As an adolescent Foster worked as a funeral and wedding singer, and aspired to become an opera singer. After her studies she began to record demos of her own songs, resulting in the early recordings There Are Eyes Above (2000), an album of ukulele accompanied songs strongly influenced by Tin Pan Alley, and an album of children's songs, Little Life (2001).
For several years she worked as a singing teacher in Chicago, recording and performing with a variety of musical acts on the side including Born Heller, a project with free jazz-bassist Jason Ajemian, and The Children's Hour, a pop band formed with songwriter Andrew Bar. In 2004, joined by her occasional backing band The Supposed (Brian Goodman on guitar and Rusty Peterson on drums), she released an album of psychedelic rock called All the Leaves Are Gone which has drawn comparison to Patti Smith and Jefferson Airplane.
The songs on her first solo studio album Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You (2005, Locust Music) evoke American folk and blues forms of the early 20th century. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, released in 2006, features unorthodox interpretations of 19th century German Lieder. This Coming Gladness, was released in 2008 and featured the contributions of Victor Herrero on electric guitar and percussion by Alex Neilson. In early 2009 she released an album of 27 Emily Dickinson song settings entitled Graphic as a Star with UK label Fire Records. Thereafter began her work in rural Spain with her husband Victor Herrero collecting and arranging collections of folk songs resulting in the recordings Anda Jaleo (a resetting of Garcia Lorca´s piano/voice transcriptions of Spanish songs) and Perlas (a selection of Spanish songs made by Foster herself) respectively.
In 2012 she returned to Colorado to record a new solo album Blood Rushing which took inspiration from local themes from her childhood such as the western geography, native rhythms, and imagined mythology. The album was recorded in a Boulder yoga studio by the Andrija Tokic and featured the ensemble of Victor Herrero on classical and electric guitars, Paz Lenchantin on bass, Heather Trost on violin, and Ben Trimble on pueblo skin drums.
Foster released a new full-length album, I'm A Dreamer on November 12th, 2013.
Stones Throw From Heaven
Josephine Foster Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hope they let me in! you know
I can't afford to buy
A pair of shoes to walk around in
Heavens above, heavens above!
Heavens above, heavens above!
Well heaven's above,
Heaven's above!
Hell is below us.
Hell is below us!
Stones Throw From Heaven Lyrics on
Stones throw from heaven
Hope they let me in! you know
I can't afford to bribe him
I can't afford to lie to him
Well heaven's above,
Heaven's above!
Hell is below us.
Hell is below us!
The lyrics of "Stones Throw From Heaven" by Josephine Foster bring a sense of deep longing and desperation for a place in heaven. The singer hopes that she will be allowed into heaven - "Hope they let me in!" - despite her financial inability to buy "A pair of shoes to walk around in.". The metaphorical meaning of the shoes is significant here as they represent the basic survival necessities that the singer cannot afford but wishes for. Despite feeling unworthy and vulnerable, the singer highlights her honesty and integrity when she says, "I can't afford to bribe him / I can't afford to lie to him."
The repeated chorus of "Heavens above, heavens above! / Heaven's above, heaven's above! / Hell is below us. Hell is below us!" creates a strong contrast between the two places and acknowledges the consequences of our actions on where we will end up. The use of repetition deepens the impact of the contrasting statements and emphasizes that both places exist and are very real. The singer shows great desperation to be saved from the hell below as she hopes to be saved into the already known heavens above.
Line by Line Meaning
Stones throw from heaven
Close to entering the gates of heaven
Hope they let me in! you know
Expressing a desire to enter heaven and requesting help from the listener
I can't afford to buy
Financially unable to purchase basic necessities
A pair of shoes to walk around in
Specifically lacking the funds to buy footwear
Heavens above, heavens above!
An exclamation invoking the higher powers of heaven
Well heaven's above,
Heaven's above!
Repeating the above statement since it carries significant weight and importance
Hell is below us.
Revealing the location of the undesirable afterlife
Hell is below us!
Urging the listener to take note of the previous statement
Contributed by Kennedy B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@crisatunity
this is the best song eve written.
@makerrtheus
stones thrown from heaven
hope they let me in -
you know I can't afford to buy
a pair of shoes to walk around in
stones thrown from heaven
hope they let me in -
you know I can't afford to buy
a pair of shoes to walk around in
heavens above heavens above heavens above
well, heaven's above, heaven's above -
hell is below us, hell is below us
heaven's above, heaven's above
hell is below us, hell is below us
stones thrown from heaven
hope they let me in -
you know I can't afford to lie
I can't afford to lie to him
@roblane4512
i feel like i'm in an abandoned cathedral and everything is in shadows but there is painted glass shining with light and movement...
@gwataleechy
this is so grand