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
The End of the World
Sharon Van Etten Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'Cause you don't love me any more
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was
I can't understand, no, I can't understand
How life goes on the way it does
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
"The End of the World" by Sharon Van Etten is a haunting rendition of a classic song by Skeeter Davis. The lyrics of the song express confusion and disbelief about the world continuing to function despite the end of a relationship. Van Etten sings about the sun shining, the sea rushing to shore, and the birds singing, as if they don't know that her love has ended. The repetition of the questions brings a sense of helplessness to the song. There is a sense of wanting things to stop, to pause, and to acknowledge the pain. The repetition of the phrase "Don't they know it's the end of the world" emphasizes the sense of isolation and disconnect that comes with the end of a relationship.
Van Etten's version of this song gives a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. The instrumentation is somber, with gentle acoustic guitar and soft keyboards. Her vocal delivery is restrained but emotive, emphasizing the words' emotional weight. Her layered vocals add an additional layer of depth to the song, giving it a haunting quality.
Overall, "The End of the World" is a beautifully executed cover that captures the essence of the original while bringing something new and unique to the song. Van Etten's interpretation brings out the pain, heartache, and longing that comes with the end of a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Why does the sun go on shining
I don't understand why the sun still shines and gives light, even though my heart is broken.
Why does the sea rush to shore
I don't understand why the sea still comes to the shore, even though everything in my life is falling apart.
Don't they know it's the end of the world
None of these natural things (the sun, the sea, the birds, the stars) seem to care that my life has been turned upside-down and nothing feels right anymore.
'Cause you don't love me any more
This terrible new reality is all because you stopped loving me and left me feeling lost and alone.
Why do the birds go on singing?
I don't understand why the birds keep singing and chirping, as if everything is still okay in the world, when I feel so much pain and sadness.
Why do the stars glow above?
I don't understand how the stars can still shine so brightly, when I feel like my world has gone dark without you.
It ended when I lost your love
I know that my world truly ended when you stopped loving me, and I can't seem to move on or experience joy in anything anymore.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Every morning, I wake up and wonder how I'm going to get through the day without you, and how life can just continue forward without you in it.
Why everything's the same as it was
I can't believe that the world continues to function as it did before, when my whole world has been turned upside-down without you in it.
I can't understand, no, I can't understand
I can't fathom how life can go on after such a devastating loss, and nothing seems to make sense anymore.
Why does my heart go on beating
My heart still beats for you, even though you're gone, and it hurts so much to know that you're not coming back.
Why do these eyes of mine cry
My tears won't stop falling, as I look out at a world that seems so different and lonely without you by my side.
It ended when you said goodbye
I know that my world truly ended when you said goodbye, and the pain of that loss will always be with me.
Lyrics © DistroKid, MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: Arthur Kent, Sylvia Dee
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
sasha
Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'Cause you don't love me any more
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when I lost your love
I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was
I can't understand, no, I can't understand
How life goes on the way it does
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
Scott K
Wow. Sharon's voice is to die for
sasha
Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'Cause you don't love me any more
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when I lost your love
I wake up in the morning and I wonder
Why everything's the same as it was
I can't understand, no, I can't understand
How life goes on the way it does
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
Why does my heart go on beating
Why do these eyes of mine cry
Don't they know it's the end of the world
It ended when you said goodbye
Flo' Domingues
Thanks a lot ❤
xia jiaxuan
なぜ朝日は輝くの……
Theresia Maria Weber
Sasha Gonzalez - Herzliches Dankeschön! 🤍
Col. Bill Kilgore
Beautiful letter!
Zerrin Buyukozer
Thanks
Danny Neumann
Not only can this cover compete with the original, in my opinion it's better. Incredible.
IowanMathew
Easily one of the best covers of all time.
Ben Parkins
She has this gothic yet beautiful voice that fits perfectly