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
Were You There?
M. Ward Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the river called The Colorado
Made the canyon they call Grand?
Believe me now, my good man
I was there but now here I am
Well, were you there, my good man
When the watery volcano exploded into land?
I was there but now here I am
Well, were you there, my good man
When the weather became water
And then washed ashore the sand?
Believe me now, my good man
I was there but now here I am
Well, will you be there, my good man
When the sun is finally smothered out
With his mighty right hand?
Believe me now, my good man
I'll be there but now here I am
The lyrics to M. Ward's song Were You There? are a series of questions that suggest a larger, metaphysical exploration. The repeated question "Were you there, my good man?" gives the impression of a historical or philosophical inquiry, but the examples the singer provides are all natural phenomena: the creation of the Grand Canyon, the eruption of a watery volcano, and the transformation of weather into water. These events suggest both a timeless quality to the natural world as well as the possibility for humans to witness and be changed by them.
The singer's repeated response of "Believe me now, my good man / I was there but now here I am" creates a sense of transience and the fleeting nature of existence, as if the singer has constantly been present for these moments but has since moved on. The final stanza, which asks if the listener will be present when the sun is eventually smothered out, shifts from past to future and imbues the song with a sense of foreboding or existential uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, were you there, my good man
Do you know what happened, my friend?
When the river called The Colorado
Made the canyon they call Grand?
Were you present when the Colorado River created the magnificent Grand Canyon?
Believe me now, my good man
I was there but now here I am
Trust me, I witnessed it firsthand, but now I am no longer there.
Well, were you there, my good man
When the watery volcano exploded into land?
Did you witness the eruption of the volcano that created land out of water?
Believe me now, my good man
I was there but now here I am
I can assure you, I saw it happen, but I am no longer present.
Well, were you there, my good man
When the weather became water
And then washed ashore the sand?
Have you ever seen the transformation of the weather into water, which then washes the sand ashore?
Believe me now, my good man
I was there but now here I am
You may trust me, I witnessed it with my own eyes, but I am now elsewhere.
Well, will you be there, my good man
When the sun is finally smothered out
With his mighty right hand?
Will you be there to witness the sun's demise through the hand of a higher power?
Believe me now, my good man
I'll be there but now here I am
Trust that I will witness the end, although I am presently not there.
Lyrics © STORMWORKS
Written by: STEPHEN (LEONARD) MELILLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind