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.
The Pruner's Pair
Josephine Foster Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I fell down among the splinters
Of a rose of the tree
My true lover planted thee
They them rose, four and twenty,
Clustered in my heart as plenty
Same the age you did fall
And lie in heaven after all
And lie in heaven after all--
Thorns will not embitter me
Not your powers constancy
Lead me to the pruner's pair
Silent I will cut thee bare
Silent I will cut thee bare--
The lyrics to Josephine Foster's song "The Pruner's Pair" are full of symbolism and emotions. The first verse sets the tone for the entire song, with the singer falling down among the splinters of a rose tree that her true lover planted. This image of falling and being pierced by thorns is a powerful metaphor for the pain of love.
In the second verse, the singer speaks of the roses clustered in her heart as plenty. This is another metaphor, suggesting that her heart is filled with love for her true lover. The line "same the age you did fall" is particularly poignant, as it suggests that her lover has passed away at a young age, and now lies in heaven.
The final verse brings the song full circle, as the singer declares that thorns will not embitter her and that she will use the pruner's pair to cut the rose bare. This is a powerful image of letting go and moving on. Overall, the song is a testament to the pain and beauty of love, and the difficulty of letting go.
Line by Line Meaning
One summer winter
During a time of the year that felt both warm and cold
I fell down among the splinters
I stumbled among the fragments and thorns
Of a rose of the tree
From a rose that grew on a tree
My true lover planted thee
This rose was planted by my beloved
They them rose, four and twenty,
There were twenty-four roses in total
Clustered in my heart as plenty
Symbolically, the roses filled my heart with love and beauty
Same the age you did fall
The roses fell at the same age as my beloved
And lie in heaven after all
My beloved now rests in heaven
Thorns will not embitter me
I will not be turned bitter by the hardships I face
Not your powers constancy
Not even the constant pain caused by your presence
Lead me to the pruner's pair
Guide me to the tools that will help me let go of my pain
Silent I will cut thee bare
I will cut away the thorns and the pain, silently and without resistance
Contributed by Lincoln P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.