Autumn
Joanna Newsom Lyrics

Driven through by her own sword
She is suffering because of her own actions

Summer died last night, alone
Summer ended abruptly and without companionship

Even the ghosts
Even the deceased people are affected

Huddled up for warmth
They are seeking comfort and refuge

Autumn has come to my hometown
The season of decay and decline has arrived in her hometown

Friendly voices, dead and gone
Her loved ones from the past are no longer living

Singing, Star of the country down
They sang together in the past and are now gone

(Even the ghosts help raise the barn
Even though they are no longer living, they continue to help out

Here, now, in my hometown)
It is happening in the present moment and in her hometown

When, out of the massing that bodes and bides
From the looming and waiting masses

in the cold west
In the frigid western region

Flew a waxwing, who froze
A bird flew and died due to the cold weather

And died against my breast
It died on her body

And all the while, rain
It continued to rain

Like a weed in the tide
Persistently just as weeds constantly reemerge in water

Swans and lists
Birds of elegance and refinement

Down on the gossiping lawns
On the lawns where rumors and conversations occur

Saying tsk tsk tsk
Making a clucking or chastising sound

I may have changed
She may have transformed

It's hard to gauge
It is difficult to measure or understand fully

Time won't account for how I've aged
Time can't explain how she has grown or aged

Would I could tie your lying tongue
She wishes to prevent or restrict false words

Who says that leaving keeps you young
She is refuting the notion that leaving maintains one's youthfulness

And I have got no control
She lacks the ability to manage

Over my heart, over my mind
She lacks emotional and mental control

Over the hills
Beyond her familiar surroundings

the rainclouds roll
The storm clouds move in

I'll winter here, wait for a sign
She remains dormant and anticipates guidance

To cast myself out over the water
To take a risk and venture away

Riven like a wishbone
Split down like a wishing bone

You'd hardly guess
It is not easily anticipated

I was my own mother's daughter
She is reflecting on her familial lineage

I ain't naturally given to roam
She is not inclined to wander naturally

And I lay low, when I return
She will not draw attention upon coming back

And I move like a gurney
Her actions were awkward and unpleasant like a hospital bed

Whose wheels are squeaking
The device makes a screeching noise

Alone, here in my home
She is isolated and resides at her original dwelling

And I laugh when you speak of my pleasure-seeking
She reacts with derision to claims of her indulgences

Among the tall pines
In the midst of the vast evergreens

Along the ley-lines
Following the energetic pathways of the land

Here, where the loon keens
At the site where the loon was crying mournfully

There, where the moon leans
Where the moon is tilting or teetering

There where I know my violent love lays
Where her intense affection is located

Down in a row of silent, dove-gray days
Within a series of dreary, muted days

Here, in a row of silent, dove-gray days
In the midst of the same gloomy period

Wherever I go, I am snowbound
She is always constrained or halted by barriers

By thoughts of him
Due to her fixation on a particular person

Whom I would sun
Whom she would love and cherish

I loved them all
She has loved multiple people

One by one
Each one in a sequence

Cannot gain ground
She is not moving forward

Cannot outrun
She can't outpace or escape from something

But time marches along
Time continues moving forward

You can't always stick around
People are not always able to remain present

But, when the final count is done
At the very end of things

I will be in my hometown
She will ultimately return to her familiar territory