Michael Penn (born August 1, 1958, in Greenwich Village, New York City) is … Read Full Bio ↴Michael Penn (born August 1, 1958, in Greenwich Village, New York City) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the son of actor/director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actors Sean Penn and the late Chris Penn.

Prior to the release of his 1989 debut album March, Penn performed the song "This & That" with his band The Pull on a 1987 episode of Saturday Night Live. Before that, he was a member of the Los Angeles band Doll Congress and had appeared as an extra on a few television series, including St. Elsewhere.

March, particularly the first single, "No Myth," brought Penn attention, as well as the 1990 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. Penn's follow-up albums Free-for-All (1992), Resigned (1997) and MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident (2000) weren't able to match the success of March, although critics praised his songcraft.

Penn met fellow singer-songwriter Aimee Mann in the late 1980s, and during the recording of her album I'm With Stupid (to which Penn contributed vocals), the two struck up a friendship, which blossomed into romance and their 1997 marriage. Together with manager Michael Hausman they formed United Musicians, which is based on the idea of allowing artists to keep copyright ownership of their works and to assist with their promotion and distribution. Penn and Mann live in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. They have no children, but Penn has a son from a previous marriage.

He moved into film scoring after repeated requests from director Paul Thomas Anderson, who had apparently listened to Free-for-All extensively while writing his first feature Hard Eight and wanted Penn to score the film. Penn also scored Anderson's follow-up Boogie Nights (in which he appeared briefly as a recording engineer), The Anniversary Party, Melvin Goes to Dinner and the documentary The Comedians of Comedy.

His fifth album, Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947, was released August 2, 2005, on Mimeograph Records (Penn's own label) and SpinART Records. Penn has said that the album, which may be the first of two parts, is set after World War II and involves "the trauma that a war brings to a person's psychology." [1]

Penn's music "Walter Reed" was used in the fifth episode of House MD's third season, "Fools For Love".

Coal
Michael Penn Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Who'd of ever thought to
Call that coal?
If my hands were warm then I might
I don't know
I keep panning
And in my reach it
Hangs on
Water falls down

There's no gold in this barren town

"Used to be a man could make his way
With a barrel full of this black coal"
Half certain you'd say
But in my reach it
Hangs on
Water falls down
There's no gold in this barren town.

Look at every angle
And draw a square
Find some nut you can instead untighten
Watch me in the corner
With a pair
Under certain pressure
Ace, a diamond
So run your fingers down my back
You'd make such a cool distraction
Cause in my reach it
Hangs on
Yeah, the walls down
But there's no gold
There's a line drawn and crossed
By the banks.
By the way

Water falls down
There's no gold in this barren town.

Overall Meaning

The song "Coal" by Michael Penn is a poignant commentary on the declining state of an industry and the people and towns that rely on it. The lyrics use the image of coal, a once-valuable resource, as a symbol for the hard realities faced by those whose livelihoods are threatened by stagnation and decline. Throughout the song, the singer expresses a sense of resignation and futility, acknowledging the difficulties of an uncertain future and the impossibility of returning to a past that is no longer viable.

The first verse sets the tone for the song, with the lines "Who'd of ever thought to / Call that coal? / If my hands were warm then I might / I don't know." The opening lines suggest a sense of disbelief that something as unsightly and grimy as coal could have once been valued so highly. The singer admits that he doesn't know what to make of it, and it's clear that he's grappling with difficult questions about the future.

The second verse confronts the harsh realities of the situation, with the lines "Used to be a man could make his way / With a barrel full of this black coal / Half certain you'd say." The singer acknowledges that things have changed, and that a way of life that was once viable is now no longer sustainable. With the repeated refrain "But in my reach it / Hangs on / Water falls down / There's no gold in this barren town," the song conveys a sense of longing and frustration, as if the singer is searching in vain for something that he knows is no longer there.

Overall, "Coal" is a powerful meditation on the challenges of change and the difficulties faced by those whose lives are inextricably linked to an industry in decline. The song's poignant lyrics and haunting melody capture the mood of a town and a people struggling to find a way forward in an uncertain world.

Line by Line Meaning

Who'd of ever thought to Call that coal?
Michael Penn is wondering how anyone could think of coal as a valuable resource.

If my hands were warm then I might I don't know
Michael Penn is unsure if he would want to touch coal because his hands are cold.

I keep panning And in my reach it Hangs on Water falls down There's no gold in this barren town
Michael Penn is searching for gold by panning for it, but there is no sign of it in this lifeless place.

"Used to be a man could make his way With a barrel full of this black coal" Half certain you'd say But in my reach it Hangs on Water falls down There's no gold in this barren town.
Michael Penn acknowledges that coal was once highly valued, but he still can't find anything of worth in this desolate place.

Look at every angle And draw a square Find some nut you can instead untighten Watch me in the corner With a pair Under certain pressure Ace, a diamond
Michael Penn is trying to analyze his situation from every angle but is unable to find a solution. He compares himself to a card player trying to make a winning move under pressure.

So run your fingers down my back You'd make such a cool distraction Cause in my reach it Hangs on Yeah, the walls down But there's no gold
Michael Penn is looking for a distraction to take his mind off his troubles, but he still can't find anything valuable nearby.

There's a line drawn and crossed By the banks. By the way Water falls down There's no gold in this barren town.
Michael Penn is aware that even the banks have their limits, and he can't find any riches in this dry, barren environment.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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