Cash released her first single in 1979, a duet with Bobby Bare called "We Don't Need No Memories Hangin' 'Round". Two years later, she had her first country No. 1 (and the biggest commercial hit of her career), "Seven Year Ache". Although Cash was a prominent country star throughout the '80s, alongside fellow decade-defining artists Emmylou Harris, Juice Newton, and Dolly Parton, her music was anything but traditional: She topped the charts with songs written not only by herself, but by her father ("Tennessee Flat Top Box"), John Hiatt ("The Way We Make a Broken Heart"), Tom Petty ("Never Be You") and the Beatles ("I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"), "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me", which won her a Grammy in 1985, and "It's Such a Small World", a 1987 duet with Rodney Crowell on his album Diamonds & Dirt, provided further hits. A sampling of these songs and more are included on the compilation Hits 1979-1989. In 1979, she married Rodney Crowell, who was to produce most of her hit records. Their stormy marriage lasted until 1992; its break-up is chronicled in Cash's Interiors and in Crowell's album Life Is Messy. Cash later married John Leventhal, who produced her albums The Wheel, 10 Song Demo, Rules of Travel, and Black Cadillac.
To date, Cash has had more than twenty top 40 country singles, including eleven chart-toppers, but none since 1990, and she has left Nashville in both spirit and body to pursue her artistic vision. Although she had recorded all of her hits for Columbia Records' Nashville division, she released 10 Song Demo for the pop division of Capitol. Cash resurfaced in 2003 with Rules of Travel. The album features guest appearances by Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle, as well as a tune penned by Joe Henry and the Wallflowers' Jakob Dylan. Cash's latest album, entitled Black Cadillac, was released by Capitol Records in January 2006 to critical acclaim. Many of the songs were written by Cash and address the losses (within a 24-month span) of her step-mother, her father, her step-sister (Rosey Nix Adams) and then finally her mother on Cash's fiftieth birthday.
The World Unseen
Rosanne Cash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm the list of everyone I have to lose
I'm the rainbow in the dart
I am who I was and how much I can hurt
So I will look for you in stories of hurricanes
Westward leading, still proceeding
To the world unseen
I'm the mirror in the hall
From your empty room I can hear it fall
Now that we must live apart
I have a lock of hair and one-half of my heart
So I will look for you
Between the grooves of songs we sing
Westward leading, still proceeding
To the world unseen
There are no gifts that will be found
Wrapped in winter, laid beneath the ground
You must be somewhere in the stars
'Cause from a distance comes the sound of your guitar
And I will look for you in Memphis and the miles between
I will look for you in morphine and in dreams
I will look for you in the rhythm of my bloodstream
Westward leading, still proceeding
To the world unseen
The opening line of Rosanne Cash’s song “The World Unseen” paints a vivid picture of the singer's smallness, as she sings "I'm the sparrow on the roof." It’s a metaphor that encapsulates the feeling of being overlooked - just another bird chirping in the background. But the singer isn’t just any bird; she’s "the list of everyone [she] has to lose" - a reminder that she's carrying heavy baggage. The second stanza of the song switches from describing her to describing the memories she shares with someone who's no longer there. The lyrics are full of melancholic images, such as the "mirror in the hall" that shows her the emptiness of her life without the person. But among the bleakness, there's a sense of hope - encapsulated in the line "I will look for you in stories of hurricanes." The singer is holding onto the possibility that she'll find the one she's lost in some unexpected place, in something as powerful as a hurricane.
The final stanza repeats the message of the song: that even though the person is gone, the singer is still searching for them. She's looking for any and all reminders of them, from the sound of their guitar to the rhythm of her bloodstream. But as the final line reminds us, this search is "to the world unseen." The person may be gone, but the singer still believes that they're out there, somewhere.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm the sparrow on the roof
I am small and insignificant, observing the world from a distance.
I'm the list of everyone I have to lose
I am aware of all the relationships in my life and the potential for loss.
I'm the rainbow in the dart
I am the fleeting moment of beauty in an otherwise bleak world.
I am who I was and how much I can hurt
I am shaped by my experiences and capable of causing pain.
So I will look for you in stories of hurricanes
I will search for you in events of great tumult and chaos.
Westward leading, still proceeding
Continuing on a journey, despite the difficulties.
To the world unseen
Moving towards an unknown future.
I'm the mirror in the hall
I reflect the changes that have occurred in my life.
From your empty room I can hear it fall
I am reminded of your absence and the emptiness it creates.
Now that we must live apart
Acknowledging the reality of a separation.
I have a lock of hair and one-half of my heart
I hold onto remnants of our time together as a source of comfort.
So I will look for you
I will search for a connection to you.
Between the grooves of songs we sing
In the shared experiences of music.
There are no gifts that will be found
There is nothing physical that can replace the feeling of loss.
Wrapped in winter, laid beneath the ground
Death is a cold reality that cannot be ignored.
You must be somewhere in the stars
There is a hope that the spirit of the lost loved one has transcended the earthly plane.
'Cause from a distance comes the sound of your guitar
The memory of the person is still present in unexpected ways.
And I will look for you in Memphis and the miles between
Searching for a connection to the deceased in physical and emotional spaces.
I will look for you in morphine and in dreams
Hoping to connect with the lost loved one in altered states of consciousness.
I will look for you in the rhythm of my bloodstream
Seeking a connection to the person in the very essence of my being.
Westward leading, still proceeding
Continuing on a journey, despite the difficulties.
To the world unseen
Moving towards an unknown future.
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Written by: ROSANNE CASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@karinmckinney1635
Rosanne Cash is one of my most favorite artists because she is so well-rounded and so well-educated I love her with many women especially Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton just so many of them but she's right up there with those two three
@michaelgregg1897
Rosanne Cash is a brilliant songwriter, musician, & voice.
@karinmckinney1635
I'm so glad that my mother took me to see a concert of Johnny class cash when I was a kid I just hope I get to go see Roseanne before I die
@WarrenPostma
Oh man this is a song. Wow. My heart.
@briandaly6506
Love it when the guitar playing perfectly matches the voice and the artists makes it look so easy
@yaakov2342
Beautiful piece of work.
@marygill5618
Love this song!
@StuartFishmanEsq
Wow! Amazing talent
@MaryLopez-ms1cx
"You must be somewhere in the stars" - Yep, our Daddy is our North Star always guiding us even from heaven. What a beautiful song! Thank you for posting this version.
@scottfishkind5335
Magical!