Pamela Means is a Boston-based Out (spoken), Biracial indie folk artist who… Read Full Bio ↴Pamela Means is a Boston-based Out (spoken), Biracial indie folk artist whose "kamikaze guitar style" and punchy provocative songs have worn a hole in her guitar. Armed with razor wit poetry and irresistable charm, Pamela Means' "stark, defiant songs" (New York Times Magazine) set the status quo and the stage afire.

Pamela Means' many honors include being named Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's #1 "Most Wanted New Artist", and both Wisconsin's "Folk Artist of the Year", and "Female Vocalist of the Year". Pamela has also been a Boston Music Award Nominee ("Outstanding Contemporary Folk Artist").

Currently, Pamela performs over 150 shows a year at clubs, coffeehouses, colleges, and festivals across the country, most notably the Newport Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, South by Southwest Conference, Southern Womyn's Fest, and Michigan Womyn's Festival. Pamela is also a favorite at innumerable regional Gay Pride events, Take Back the Night rallies, and Black History Month celebrations. Pamela has shared the stage with artists including Ani DiFranco, Joan Baez, Neil Young, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Patty Larkin, Melissa Ferrick, Violent Femmes, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, and Holly Near.

Pamela's 2003 summer tour took her nationwide, promoting her fifth self-released album, Single Bullet Theory (Wirl Records, 2003), in which "...Means fires off what is easily one of the best musical summanations of our current political situation.." (Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco, CA)

Quoting her inspiration, Warrior Poet Audre Lorde, Pamela asks "I am myself- a Black woman warrior poet doing my work- come to ask you, are you doing yours?" With Truth as ammunition, a Pamela Means performance brings the fight for social justice and human dignity to the forefront of a new generation..

Postcards
Pamela Means Lyrics

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Postcards for my father
From Pennsylvania station
Hey I'm in the big town
It only took imagination
Things I haven't told you
I bet you already know
Things you haven't told me yet
I'd pay good money to know

Let's do some talkin'
Willie is a proud man
Willie is strong
I'd like to say I know him well
But he hardly talks at all
Let's do some talkin'
The miles on your iron feet
And your calloused hands
Evidence you work too hard
And that you always have
Been waiting on the lottery
I'm waiting on a song
To rise up out of poverty

Well maybe we've been rich
All along

Overall Meaning

In Pamela Means's song "Postcards", the lyrics tell a story of a daughter or possibly a close loved one who is separated from her father. Despite the separation, the singer sends postcards to her father, updating him on her life from Pennsylvania Station. The singer expresses that some things she hasn't told her father, she's sure he already knows. Likewise, she wonders about things her father hasn't revealed to her, wishing she could pay him to share them.

The chorus of the song calls for communication: "Let's do some talkin'." The singer highlights her relationship with a man named Willie, praising his strength but also revealing that he is not talkative. The bridge of the song compares the miles on the father's feet and hands to evidence of his hard work and the wait for the lottery to the singer's wait for a musical breakthrough. The final line in the song suggests that maybe both characters have been rich all along.

The lyrics in "Postcards" are open to interpretation, but the song leaves the listener with a powerful reminder to cherish communication and connections we have with loved ones.

Line by Line Meaning

Postcards for my father
Sending postcards to my father

From Pennsylvania station
From the train station in Pennsylvania

Hey I'm in the big town
I'm in the big city

It only took imagination
It took only imagination to reach here

Things I haven't told you
There are things I haven't told you yet

I bet you already know
But I'm sure you already know them

Things you haven't told me yet
There are things you haven't told me yet

I'd pay good money to know
I would like to know them and can pay for it

Let's do some talkin'
Let's have a conversation

Willie is a proud man
Willie is a man with pride

Willie is strong
He is also strong