Only Skin
Joanna Newsom Lyrics

And there was a booming above you
A loud noise or disturbance occurred near you

That night, black airplanes flew over the sea
Dark planes were flying across the ocean

And they were lowing and shifting like
The planes were making lowing sounds and moving

Beached whales
Similar to how whales stranded on the beach would move

Shelled snails
Similar to how snails with shells would move

As you strained and you squinted to see
You were trying hard to see

The retreat of their hairless and blind cavalry
The planes were moving away, and they were compared to a cavalry that was hairless and blind

You froze in your sand shoal
You became still in your sandy area

Prayed for your poor soul
You hoped for the safety of your soul

Sky was a bread roll, soaking in a milk-bowl
The sky resembled a roll of bread being soaked in a bowl of milk

And when the bread broke, fell in bricks of wet smoke
When the bread broke, it fell in pieces resembling wet smoke

My sleeping heart woke, and my waking heart spoke
My heart, both in sleep and when awake, experienced a change

And there was a silence you took to mean something
The absence of noise indicated something to you

Run, sing
You were encouraged to run and sing

For alive you will evermore be
You will continue to be alive

And the plague of the greasy black engines a-skulkin'
The plague caused by the dirty black engines was lurking

Has gone east
It moved towards the east

While you're left to explain them to me
You were left with the task of explaining them to me

Released from their hairless and blind cavalry
Freed from the group resembling a hairless and blind cavalry

With your hands in your pockets, stubbily running
You were running clumsily with your hands in your pockets

To where I'm unfresh, undressed and yawning
You were running towards me while I was in a state of being unclean, undressed, and yawning

Well, what is this craziness? This crazy talking?
You were confused about the strange behavior or conversation

You caught some small death when you were sleepwalking
You experienced some negative consequence when you were sleepwalking

It was a dark dream, darlin', it's over
It was a negative dream, my dear, and now it's finished

The firebreather is beneath the clover
The person who breathes fire is hidden under the clover

Beneath his breathing there is cold clay, forever
Under his breath, there is eternal cold clay

A toothless hound-dog choking on a feather
A toothless dog struggling to breathe because of a feather

But I took my fishingpole, fearing your fever
I took my fishing pole because I was worried about your illness

Down to the swimminghole, where there grows bitter herb
I went to a swimming hole where a bitter herb grows

That blooms but one day a year by the riverside, I'd bring it here
The herb only blossoms once a year near the river, so I brought it here

Apply it gently
I gently applied the herb

To the love you've lent me
To the love you have given me

While the river was twisting and braiding, the bait bobbed
As the river twisted and turned, the bait floated

And the string sobbed, as it cut through the hustling breeze
The fishing line made a sound as it moved through the wind

And I watched how the water was kneading so neatly
I observed how the water was mixing together in a neat manner

Gone treacly
It quickly turned thick and syrupy

Nearly slowed to a stop in this heat
It almost completely stopped due to the high temperature

In a frenzy coiling flush along the muscles beneath
In a frantic manner, tightly wrapping around the muscles underneath

Press on me, we are restless things
Push against me, we are beings that can't stay still

Webs of seaweed are swaddling
Seaweed is wrapping around us like a blanket

And you call upon the dusk
You summon the evening

Of the musk of a squid
The scent of a squid

Shot full of ink, until you sink into your crib
Sprayed with ink until you fall into your bed

Rowing along, among the reeds, among the rushes
Moving through the water, surrounded by plants and rushes

I heard your song, before my heart had time to hush it!
I heard your melody before my heart had a chance to quiet down

Smell of a stone fruit being cut and being opened
The scent of a fruit being sliced and opened

Smell of a low and of a lazy cinder smoking
The smell of a smoldering and slow-burning ember

And when the fire moves away
When the fire moves further

Why would you say
Why would you claim

I was the last one?
That I was the final person?

Scrape your knee; it is only skin
You hurt your knee, but it's just the outer layer of skin

Makes the sound of violins
Causes a sound similar to that of violins

And when I cut your hair, and leave the birds all of the trimmings
When I trim your hair and give the leftover pieces to the birds

I am the happiest woman among all women
I am the happiest woman compared to everyone else

And the shallow
And the shallow water

Stretches as far as I can see
Extends as far as my vision allows

Knee-deep, trudging along
Walking through the water up to my knees

The seagull weeps 'so long'
The seagull cries 'goodbye'

Humming a threshing song
Singing a song related to the process of threshing

Until the night is over
Continuing until the night is finished

Hold on!
Wait!

Hold on!
Wait!

Hold your horses back from the fickle dawn
Don't rush into the uncertain morning

I have got some business out at the edge of town
I have something to take care of on the outskirts of the town

Candy weighing both of my pockets down
Candy is making my pockets heavy

'Til I can hardly stay afloat, from the weight of them
To the point where I can barely stay above water due to their weight

And knowing how the common-folk condemn
Aware of how the common people criticize

What it is I do, to you, to keep you warm
The actions I take to keep you safe and comfortable

Being a woman, being a woman
Simply because I am a woman

But always up the mountainside you're clambering
But you are always climbing up the mountainside

Groping blindly, hungry for anything
Searching blindly and desperately for something

Picking through your pocket linings, well, what is this?
Searching through your pockets, what did you find?

Scrap of sassafras, eh Sisyphus?
A small piece of sassafras bark, reminiscent of Sisyphus

I see the blossoms broke and wet after the rain
I observe the flowers broken and wet after the rain

Little sister, he will be back again
Don't worry, little sister, he will return

I have washed a thousand spiders down the drain
I have rinsed a thousand spiders down the drain

Spiders ghosts hang soaked and dangelin'
The ghosts of spiders hang wet and dangling

Silently from all the blooming cherry trees
Quietly from the cherry trees in bloom

In tiny nooses, safe from everyone
In small loops, protected from everyone else

Nothing but a nuisance gone now, dead and done
Just a bothersome thing, now gone and finished

Be a woman, be a woman
Embrace your femininity, be a woman

Though we felt the spray of the waves
Even though we felt the splash of the waves

We decided to stay till the tide rose too far
We chose to remain until the tide became too high

We weren't afraid, 'cause we know what you are
We weren't scared, because we know your true nature

And you know that we know what you are
And you are aware that we know your true nature

Awful atoll
Terrible island

Oh, incalculable indiscreetness and sorrow
Oh, immeasurable lack of judgment and sadness

Bawl, bellow
Cry out loudly

Sibyl sea-cow, all done up in a bow
A mystical sea creature, adorned with a bow

Toddle and roll
Walk unsteadily and roll

Teeth an impalpable bit of leather
Teeth made of a barely perceptible piece of leather

While yarrow, heather and hollyhock
While plants called yarrow, heather, and hollyhock

Awkwardly molt along the shore
Shed their outer layers clumsily along the shoreline

Are you mine?
Do you belong to me?

My heart?
My heart?

Mine anymore?
Belong to me anymore?

Stay with me for awhile
Remain with me for a short time

That's an awfully real gun
Referring to a gun that appears extremely real

I know life will lay you down
I know life will cause you to feel defeated

As the lightning has lately done
Similar to how lightning has recently struck

Failing this, failing this
If this doesn't work, if this fails

Follow me, my sweetest friend
Come with me, my dearest friend

To see what you anointed in pointing your gun there
To see what you targeted by pointing your gun in that direction

Lay it down, nice and slow
Place it down gently and slowly

There is nowhere to go, save up
There is no other place to go, other than up

Up where the light, undiluted, is weaving in a drunk dream
Where the pure light is intertwining in a dreamlike state

At the sight of my baby, out back
When I see my loved one outside

Back on the patio watching the bats bring night in
On the patio, observing bats signaling the arrival of night

While, elsewhere, estuaries of wax-white
Meanwhile, rivers of wax-like white substance

Wend, endlessly, towards seashores unmapped
Continuously flow towards undiscovered seashores

Last week our picture window produced a half-word
Our large window revealed a partially formed word

Heavy and hollow, hit by a brown bird
Weighty and empty, struck by a brown bird

We stood and watched her gape like a rattlesnake
We stood and observed her opening her mouth like a rattlesnake

And paint and labour over every intake
And carefully consider every breath

I said a sort of prayer for some sort of rare grace
I uttered a prayer seeking some extraordinary grace

Then thought I ought to take her to a higher place
Then I believed it was necessary to bring her to a higher location

Said "dog nor vulture nor cat shall toy with you
I said, "No dog, vulture, or cat will harm you

And though you die, bird, you will have a fine view"
And even if you die, bird, you will have a beautiful sight"

Then in my hot hand
Then in my warm hand

She slumped her sick weight
She let her sick body lean

We tramped through the poison oak
We walked through the poison oak

Heartbroke and inchoate
Heartbroken and undecided

The dogs were snapping
The dogs were biting

And you cuffed their collars
And you struck their collars

While I climbed the tree-house
While I climbed up the tree-house

Then how I hollered
Then how I yelled

Well, she'd lain, as still as a stone, in my palm, for a lifetime or two
She had remained motionless in my hand for a long time

Then, saw the treetops, cocked her head and up and flew
Then she noticed the tops of the trees, turned her head, and flew away

While, back in the world that moves, often
Meanwhile, in the ever-changing world

According to the hoarding of these clues
Based on the gathering of these signs

Dogs still run roughly around
Dogs still move roughly and disorganized

Little tufts of finch-down
Small pieces of finch feathers

And the cities we passed were a flickering wasteland
The cities we traveled through were like a constantly changing and desolate area

But his hand in my hand made them hale and harmless
But having his hand in my hand made them healthy and harmless

While down in the lowlands the crops are all coming
Meanwhile, in the low-lying areas, the crops are growing

We have everything
We possess all that we need

Life is thundering blissful towards death
Life is hurtling joyfully towards its end

In a stampede of his fumbling green gentleness
In a surge of his awkward and tender green presence

You stopped by, I was all alive
You visited me, and I felt fully alive

In my doorway, we shucked and jived
In my doorway, we played and danced

And when you wept, I was gone
And when you cried, I left

See, I got gone when I got wise
You see, I left when I became more knowledgeable

But I can't with certainty say we survived
But I can't definitively say that we made it through

Then down, and down
Then descending, deeper and deeper

And down, and down
And descending more, even deeper

And down, and deeper
And farther down, and deeper

Stoke without sound
Fuel without making a noise

The blameless flames
The innocent flames

You endless sleeper
You who never wakes up

Through fire below, and fire above, and fire within
Through fire beneath, above, and inside

Sleeped through the things that couldn't have been if you hadn't have been
Slept through events that wouldn't have occurred if you weren't present

All my bones they are gone, gone, gone
All my bones have disappeared

Take my bones, I don't need none
You can have my bones, I don't need them

Cold, cold cupboard, lord, nothing to chew on
A cold and empty cupboard with nothing to eat

Suck all day on a cherry stone
Spend the entire day sucking on a cherry pit

Dig a little hole, not three inches round
Dig a small hole, not even three inches in diameter

Spit your pit in a hole in the ground
Spit your cherry pit into the hole

Weep upon the spot for the starving of me
Cry for the hunger I endured

'Till up grow a fine young cherry tree
Until a beautiful young cherry tree grows

Well when the bough breaks, what'll you make for me?
When the branch snaps, what will you create for me?

A little willow cabin to rest on your knee
A small cabin made of willow branches for you to lean on

What'll I do with a trinket such as this?
What can I do with such a small and insignificant item?

Think of your woman, who's gone to the west
Remember your woman, who has traveled to the west

But I'm starving and freezing in my measly old bed
But I'm hungry and cold in my small and worn-out bed

Then I'll crawl across the salt flats to stroke your sweet head
Then I'll crawl across the salty plains to caress your head

Come across the desert with no shoes on
Walk across the desert barefoot

I love you truly, or I love no-one
I love you sincerely, or I don't love anyone

Fire moves away
The fire moves further

Fire moves away, son
The fire moves further, my child

Why would you say
Why would you claim

I was the last one?
That I was the final person?

Clear the room! There's a fire, a fire, a fire
Empty the room! There's a fire, a fire, a fire

Get going, and I'm going to be right behind you
Start moving, and I'll follow closely behind

And if the love of a woman or two, dear
And if the love of one or two women, my dear

Couldn't move you to such heights, then all I can do
Couldn't inspire you to achieve great things, then the only thing I can do

Is do, my darling, right by you
Is to support and be there for you, my love