.
Pretty soon
Before long.
We'll sing a tune that will make the day
We will sing a song that will bring happiness to our day.
Feel alright
We will feel good.
And we are hopeful
We are optimistic about the future.
Full of hope tonight
Our hearts are filled with hope for this upcoming night.
I've got this friend that I see sometimes
I have a friend that I occasionally meet up with.
Not as much as I, I'd really like
I wish we could spend more time together.
We used to hang around and play our songs
We would spend time together playing music.
Until they played themselves
We would continue playing until we were exhausted or it was late.
I know it's useless to discriminate
I understand it's unproductive to differentiate between things.
Between the things you love and the things you hate
Choosing between what you love and what you dislike serves no purpose.
It doesn't get you any closer
This behavior doesn't bring you closer to your desired outcome.
To what you really want
To achieving what you truly desire.
So I tell my friend
I tell my friend.
I loved him then and I love him even more today
I loved my friend back then, but now I love him even more.
And it feels good just having said
Expressing my feelings towards my friend is a good feeling on its own.
The thing that I wanna say
Saying what has been on my mind.
I'm so grateful
I'm very appreciative.
Cause I know that that's the only way
Because I know being grateful and expressing gratitude is the most effective method to convey your emotions.
Contributed by Maria F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.