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.
Confession
Richard Buckner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And where are we now?: moving on, just to take the time to begin, somewhere within, again well-below.
Just getting by, we already know: sellouts with someone to try, but nothing to spend, will come back again
where they pass for a moment.
Watch where they're going. Don't try to run; they'll just take you down.
Come when you can, so close to the light you won't understand.
When there's no place to hide from what we've done, then, will you come home run-aground?
Reach for the walls as soon as they're found, cornered-in.
After all, you didn't know on your way home that falls can be broken.
Windows were opened up, just enough; weren't you looking out with nowhere to go to?
Someone should've told you: I guess I'm the one they warned you about, within, without.
The opening line of Richard Buckner's song "Confession" seems like a statement of confusion about the state of being of the singer, and perhaps more broadly, the human condition itself. The lines that follow offer little in the way of reassurance or clarity, instead describing a sense of being adrift or stuck in a cycle. The repetition of phrases like "within, without" and "just getting by" suggests a circularity to the singer's thoughts, as they try to make sense of their surroundings.
The image of being carried away carries a dual meaning, both describing a sense of being swept up or overwhelmed, and also of being transported somewhere else. The final lines, in which someone warns the singer about themselves, seem to suggest a darker aspect to their character or past actions. Overall, the song paints a bleak picture of humanity, struggling to understand itself and its place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Within, without, we must've been carried away.
Our emotions and thoughts have gone past what's inside and outside of us, revealing how overwhelmed we are.
And where are we now?: moving on, just to take the time to begin, somewhere within, again well-below.
Even if we keep going and trying, we'll be starting over again, while still feeling inferior and inferior again.
Just getting by, we already know: sellouts with someone to try, but nothing to spend, will come back again where they pass for a moment.
We are aware that we are just surviving, with no real purpose, and others like us trying to blend in won't stick around for long.
Watch where they're going. Don't try to run; they'll just take you down.
Be careful of those around you, and don't try to avoid them wickedly because they might end up hurting you anyway.
Come when you can, so close to the light you won't understand.
Try coming out of the darkness when you're ready, but the light will be so bright that it'll confuse you.
When there's no place to hide from what we've done, then, will you come home run-aground?
When there's no way out of the mess we've made, will you return to your roots, empty-handed?
Reach for the walls as soon as they're found, cornered-in.
Even if you're already trapped, search for a way out and fight against the constraints.
After all, you didn't know on your way home that falls can be broken.
Unexpectedly, a setback happened despite you reaching home safely, but know that it's possible to overcome failures.
Windows were opened up, just enough; weren't you looking out with nowhere to go to?
You had an opportunity to escape but failed to spot it, leaving you nowhere to run.
Someone should've told you: I guess I'm the one they warned you about, within, without.
I'm the person who fits the description of someone that others warned you about having internal and external struggles.
Contributed by Samuel S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.