S. Carey is American musician Sean Carey of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Carey is… Read Full Bio ↴S. Carey is American musician Sean Carey of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Carey is best known as the drummer and supporting vocalist of indie folk band Bon Iver. In August 2010, Carey released his first solo album, All We Grow.

The debut album is the result of a young lifetime spent immersed in music. As a band member of Bon Iver from the very beginning, Carey endured a flip of his formal training to step firmly into a worldwide-touring rock band. His performance degree in classical percussion from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and his love for jazz drumming prepared him for a central role in the inspiring force of the Bon Iver live show.

All We Grow is a convergence of Carey's Waltz For Debbie era Bill Evans inflected jazz tendencies, and traditional rock band experience, taking leads from Mark Hollis' Talk Talk. It also retests the waters of modern classical composition, investigating the moodiness generated by percussive repetition in a manner familiar to fans of Steve Reich. In his downtime on tour with Bon Iver, Sean would spend time pining for his soul-mate's arms, and in that context, dreaming and composing. During infrequent tour breaks at home he would patiently record these pieces, adding layers each time. Two years later, the parts converged to make an album.

For as much room to breathe as Carey allows his compositions, there are incredibly dynamic moments of bombast held right next to moments of subtle depth and texture. Engineered by Jaime Hansen and Brian Joseph, intermittently at home and at April Base (Justin Vernon's studio outside Eau Claire), All We Grow is an all-encompassing headphone experience as intimate as chamber music and as ambitious as a symphony.

While many are familiar with the cabin mythology of Bon Iver, the story behind Sean joining the band is equally kismet. After hearing through mutual friends that Justin was looking to put together a band, he spent two weeks in his bedroom listening to For Emma, Forever Ago on Myspace, dissecting and learning the drum and vocal parts so well that Justin invited him to join the band upon Sean's approach.

All We Grow is a classic album born without expectation and met with adoration - a cathartic result of Carey's extraordinary and vibrant life experiences that resonates loss, dreams and heart in a manner so instantly relatable, you feel as though you can touch it.

Mothers
S. Carey Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Their feet are cracked
As they break their back
In the sun-heat
It's all, yes, it's all
For your pennies
Their kids can't go to school
In the morning
Because narcotics grow better than books

And my only hope
Is for their mothers and their daughters
To be loved

Only New York can make it right
If they want to
The consensus is rather apathy
My soul, my soul cries for them
In the morning
Because I'm guilty just the same

But eye to eye
I haven't been
But my cries are swelling
Cause they have faces
They have faces

And my only hope

Is for their mothers and their daughters
To be loved

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of S. Carey's song "Mothers" are poetic yet truthful in their portrayal of the struggles of poverty faced by women and children in many parts of the world. The opening lines describe the physical toll taken on women who perform hard labor under the sun, leading to cracked feet and broken backs. All of this work is done for mere pennies, which reinforces the concept of exploitation and poverty across the world.

The second verse of the song goes on to describe how children are unable to attend school because of the inability of their parents to provide an education for them. This is a direct result of the fact that "narcotics grow better than books" in many impoverished areas, indicating how poverty and lack of access to education are interconnected.

The chorus of the song expresses the artist's hope for the mothers and daughters of these impoverished communities to experience love and compassion in their lives. The final lines of the song emphasize that despite the sorrow and guilt that the artist feels for these women and children, the fact remains that they have faces - they are human beings deserving of love and hope.

Line by Line Meaning

Their feet are cracked
These people's feet are damaged and sore due to the hard labor they have to perform

As they break their back
The labor is so heavy that it is as though they are breaking their own back to get it done

In the sun-heat
This hard labor is done in the blazing heat of the sun

It's all, yes, it's all
All the hard work they do is for very little in return

For your pennies
The hard work they do is so that they can earn just a few pennies to survive on

Their kids can't go to school
These workers cannot afford to send their children to school

In the morning
This is a reality that these families face every morning

Because narcotics grow better than books
The society around them prioritizes narcotics over education, making it harder for them to send their kids to school

And my only hope
The singer's only wish is

Is for their mothers and their daughters
That these women and their daughters

To be loved
Are loved and cared for by those around them

Only New York can make it right
The only hope for them is for a place like New York where they can find help

If they want to
This help can come only if they want and seek it

The consensus is rather apathy
The general opinion of society towards them is one of indifference

My soul, my soul cries for them
The singer's soul feels their pain and cries for them

In the morning
This feeling haunts the singer every morning

Because I'm guilty just the same
The singer feels guilty that he is not doing enough to help them

But eye to eye
However, the singer has not met them face to face

I haven't been
The singer has not personally experienced their struggles

But my cries are swelling
Despite not having experienced their pain, the singer's empathy is swelling up inside him