Having played guitar and piano as a young girl, she was moved to write her first song, "Remember The Day", after taking a road trip with a friend across the Alps to Genoa, via Strasbourg. She appeared in Wim Wenders' 1973 film Alice in the Cities, and her music also featured in Umarmungen und andere Sachen (1975), a German Jochen Richter film set in Bavaria about three romantically involved bank robbers. Baier opted not to pursue an acting or singing career, and moved to America where she concentrated on raising a family.
The songs that went on to make up her album Colour Green were home reel-to-reel tape recordings Baier had made in Germany between 1970 and 1973. Some thirty years later her son Robby compiled a CD from these recordings to give to family members as presents. He also gave a copy to Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis, who in turn passed it along to the Orange Twin label. Orange Twin released the album in February 2006. She is expected to release a second studio album. She performs the song "Let Us Know" in Wim Wenders' movie Palermo Shooting (2008).
www.sibyllebaier.com/
I Lost Something in the Hills
Sibylle Baier Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the last past years
When I pass through the hills
Oh, what images return
Oh, I yearn
For the roots of the woods
That origin of all my strong and strange moods
I lost something in the hills
I lost something in the hills
I grew up in declivities
Others grow up in cities
Where first love and soul takes rise
There where times in my life
When I felt mad and deprived
And only the slopes gave me hope
When I pass through the leg high grass, I shall die
Under the jasmine, I shall die
In the elder tree
I need not try to prepare for a new coming day
Where is it that fills the deepness I feel?
You will say I'm not Robin the Hood
But how could I hide from top to food
That I lost something in the hills
I lost something in the hills
Oh, I lost something in the hills
Now I lean on my window sill
And I cry, though it's silly
And I'm dreaming of off and away
Oh, I know further west these hills exist
Marked by apple trees
Marked by a straight brook
That leads me wherever I want it to
Well I lost something in the hills
I lost something in the hills
Oh, I lost something in the hills
The song "I Lost Something in the Hills" by Sibylle Baier is a beautiful and melancholic expression of longing for a connection to nature and a sense of belonging. Baier starts by talking about tears shed in the past years while passing through the hills and the images that come to mind. She yearns for the roots of the woods - the origin of all her strong and strange moods. The hills are a part of her and hold something of great value that she lost.
Baier talks about how she grew up in declivities while others grow up in cities where first love and soul take rise. She implies that nature is where a person can truly connect with their soul, and that's where she felt hope during the dark times of her life. She gives a haunting picture of her dying under the jasmine in the elder tree or in the leg high grass, indicating that her connection with nature was so strong that she would want to die in the arms of nature. Baier feels the deepness of the disconnect that is hard to fill, and this is something Robin Hood could neither steal nor fix. She concludes by saying she lost something in the hills, and she still cries about it while dreaming of off and away.
Overall, the song is a reflection of the universal feeling of wanting to connect with nature and find a sense of belonging that seems elusive. Sibylle Baier's voice and the melody of this song convey the emotions in a beautiful and haunting way that lingers with the listener long after it ends.
Line by Line Meaning
Every time I shed tears
On multiple occasions when I have wept
In the last past years
During the recent years gone by
When I pass through the hills
Whilst traveling through the countryside
Oh, what images return
Oh, how vividly memories resurface
Oh, I yearn
Oh, how intensely I long
For the roots of the woods
For the essence and foundation of the forest
That origin of all my strong and strange moods
From where all of my intense and unusual feelings stem
I lost something in the hills
I misplaced something whilst in the countryside
I grew up in declivities
I was raised in a hilly terrain
Others grow up in cities
Contrasting my experience, some are reared in urban areas
Where first love and soul takes rise
The place where initial romantic feelings and spirituality arise
There where times in my life
There were instances in my life
When I felt mad and deprived
During which I was angry and lacking in something
And only the slopes gave me hope
And only the hills provided me with optimism
When I pass through the leg high grass, I shall die
While I traverse the grass up to my leg, I shall perish
Under the jasmine, I shall die
Beneath the sweet-scented flower, I will meet my demise
In the elder tree
Inside the ancient tree
I need not try to prepare for a new coming day
I do not desire to make any arrangements for the future
Where is it that fills the deepness I feel?
What could possibly fill the profound emotions I experience?
You will say I'm not Robin the Hood
You may assert that I am not a nobleman like Robin Hood
But how could I hide from top to food
However, how could I conceal myself from the best to the worst, from beginning to end
That I lost something in the hills
That I cannot locate an item that I dropped when in the countryside
Now I lean on my window sill
Presently, I rest on my windowsill
And I cry, though it's silly
And I weep, albeit foolishly
And I'm dreaming of off and away
And I am envisioning for an escape and departure
Oh, I know further west these hills exist
Oh, I know these hills stretch even further to the west
Marked by apple trees
Distinguished by the abundant presence of apple trees
Marked by a straight brook
Identifiable by a direct stream
That leads me wherever I want it to
That takes me to any destination of my choice
Well I lost something in the hills
In truth, I have misplaced something in the countryside
I lost something in the hills
I misplaced an item in the countryside
Oh, I lost something in the hills
Oh, I have really misplaced something whilst in the countryside
Contributed by Joshua L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.