Ward was previously with the band Rodriguez, which included bassist Kyle Field (of Little Wings fame) and drummer Mike Funk. They recorded and released on cassette Box Plots and Cash Crops and then the album Swing Like a Metronome in 2000. Duet for Guitars #2 was released on Howe Gelb's Ow Om record label. Ward's 2001 album, End of Amnesia, was released by Future Farmer Records, and his subsequent albums have been released on Merge Records. A collection of live recordings, Live Music & the Voices of Strangers, was a self-released disc that was sold at his shows. His next album, Transfiguration of Vincent, was released in 2003, followed by Transistor Radio in 2005. A year later, Post War was released.
In 2006, he contributed a song to, and helped produce, the John Fahey tribute album, I Am the Resurrection. He also contributed the song "Transfiguration #1" from Transfiguration of Vincent to the Brushfire Records soundtrack for A Brokedown Melody, a Jack Johnson surfing film.
His album, Hold Time, was released in 2009. The album A Wasteland Companion followed in 2012. The album title alludes to T.S. Eliot's 1922 modernist poem, The Waste Land. In 2016, he released More Rain. On June 8, 2018, M. Ward released What a Wonderful Industry.
Side Projects
In 2008 M. Ward combined forces with Zooey Deschanel and became She & Him. They have released two albums so far, Volume One in 2008 and Volume Two in 2010. He is also one fourth of the folk supergroup, Monsters of Folk, alongside Jim James from My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes. Their self-titled release, Monsters of Folk, was released in 2009.
* Official website
Big Boat
M. Ward Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A high roller
And everybody knows it's name
Oh, it's a big boat and it pumps up the poor boys pride
Says he's got a big boat,
But it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
Says he's got a big boat
Enough to bring the party down
Oh yeah a big boat,
It ain't no carnival cruise
Says he's got a big boat,
But it's just a fairy boat, enough to fit an extra one or two
Says he's got a big boat,
But it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
Says he's got a fast boat, talk about high speed
But everybody knows the truth
Oh hey, a big boat
Get your oars back in the water, kid
Says he's got a fast boat,
But it's just a fairy boat it ain't to faster than a goldfish
Says he got a big boat but it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
The lyrics to M. Ward's song "Big Boat" are a commentary on the nature of bragging and boastfulness. The song talks about someone who claims to have a big and impressive boat, but in reality, it is just a fairy boat that does not live up to its hype. The singer suggests that the only thing such bragging achieves is making oneself look foolish in the end. The use of maritime imagery is a metaphor for how we present ourselves and try to impress others.
In the first verse, Ward sings about the man who claims to have a big boat that everyone knows by name. He mentions how it inflates the pride of the poor boys. But in the end, that man's boastful claims are shown to be hollow as his boat is just a fairy boat. In the second verse, Ward sings that the man's boat is big enough to bring the party down, but it's not a carnival cruise, which emphasizes that the man is not living up to his own claims. In the final verse, the man claims to have a fast boat, but again, it turns out to be just a fairy boat that is no faster than a goldfish. The song's message is that it is better to be humble than to puff up one's importance.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, he says he's got a big boat
He claims to have a large boat
A high roller
Possibly someone who lives extravagantly
And everybody knows it's name
His boat is well-known
Oh, it's a big boat and it pumps up the poor boys pride
The boat is large and makes the artist feel important
Says he's got a big boat,
He continues to boast about his boat
But it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
In reality, the boat is not as impressive as he claims and won't last long
A wide load
The boat is broad
Enough to bring the party down
The boat's size can ruin the fun or party atmosphere
Oh yeah a big boat,
The artist repeats the exaggeration of the boat's size
It ain't no carnival cruise
Despite its size, it's not like a luxurious cruise ship
Says he's got a big boat,
Once again, the singer repeats the claim of having a large boat
But it's just a fairy boat, enough to fit an extra one or two
Again, the boat is not as impressive and can only hold a small number of people
Says he's got a big boat,
He still boasts about the boat's size
But it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
The boat is not what he claims it to be and won't last long
Says he's got a fast boat, talk about high speed
He now claims that the boat is fast
But everybody knows the truth
Others know that his claims are exaggerated
Oh hey, a big boat
The artist sarcastically repeats the claim of having a large boat
Get your oars back in the water, kid
The singer mocks the idea of the boat being fast and tells the listener to keep rowing manually
Says he's got a fast boat,
He continues to claim that the boat is fast
But it's just a fairy boat it ain't to faster than a goldfish
In reality, the boat is not fast at all
Says he got a big boat but it's just a fairy boat and that makes for a short, short ride
The boat is not what he claims it to be and won't last long
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Matthew Stephen Ward
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind