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
Oh Take Me Back
M. Ward Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh just look where that evening sun has gone
Oh just look where that evening sun has gone
Gone down behind the mountain
And it won't be back till morn
Oh hand me that long distance phone
Gonna talk to my honey
All night long
Oh, take me back and try me one more time
Oh, take me back and try me one more time
And if I don't do
Then send me down the line
The lyrics of M. Ward's cover of Carter Family's "Oh Take Me Back" convey a sense of longing for a lost love, with the singer pleading for a chance to reconcile with his ex. The opening verses describe the setting of the song, with the evening sun going down behind a mountain, implying the fleeting nature of time and the urgency of the singer's desire to reconnect. He then asks for a long-distance phone to call his "honey" and speak to her all night long, highlighting the reliance on technology to bridge physical distance and emotional estrangement.
The chorus of the song, "Oh, take me back and try me one more time / And if I don't do / Then send me down the line," encapsulates the central message of the song: the singer is willing to do anything to regain the love of his life, and if he fails, he accepts that he must face the consequences of his actions. The repetition of the line "try me one more time" emphasizes the hopefulness and desperation of this plea, while the final line suggests a sense of resignation and acceptance of one's fate.
Overall, M. Ward's rendition of "Oh Take Me Back" is a poignant and heartwrenching tribute to the original song's themes of love, loss, and redemption.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh just look where that evening sun has gone
Observing the setting of the sun behind the mountain
Gone down behind the mountain
The sun has set behind the mountain
And it won't be back till morn
The sun will not come back until the morning
Oh hand me that long distance phone
Asking for the long distance phone to be handed over
Gonna talk to my honey
Planning to talk to his lover
All night long
For the whole night
Oh, take me back and try me one more time
Asking for another chance to prove himself
And if I don't do
If he fails to prove himself again
Then send me down the line
He will move on and leave his past behind
Contributed by Mason Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.