Official Site for her debut album, "Rooms With Walls and Windows": http://orindal.limitedrun.com/products/520228-julie-byrne-rooms-with-walls-and-windows
http://juliembyrne.bandcamp.com/
Prism Song
Julie Byrne Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you'd stayed a stranger and I'd never learned your name
If you were a creature of make believe
If you were the shades of colors my eyes cannot see
I never would have known what you could have meant to me
If you were a mason, your body over stone
If you were the walls that purposed the room
If you were a prism with the light passing through
I never would have known what you could have meant to me
If you were a child, born new into the day
If you were the dreamcatcher above the bed I make
If you were immortal, with no concern for age
If you were the northern hills that knew not rapid pace
I never would have known what you could have meant to me
In "Prism Song," Julie Byrne explores the idea of different personas and forms that someone can take on, and how those different forms can impact the way we connect with them. The song presents a series of "ifs" that imagine the singer's lover in various roles - a carpenter, a make-believe creature, a mason, a garden, a prism, a child, a dreamcatcher, immortal, and finally, the northern hills.
Byrne suggests that no matter what form her lover takes on, she wouldn't have known what they could have meant to her if they hadn't assumed that particular form. In other words, if her lover had taken on a different form, they might have never connected in the same way.
The refrain "I never would have known what you could have meant to me" suggests a sense of gratitude for fate or destiny bringing the two together in the way that they did. The song is ultimately a meditation on the ways in which we discover and connect with those around us, and how different paths or forms can lead to entirely different outcomes.
Line by Line Meaning
If you were a carpenter, your hands to the grain
If you had a labor-oriented profession and worked with wood
If you'd stayed a stranger and I'd never learned your name
If we had never met and remained unknown to each other
If you were a creature of make believe
If you were a fictional being from imagination
If you were the shades of colors my eyes cannot see
If you were colors that are beyond the range of my vision
I never would have known what you could have meant to me
I would have never realized the importance of you in my life
If you were a mason, your body over stone
If you worked with bricks and stones in construction
If you were a garden with myrtle overgrown
If you were an untended garden filled with myrtle bushes
If you were the walls that purposed the room
If you were the walls that defined the space of the room
If you were a prism with the light passing through
If you were a prism that refracts light and creates a rainbow effect
If you were a child, born new into the day
If you were a newly born baby experiencing the world for the first time
If you were the dreamcatcher above the bed I make
If you were the Native American talisman that is believed to filter dreams
If you were immortal, with no concern for age
If you were eternal, with no regard for the passing of time
If you were the northern hills that knew not rapid pace
If you were the slow and steady hills in the northern region
I never would have known what you could have meant to me
I would have never realized the importance of you in my life
Contributed by Annabelle P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Joe-wq4mo
Bruh, Julie Byrne is absolutely under-appreciated. This one and Sleepwalker slap so hard! Lots of love from Alabama.
@chinacatmouse
i feel so lucky to be brought here by islands, however it happened. this is so beautiful, like a dream.
@joannemacdonald5400
Music is medicinal.... & this is like a balm to soothe weary souls.
@UnsportingLisbon
I was very fortunate to witness this very talented young lady in Manchester on her UK tour. Whilst listening to Julie sing the hairs on your arms stand on end, Awesome voice...
@marktimmins486
This is an album I can always come back to. Beautiful.
@Darkans10
I feel like there is poetry in this beautiful words and I can see clearly that it's true, for means of this sweet melody. This is magic.
@singlesideman
My God, is this beautiful. Memories that are not mine, and yet are. And memories of one I still cherish but am no longer with. Charmed. Beyond words...
@launderground
we love you.
@icbomber38
Beautiful Julie, I can't believe it;s the first time I've seen it. Thank you!
@jmillrod
So much love