Richard Buckner is an American singer songwriter born in California, reside… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Buckner is an American singer songwriter born in California, resident in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for a number of years, and currently living in Brooklyn, NY. A critically-acclaimed artist most often associated with the Alternative Country movement, Buckner has in recent albums eschewed his initial acoustic approach and displayed an increasing interest in more abstract music styles.

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.

Invitation
Richard Buckner Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Come on
I'd love to talk to you out side
In the open air, some where
To take it, too, and watch it go
Any where, in here
You never know
And I don't mean to chase you down

I need the dance to slow, closing up
And going out, passing
As the words to come, slipping
As the nights will do, burning
As the clouded sun letting nothing through

You see, the walls are gone some times
There's no other way
Is looking down, still moving on?
I'd think you'd know what to say
Are you warming in the dark?
See the times above us move

How close is just too far, setting off
In to

â??I willâ??, though
I've been thrown before

I guess
Put the bones to use!

I'm hoping that you'd find my door

O, come on
I'd love to talk to you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Richard Buckner's song Invitation exude a sense of longing and anticipation for human connection. The singer has a strong desire to engage in conversation with someone outside, in the open air, and take things wherever they go. There is a sense of urgency as well as a need for the dance to slow down and for things to proceed at a natural pace. The lyrics suggest a willingness to take risks and a recognition that sometimes walls need to come down for meaningful interaction to occur. The line "see the times above us move" calls attention to the fleeting nature of time and the need to seize the moment. Despite past disappointment and being "thrown before," the singer remains hopeful and eager to engage with others.

In summary, the lyrics to Invitation convey the desire for meaningful human connection and the willingness to take risks and allow walls to come down in order to achieve it. The words also reflect a sense of urgency, as well as a recognition of the fleeting nature of time.

Line by Line Meaning

Come on
Let's start a conversation

I'd love to talk to you out side
I want to speak with you outside in nature

In the open air, some where
In a peaceful, quiet place

To take it, too, and watch it go
To witness the exchange and its outcomes

Any where, in here
Anywhere at all

You never know
Uncertain future

And I don't mean to chase you down
I'm not trying to force this on you

I need the dance to slow, closing up
I need life to slow down and come to a close

And going out, passing
Death

As the words to come, slipping
As language is slipping away

As the nights will do, burning
As time does to us all and consumes us