Solveig Slettahjell is a Norwegian jazz singer. Slettahjell was a student o… Read Full Bio ↴Solveig Slettahjell is a Norwegian jazz singer. Slettahjell was a student of renowned Norwegian singer Sidsel Endresen, with whom she collaborated recently in Jon Balke's Batagraf ensemble (Statements, ECM, 2005). She recorded with the experimental all-female vocal quartet Kvitretten, with jazz singers Eldbjørg Raknes, Kristin Asbjörnsen and Tone Åse, and teaches jazz singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

A Day
Solveig Slettahjell Lyrics

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I'll tell you how the sun rose,-
a ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam with amethyst,
the news like squirrels ran.

The hills untied their bonnets,
the bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,

"That must have been the sun!"

But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile
which little yellow boys and girls
were climbing all the while.

Till when they reached the other side,
a dominie in gray

put gently up the evening bars,
and led the flock away.

Overall Meaning

Solveig Slettahjell's rendition of "A Day" is based on a poem by Emily Dickinson by the same name, which has themes of time and nature. The song opens with the lines, "I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam with amethyst, the news like squirrels ran." The singer is describing the beginning of the day as the sun gradually rises and lights up the sky, turning steeples and spires into amethysts, while the natural world is waking up and bustling with activity. The "news" could refer to the gossip and chatter of animals that are active in the morning, while the "squirrels" may be a symbol for the playfulness and liveliness of nature. The sense of an awakening in nature is strong in the first verse, with the hills untangling or "untying" their "bonnets" and birds like bobolinks beginning their morning songs which slowly leads to the arrival of the sun.

In the next verse, the singer continues, "But how he set, I know not. There seemed a purple stile which little yellow boys and girls were climbing all the while. Till when they reached the other side, a dominie in gray put gently up the evening bars, and led the flock away." The singer compares the beginning of the day to the end of the day as the sun sets, with the imagery of "a purple stile" - a fence-like structure - that yellow boys and girls are climbing, which could represent a metaphorical journey in life, to the end of the day where a "dominie" or a teacher or clergyman, dressed in grey, gently closes the fence or the "evening bars" and leads the flock - who could be the simple pleasures of life - out of the day and into the night. The poem suggests that everything in life - whether it's the beginning of the day or the end of the day, the rising or setting of the sun, or the journey in between - is part of a larger process that is beyond our understanding, like gears in a clock that fit into one another, moving the world forward.

Line by Line Meaning

I'll tell you how the sun rose,-
I will narrate the occurrence of the sun coming up

a ribbon at a time.
The sun came up slowly, steadily, like a ribbon unravelling

The steeples swam with amethyst,
The tips of the church towers were saturated with a purple color, like an amethyst gemstone

the news like squirrels ran.
The news travelled quickly and nimbly like agile squirrels

The hills untied their bonnets,
The hills revealed their beauty by shedding the morning mist, like untangling a bonnet

the bobolinks begun.
The birds called bobolinks started their melodious chirping

Then I said softly to myself,
I expressed my thoughts silently and in a gentle manner

"That must have been the sun!"
"That must have been the sun that has risen!"

But how he set, I know not.
I am unaware of how the sun set

There seemed a purple stile
There appeared to be a small passage in the sky that looked purple

which little yellow boys and girls
Young children, clad in yellow apparels,