Hoop has lived all over the map, and her rich life experience is reflected in her distinctive voice and natural gift for inventive song craft. She learned to sing at an early age, harmonising with her musical Mormon family in northern California. She began writing highly idiosyncratic songs at the age of 14 to keep her company on her long walks to school. At 16, Hoop broke away from her strict upbringing and began what she calls her 'life as a racoon', off the grid & close to nature. Rambling through the high mountain deserts of the Southwest and along the coastlines of the Northwest, she worked as a wilderness survival guide and chalked up skills in farming, surveying, and carpentry. Her songwriting continued throughout, shared on porches, in deep river canyons and around campfires.
In 2004 the desire to share these songs on a broader scale set in. She settled in Los Angeles, where she honed her songwriting craft and developed a reputation as a unique and beguiling live performer of real substance. Though she now resides in Manchester, England, Hoop returned to Los Angeles to record her third album, The House That Jack Built.
Jesca has quite the collection of fans in high places: Tom Waits described her music as being "like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night". Peter Gabriel took her to South America to sing with him, and in recent years she has been hand picked to play as support on tour for Eels, Andrew Bird, Punch Brothers, Shearwater and Elbow: Elbow's Guy Garvey has even had her do stints as guest presenter on his BBC radio show, to great reception.
The follow up to 2009's critically acclaimed Hunting My Dress, "The House That Jack Built" displays a striking duality: light and dark, head and heart, it juxtaposes the macabre and visceral with a disarmingly candid intimacy. The resulting combination is powerfully evocative, with overarching themes of biology, nature and humanity - Hoop's stone-turning observations are mired in the equal beauty and violence of a nature that, for her, is clearly red in tooth and claw.
Hunting My Dress
Jesca Hoop Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And they scattered seeds on the ground
And one is lost and one is found
Water is moving underground
When I was a young girl
I would sleep in a tall tree
On the down of bending boughs
I would traverse the valleys
Through his dusk and dawning eyes
"I will let you in," says the doe to my arrow
"and you will wear my bones and my skin"
Hunting my dress
Love is ruthless
And in the nest from the forest
I would carry an ember
And with a burning heart we'd walk
And when he asks me to rest with him
I would lay down my fire
And in that heart we'd sing and talk
I am a racoon
And you are an owl
I will run from you in the middle of the night
And we will stike a truce in the the billowing tower
And we'll eclipse the moon with a fire light
Hunting my dress
Love is ruthless
You love me in my dreams
It's easier when I'm fast asleep
But I don't want you to come to me anymore
The river bed has married me
So I don't want you to come to me anymore
And out of ashes comes morning
And the ritual of bathing
In the pools at bridal falls
And from the mouth of my lover
I will drink of the river
And kiss his jade and marble walls
You have spilled the red from my heart with your arrow
And you will make my bed under the red grass
And I will give my flesh and my blood and my marrow
And you will wear my bones and my skin
Hunting my dress
Love is ruthless
And the tall trees all fell down
And they scattered seeds on the ground
One is lost and one is found
Water is moving underground
And you're the one who showed to me the sky
It's so much more than you and I
And darling I wish I had the time
The river is whispering goodbye
Bye
Bye
The lyrics of Jesca Hoop’s song, Hunting My Dress, can be interpreted as a representation of a journey of a young girl finding love, losing it, and accepting her fate. The first stanza talks about the changing world, that even tall trees fall down, but they leave seeds on the ground, which represents new beginnings. The water moving underground could mean the flow of life, time passing and changes happening. The second stanza is about the innocence of youth, sleeping in a tall tree, and traversing valleys admiring what nature has to offer. The next line, "I will let you in,” says the doe to my arrow, "and you will wear my bones and my skin", could represent the readiness of the young girl to give herself to love, to be hunted by it, to give herself to it entirely. Hunting my dress could symbolize chasing after her true self or her heart's desire, with love being ruthless in the pursuit.
In the third stanza, it talks about growing up, carrying an ember with a burning heart, ready to share it with someone. It symbolizes a life that burned passionately with love, but also carried the possibility of destruction. The next few lines; “I am a racoon, and you are an owl, I will run from you in the middle of the night, and we will strike a truce in the billowing tower, and we'll eclipse the moon with a fire light,” could represent the forbidden attraction between two different people or two different worlds, with love creating an intense connection between them. With the words "Love is ruthless" echoing again, it emphasizes the consequences and sacrifices that come with love.
The fourth stanza talks about the end of love, with the river bed marrying her, and the lover being gone. The ashes could represent the end of the relationship, but the ritual of bathing in the pools at bridal falls could symbolize cleansing and moving on. The last line, "The river is whispering goodbye" indicates the finality of the end of love. The song seems to be of acceptance of fate and letting go of past loves.
Line by Line Meaning
And the tall trees all have fell down
The once-upright trees have toppled over
And they scattered seeds on the ground
Despite their fall, they left the next generation around
And one is lost and one is found
Some of the new trees are missing, while others have taken root in new ground
Water is moving underground
The natural water course underneath everything that moves on the surface
When I was a young girl
Back in the days of my childhood
I would sleep in a tall tree
Spending the night nestled up in a great tree
On the down of bending boughs
Safely resting on the strength of the drooping twig parts
And from the mount of his shoulders
And using the presence of a higher being as a foundation for movement
I would traverse the valleys
I'd cover mileage down the slopes underneath valleys
Through his dusk and dawning eyes
With me, he sees both the start and the end of days
"I will let you in," says the doe to my arrow
The female animal requested to be pierced by the arrow of the singer
"and you will wear my bones and my skin"
The animal is offering the icon her physical remains
Hunting my dress
Tracing and wanting to possess the rhythm or flavor of the attire that the singer may have in mind
Love is ruthless
Affection has no pity
And in the nest from the forest
Moving to another site in nature for my next activity
I would carry an ember
I transport small burning wood pieces
And with a burning heart we'd walk
We will walk this journey together with our love aflame
And when he asks me to rest with him
When he requests me to come to him and lay down
I would lay down my fire
I will quell the flames of my outer burning passion
And in that heart we'd sing and talk
With the space created by watering down the passion, we will have heart-to-heart conversations
I am a raccoon
I identify with the unique nocturnal animal the raccoon
And you are an owl
You are to me like the normal nocturnal bird of prey, the owl
I will run from you in the middle of the night
I will quickly move far away from you when the skies are dark
And we will stike a truce in the the billowing tower
Coming to a mutual agreement when in the massive structure with rippling fabric ceilings
And we'll eclipse the moon with a fire light
We will totally obscure the moon with the glaring light of the burning flames
You love me in my dreams
In the subconscious realm, you have great affection for me
It's easier when I'm fast asleep
This is simple because when in a deep slumber, everything is entirely effortless
But I don't want you to come to me anymore
I do not wish for you to visit me anymore
The river bed has married me
The river course has drastically changed, and the path it now takes aligns with my life
So I don't want you to come to me anymore
I no longer have the need for your presence
And out of ashes comes morning
The morning arises out of the ashes of the past day
And the ritual of bathing
Sensuous cleansing of the body in a ritualistic manner
In the pools at bridal falls
Submerging the body in the calm water at the bridal falls
And from the mouth of my lover
And from my lover's lips
I will drink of the river
I will drink directly from the natural course of the river
And kiss his jade and marble walls
I will appreciate the physical attributes of where he lives
You have spilled the red from my heart with your arrow
You have caused the vital life fluid to flow out of me through your penetrating projectile
And you will make my bed under the red grass
After piercing me, you will now lay me down on the lush growing red flora
And I will give my flesh and my blood and my marrow
I'm ready to give the essence of everything that makes me up without hesitation
And you will wear my bones and my skin
You will then take my remains and don them as if they were part of you
And you're the one who showed to me the sky
You are the person who made the heavens a beauty to behold for me
It's so much more than you and I
The magnitude of the sky's infinite splendor is way beyond just us two
And darling I wish I had the time
My love, I desire that we had more moments together
The river is whispering goodbye
The watercourse is subtly but surely telling us farewell
Bye
Bye
Goodbye to you too!
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JESCA HOOP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
jason norman
Where is this recording from? It's not the original, and it's quite good.
Aliina Su
Yeah I prefer this version it’s beautiful