Nadler studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she began her performing career after writing songs for many years.
The foundation of her sound is her haunting mezzo-soprano, and a delicate 6-string acoustic guitar, often accompanied by a variety of instruments, including electric guitar, theremin, and piano. Nadler writes strange, yet classic, melancholy songs. Her voice is often bathed in a wash of reverb and space echo and creates a ghostly, atmospheric feeling to the music.
She has American Gothic leanings; her songs often take place in an imagined, idealistic time with a cast of characters of her own creation.
Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marissa-Nadler/300932499775
Bandcamp: http://marissanadler.bandcamp.com/
Thinking Of You
Marissa Nadler Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All through the morning
I'm thinking of you
All through the evening
I'm thinking of you
And the way that your holy water grew
I met a girl under the water
But you never gave me nothing that I could hold on to
But I wrote you letters by the phone
And I wrote you every night alone
But who are you walking around with
Buttercup
He was my lord
And I was his lady
But I soon grew tired of the lazy days
When I moved away and I thought of him often
He came to me nights in my rose colored dreams
Thinking of you
All through the morning
I'm thinking of you
All through the evening
I'm thinking of you
And the way that your holy water grew
But I wrote you letters by the phone
And I wrote you every night alone
But who are you walking around with
Buttercup
In Marissa Nadler's "Thinking Of You," the singer is deeply longing for someone she can't have. Throughout the morning and evening, she is thinking of this person, fixating on the way that their "holy water" grew, likely a metaphor for something pure that has now gone to waste. The second verse introduces a new character, a girl met under the water, but the singer is still fixated on the original object of her obsession. She writes letters by the phone and every night alone, but wonders who this person is now spending time with, referred to as Buttercup.
When the singer sings "He was my lord / And I was his lady," it is unclear whether she is referring to the person she is thinking of or the girl met under the water. However, it seems that this was a relationship that didn't last. The singer grew tired of the "lazy days" and eventually moved away, though she still thinks of him often, dreaming of him at night.
Line by Line Meaning
Thinking of you
The singer is consumed by thoughts about a particular person
All through the morning
The singer's preoccupation with this person occupies her mind even in the beginning of the day
I'm thinking of you
Emphasizes the persistence of her thoughts of this person
All through the evening
Her thoughts continue throughout the day even until the end of the day
And the way that your holy water grew
The artist invokes memories of something the person's influence in her life that had a significant impact
I met a girl under the water
The singer has a flashback to a previous encounter with somebody, possibly highlighting her desire for connection or intimacy
It made me recall how I wanted a daughter
Reflecting on traits of the person reminded the singer of something they desired or yearned for
But you never gave me nothing that I could hold on to
The person the artist is thinking about failed to provide something that would give her stability and comfort
But I wrote you letters by the phone
The artist made efforts to communicate with the person even if she was physically far away
And I wrote you every night alone
The artist emphasizes the frequency of her attempts to reach out to the person and the loneliness that came with those attempts
But who are you walking around with
The singer wonders who the person has replaced her with
Buttercup
Possibly a nickname for the person or an affectionate term used by the artist
He was my lord
The singer had an intense emotional connection with the person she is thinking of
And I was his lady
The singer saw herself as an equal and perhaps even a romantic partner to the person she is thinking of
But I soon grew tired of the lazy days
The singer's feelings for the person began to sour or fade because of their lack of action or effort in the relationship
When I moved away and I thought of him often
The artist reflects on how distance has affected her thoughts about the person she is thinking of
He came to me nights in my rose colored dreams
The person she is thinking of appears in her dreams, possibly highlighting unresolved feelings or unfinished business
Lyrics © TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: MARISSA NADLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind