Currently based in Brooklyn, NY, USA, van Etten débuted with single Much More Than That (2007, Abaton Book Company). Her album Are We There was released on 14 May 2014 on Jagjaguwar).
van Etten moved to Tennessee to attend Middle Tennessee State University, where she discovered a variety of influential music. After moving back home to New Jersey, she was encouraged by Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio to pursue a career in music.
van Etten undertook her first UK tour with Meg Baird in Jan 2008. She toured with Great Lake Swimmers on their European tour in May 2009, kicking it off with a show in London with Beirut and Shearwater. She again toured with them in September/October 2009.
On May 26th, 2009, she released her "Because I Was in Love" single on 12" vinyl, CD and MP3 on Language of Stone.
She was the first artist to record in 2010 for the Weathervane Music's Shaking Through video series.
On September 21, 2010, her sophomore album, "Epic" was released on Ba Da Bing. The powerful 7-track album featured much more instrumentation than her first, primarily-acoustic affair. The evolution of her sound proved that she is much more than a traditional folk singer-songwriter.
The release of Epic coincided with a difficult break-up of a relationship. She busied herself with touring for the record, but when the singer completed her schedule a year later, she found herself homeless in New York. After a period of sleeping on friends' couches, recovering from her heavy touring schedule, she hooked up the National's guitarist Aaron Dessner to record her third album, Tramp, which was released on February 7th, 2012.
May 2014 brought about the release of Van Etten's fourth record, Are We There, on Jagjaguwar. Van Etten self-produced the record with Stewart Lerman, with the guidance of bandmate and manager Zeke Hutchins. Most of the recording was done at Hobo Sound Studios in Weehawken, New Jersey, with piano tracks being recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The record features musicians Zeke Hutchins, Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick, Dave Hartley, Adam Granduciel, Marisa Anderson, Stuart D. Bogie, Mickey Free, Mary Lattimore, Little Isidor, Jacob Morris, Torres' Mackenzie Scott, Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, Lower Dens' Jana Hunter, and Efterklang touring member Peter Broderick.
In 2015, the EP I Don't Want to Let You Down was released on Jagjaguwar. It is composed of the songs that did not make it onto Are We There.
On October 2, 2018, Van Etten released a new track entitled "Comeback Kid" and announced her next album Remind Me Tomorrow, which was released on January 18, 2019. On February 28, 2019, Van Etten appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform the single "Seventeen".
Sites: MySpace
Consolation Prize
Sharon Van Etten Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My conscience clean,
Blood on my knees.
The moral of the story
Is don't walk away again.
I called you out,
Our final scene.
The moral of the story
Is don't look away again,
To find a better conversation.
I saw you there,
Your friends aware,
Without a care.
The moral of the story
Is don't lie to me again
To find a better conversation,
So I can be your consolation prize
You ran away
To stand your ground,
Look what I found.
The moral of the story
Is don't walk away again,
To find a better conversation,
So I can be your consolation prize.
To find a better conversation,
No, I'll never be your consolation prize
The lyrics of Sharon Van Etten's song Consolation Prize describe a complicated relationship between two individuals, in which one seems to be reaching out to the other for forgiveness or understanding. The first verse describes the singer coming to the other person with a "conscience clean", suggesting that they are sorry for something they have done. The image of "blood on my knees" could imply that the singer has physically fallen or been brought to their knees in front of the other person.
The chorus repeatedly emphasizes the importance of communication and not turning away, declaring "the moral of the story is don't walk away again" and "don't look away again, to find a better conversation." The lines "so I can be your consolation prize" and "no, I'll never be your consolation prize" perhaps suggest that the singer is struggling with feelings of being used or hurt by the other person. The final line "look what I found" could imply that the singer has uncovered something troubling about the other person when they "called them out."
Overall, Consolation Prize seems to be a deeply personal and emotionally charged song about the ups and downs of relationships. The repeated emphasis on communication and not turning away from difficult conversations could serve as a reminder to listeners to be honest and open in their own relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I came to you,
I approached you,
My conscience clean,
Without guilt or shame,
Blood on my knees.
Scratched and bruised from trying to get to you,
The moral of the story
Is don't walk away again.
Don't leave me again, or abandon our relationship,
I called you out,
I challenged you,
To see my bow,
To witness my self-degradation,
Our final scene.
The end of our relationship,
Don't look away again,
To find a better conversation.
Don't avoid me when the going gets tough,
Look past our disagreements to try and understand me,
I saw you there,
Your friends aware,
Without a care.
I observed you,
Your companions were present
You were indifferent to me,
Don't lie to me again
To find a better conversation,
So I can be your consolation prize
Don't deceive me again
To try and avoid conflict,
Don't think of me as a backup option,
You ran away
To stand your ground,
Look what I found.
You left to assert yourself,
I discovered/have learned something about myself or the situation,
No, I'll never be your consolation prize
I refuse to be treated as a source of comfort
Or a secondary option in your life.
Contributed by Arianna N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Anika says "hi"
on A Crime
Sharon, if you ever read this ... thank you.