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 Way Is Sweetly Mown
Josephine Foster Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They are not our own
Come with the birds and animals
If the bridge can hold
They that haven't any home
And all that time allows for us
Shall be seen but never known
All the calves and yearlings cry
The sun is still beside them
All the calves and yearlings cry
Oh!
There are reasons for our trials
They are not our own
Yet with our gifts of animals
The Way is sweetly mown
For little feet do lead us
A little path to follow
And what they eat carves weeks for us
To read within the meadow
All the calves and yearlings cry
The sun is still beside them
All the calves and yearlings cry
Oh!
The lyrics of Josephine Foster's song "The Way Is Sweetly Mown" describe a group of people and animals moving together towards an unknown destination. Though there are strangers on the trail, the group is guided by birds and animals, and they are all united by the fact that they lack a true "home." As they journey together across a bridge, the group is accompanied by the sounds of crying calves and yearlings, who are comforted by the presence of the sun. The trials they face are not their own, but they find solace in their shared experiences and the gifts of the animals that accompany them. The little feet of the animals and their movement through the meadow create a path for the group to follow, and the time they spend together is profound and meaningful, even if it cannot be fully understood or articulated.
Overall, the lyrics of this song evoke a sense of community, shared experience, and the beauty of the natural world. The group is not alone, as they are accompanied by the animals and the sun, and they find meaning and purpose in their journey even if they are not entirely sure where they are going. The use of animal imagery, particularly that of the crying calves and yearlings, adds a sense of innocence and vulnerability to the song, and underscores the idea that the journey is not always easy, but is nonetheless worth undertaking.
Line by Line Meaning
There are strangers on the trail
We encounter unfamiliar people on our journey
They are not our own
We do not know these people personally
Come with the birds and animals
Let us all travel together, including the creatures that inhabit the land
If the bridge can hold
Assuming the bridge we cross over is strong enough to carry us all
All the beasts shall follow us
All the wild animals will follow our lead
They that haven't any home
Those without a place to call home
And all that time allows for us
We will take advantage of the time we have
Shall be seen but never known
We may witness things but never truly understand them
All the calves and yearlings cry
The young animals make their presence known
The sun is still beside them
The animals are still in the warmth of the sun
There are reasons for our trials
Our challenges have purpose
They are not our own
They do not belong exclusively to us
Yet with our gifts of animals
We use the animals we have to assist us
The Way is sweetly mown
Our path becomes easier to navigate
For little feet do lead us
The small steps we take lead us forward
A little path to follow
A clear route to follow, even if it is small
And what they eat carves weeks for us
The animals' habits help us track time
To read within the meadow
We learn to read nature to help us on our journey
Oh!
Exclamation of joy or understanding
Contributed by Jackson W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.