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
One Life Away
M. Ward Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Listening to the sound
Of the living people walking up and down the graves
Well one of them is mine
I visited my fraulein
She's only one step away
Listening to the sound
Of the living people breathing the air today
Well one of them is mine
I'm visiting my fraulein
She's only one breath away
And I say
Too all the people underground
Listening to a sound
Of the living people living their lives away
Well one of them is mine
I visited my fraulein
She's only one life away
She's only one life away
The lyrics to M. Ward's song "One Life Away" express a sense of connection between the living and those who have passed away. The song is a tribute to those who are buried underground, and suggests that their spirits are still present and listening to the world above them. The lyrics also hint at the singer's own mortality and the idea that death is not an end, but rather a transition to another phase of existence.
The first verse describes the singer visiting his "fraulein," likely a reference to a lover who has passed away. He notes that she is "only one step away," suggesting that the divide between life and death is not as great as it may seem. The second verse shifts focus to the living and the idea that we are all "breathing the air today." This line seems to suggest that we are all connected by our mortality, and that death is a natural part of the cycle of life.
The chorus repeats the central theme of the song, with the singer acknowledging that his "fraulein" is "only one life away." This line reinforces the idea that death is not an end, but rather a continuation of existence in a different form. Overall, the lyrics of "One Life Away" offer a poignant and reflective meditation on the nature of life, death, and the connections between the living and the dead.
Line by Line Meaning
Too all the people underground
To all the deceased people who are buried underground
Listening to the sound
Hearing the noise created by the living people
Of the living people walking up and down the graves
Of those living individuals who walk over their resting place
Well one of them is mine
One of those graves belongs to someone I've lost
I visited my fraulein
I paid a visit to my girlfriend (who has passed away)
She's only one step away
Her grave is located close to me
Of the living people breathing the air today
Of the people who are alive and breathing as we speak
She's only one breath away
I am just one breath away from her
Of the living people living their lives away
Of those people who are sacrificing their lives for something
She's only one life away
She is only one life (distance) away from me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Honeycombe88
This fantastic and appropriate song was used at the end of an episode (for the rolling of the credits) of Australian tv series "Spirited." Great humorous & romantic series about ghosts, and so much more. I saw it streaming on Prime.
MissesWaits
love it.
Colin
Heartbreakingly Beautiful
Ahljay88
If I die before mine, this will be my anthem to her.
chrispiccaro18
This song reminds me of Fallout 3 for some reason. Awesome song!
Colin
It is very "The Inkspots"-ish..
13zen
The Dollhouse :)
girls poop too
I'm alive