Buckner began his career with the acoustic "Bloomed" (1994), a lyrically dense suite of songs recorded in Lubbock, Texas and heavily influenced by that state's tradition of whisky-soaked poet/troubadors, probably best embodied by Townes Van Zandt. In 1996, he released the major label "Devotion & Doubt," with members of Giant Sand backing him, displaying a more adventurous, almost avante garde approach to songwriting and arranging.
Since then, he has returned to recording for smaller labels, to continued critical acclaim and cult status. His 2000 album The Hill - his first for Chicago-based indie label Overcoat Recordings - features poems from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology (1915), which Buckner set to music. The album plays as a single track, nearly thirty-five minutes long. He returned in 2002, first with the "teaser" EP Impasse-ette, then a full-length entitled Impasse one month later. In early 2003, his self-released, self-titled album was reissued by Overcoat, and was his final release for the label. In 2004, an edited version of Richard Buckner's song Ariel Ramirez, from the album Since (1998) was featured in one of the television ads for Volkswagen's Touareg.
He is currently aligned with North Carolina-based indie label Merge Records, who have released four of his albums so far: 2004's Dents and Shells, 2006's Meadow, 2011's Our Blood, and 2013's Surrounded, as well as the 7-inch single Willow (b/w Lost). He also recorded an album with Jon Langford (most notably of The Mekons) called Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord (2005) for Buried Treasure Records.
Born Into Giving It Up
Richard Buckner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then closing down when it's done
With hardly a moment to spend
Before getting it back again
The longer you leave it
It's harder to see it
like I was going to show
Whatever I said I might
Oh I take it back tonight
Where was the silence?
It wasn't in my hands
I tried just to feel it
Though I knew I believed it
Trust me I know where I am
How many turnarounds can you stand?
In the hours we hold
How many times were we sold?
I thought it was healing
But I still wasn't dreaming
The lyrics of Richard Buckner's song "Born Into Giving It Up" suggest a cyclical pattern of the singer's experiences with giving and receiving. The singer seems to have been born into a life of giving but then ultimately closes down and stops giving once it's exhausted. There's a sense of urgency in the lyrics, as if the singer is constantly in a hurry to get back into the cycle of giving and receiving without a moment to pause and reflect. The repetition of this cycle is made more difficult with each iteration, as the singer points out in the line "The longer you leave it, it's harder to see it." The singer acknowledges that whatever he previously said or promised to do, he takes it back tonight.
The lyric "Where was the silence? It wasn't in my hands" suggests that the singer is frustrated with his own inability to find calm or stillness in his life. He then declares that he tries to find the silence or stillness, although he is not sure if he believes in it. He is aware of where he is and how many turnarounds he can handle. The phrase "In the hours we hold, how many times were we sold?" suggests that the singer is aware of the fleeting nature of time and questions how much of it has been wasted or sold off in exchange for other things. The line "I thought it was healing, but I still wasn't dreaming" implies that the singer's obsession with this cycle of giving and receiving hasn't necessarily led to any emotional fulfillment or meaningful experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Born into giving it up
We are brought into the world with nothing, and we have to give up this life in the end.
Then closing down when it's done
At the end, we must give it back, and everything will come to a close.
With hardly a moment to spend
However, we don't have much time to live our lives; it is quite short.
Before getting it back again
Despite this fact, after it ends, there seems to be a rebirth and coming back to life.
The longer you leave it
Leaving something for a longer time makes it harder to rely on later.
It's harder to see it
When you come back to it later, it's more challenging to see what once was.
like I was going to show
Similar to something I wanted to demonstrate, but wasn't successful.
It's from something before I know
It came from somewhere else; I'm not sure where.
Whatever I said I might
No matter what I said earlier that I was going to do,
Oh I take it back tonight
I rescind it tonight.
Where was the silence?
Where was the peace and tranquility?
It wasn't in my hands
I didn't have any control over it.
I tried just to feel it
I attempted to experience it.
Though I knew I believed it
Although I recognized that I had faith in it.
Trust me I know where I am
I have a good grasp of where I stand.
How many turnarounds can you stand?
How many reversals and changes can one tolerate?
In the hours we hold
During the time that we have.
How many times were we sold?
How many instances have we been coerced to do something?
I thought it was healing
I believed that it was going to cure.
But I still wasn't dreaming
However, I was still experiencing the effects of being awake.
Contributed by Reagan I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.