Veirs was raised in Colorado, studied geology and Mandarin Chinese at Carleton College, worked as a translator for a geological expedition in China, and now lives in Portland, Oregon. Veirs has said that she didn't seriously listen to music until she was in her 20s; instead, she just heard what was in her environment. She listened to folk / country / classical / pop, around the house & on the radio, during her youth.
Attending Carleton College in rural Minnesota, Veirs latched onto feminist punk rock from the Pacific Northwest, eventually starting an all-female punk band called "Rair Kx!". Veirs studied geology and Mandarin Chinese. After college, she embraced older country and folk music. Her first foray into songwriting started with a geological expedition in China, where she served as translator. She was miserable and immersed herself into writing lyrics as a way of coping.
She put out her own self-titled album Laura Veirs, recorded live and featuring just her and guitar, in 1999. She has since made five highly acclaimed records with producer Tucker Martine. 2003 saw the release of Troubled by the Fire, a full-band effort that found the artist sharing the studio with such luminaries as Bill Frisell and violist Eyvind Kang. She signed to Nonesuch Records the following year with the atmospheric follow-up Carbon Glacier. Year of Meteors followed in August of 2005. She collaborated with The Decemberists on "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)", from their 2006 album The Crane Wife. Her sixth record, Saltbreakers, was released worldwide on Nonesuch Records in April 2007. Her seventh album July Flame was released in January 2010.
In November 2011, Veirs released the album Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs For Children. The album presents mostly traditional songs, and features an array of guest musicians, including Colin Meloy, Jim James, and Bela Fleck. The album won a Parents' Choice Award in 2012.
In September 2012 her first feature film soundtrack was released: Hello I Must Be Going.
Veirs tours frequently in Europe, the US and Australia both solo and with her backing band Saltbreakers, consisting of Karl Blau on bass, guitar, and backing vocals, keyboardist Steve Moore, and Tucker Martine on drums.
Phantom Mountain
Laura Veirs Lyrics
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Phantom Mountain
I saw the turquoise
Brilliant burning sea
The sweat on my shoulders
The silvery haze
Swords of lightning
Hawks and Gulf Stream
I could not tell the truth
I could not tell the truth
From the mirage, from the mirage
Yellow butterfly
On the rocky path below
Fluttering lifeless
In the shimmering glow
Of the Phantom Mountain
Took her heartache
Took her beautiful face
To a distant place
I could not tell the truth
I could not tell the truth
From the mirage, from the mirage
I could not tell the truth
I could not tell the truth
From the mirage, from the mirage
In Laura Veirs's song "Phantom Mountain," the lyrics are poetic and give us a sense of the stunning environment atop the imaginary Phantom Mountain. The singer describes the sea as "turquoise" and "brilliant burning," and the sky is filled with "swords of lightning" and "Hawks and Gulf Stream." We get a sense of the heat and the shimmering, silvery haze that coats the top of the mountain. However, despite the beauty, the scene seems to have driven her insane; she reiterates "made me crazy, crazy" at the end of the verse.
The second verse introduces a new element to the story with a yellow butterfly on the rocky path, below the mountain. The butterfly is "fluttering lifeless" and is taken to a distant place, along with its beautiful face and heartache. The lyrics continue to repeat "I could not tell the truth" from the mirage, possibly indicating that the beautiful and wonderful things she's seeing are not real. It's as if the singer is blinded by the beautiful mirages all around her, so much so that she has lost touch with reality.
Overall, the lyrics of "Phantom Mountain" are a beautiful and thought-provoking poetic piece about the beauty and isolation of the mountain. The singer uses vivid imagery to convey a strong sense of environment, but the repeated "I could not tell the truth" suggests a difficulty in distinguishing between reality and imagination or fantasy.
Line by Line Meaning
At the top of
Phantom Mountain
From the highest point on Phantom Mountain
I saw the turquoise
Brilliant burning sea
I saw a beautiful, blue ocean that looked like it was on fire
The sweat on my shoulders
The silvery haze
I was hot and sweaty from the climb and the air had a shiny, reflective quality
Swords of lightning
Hawks and Gulf Stream
Made me crazy, crazy
The electricity in the air and the presence of hawks and ocean winds made me feel wild and reckless
I could not tell the truth
I could not tell the truth
From the mirage, from the mirage
I couldn't distinguish between what was real and what was an illusion
Yellow butterfly
On the rocky path below
Fluttering lifeless
In the shimmering glow
Of the Phantom Mountain
A yellow butterfly was flying along a rocky path below, but it looked as if it was dead due to the unusual light coming from Phantom Mountain
Took her heartache
Took her beautiful face
To a distant place
The yellow butterfly's sadness and beauty were taken away by the strange energy of Phantom Mountain and transported elsewhere
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: LAURA VEIRS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind