Their seventh CD, Last Days of Wonder (June. 2006) was one of Mojo’s top ten American Albums for 2006 and called “an unqualified triumph” by Uncut. Of their sixth CD, Singing Bones, The UK’s Independent wrote, “Rarely, even in the fatalistic world of country music, has the precarious mystery of mortality been captured with such poetic grace as on Singing Bones.”
They have appeared in the movie, I’m Your Man (2005), a tribute to Leonard Cohen as well as Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (2004). In 2004, a reader's poll in Mojo named The Handsome Family's third CD, Through the Trees one of the ten essential Americana records.
Last Days of Wonder is a collection of love songs sung in airports, garbage dumps, drive-thru windows and shark-infested waters. The CD celebrates the little miraculous moments of beauty found in everyday life: a golf course shining in the rain, hanging lights bouncing in the breeze, pigeons singing from billboards, trees blooming in squares of dirt. The songs linger on those moments when we’re pulled from the ordinary to feel awed by mystery, bewildered by beauty, terrified by the vast unknowable around us (whether we wander through shady groves or crowded parking lots).
Brett Sparks, who writes the music, draws from medieval melody, country-politan string arrangements, tin-pan alley crooners, and dusty hillbilly records to weave together the fabric of this record. Rennie Sparks, who writes the lyrics, makes magical realism from polar adventure stories, pagan hunting songs and her own time spent (like most people) riding up elevators, staring out hotel room windows, and driving interstate highways. The entire album was recorded over a year's time in the converted garage studio at the back of the Sparks' Albuquerque house. Brett recorded it all on a Mac and a whole mess of wires, microphones and little metal boxes. Alongside the usual guitar, bass and drums you will hear mellotrons, ukulele, banjo, bowed wine glasses, and trombone.
Brett and Rennie (The Handsome Family) have been married for 18 years. In their live performances The Handsome Family are sometimes up to a six-piece band and sometimes just Brett and Rennie with (or without) a laptop computer.
The Sea Rose
The Handsome Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the moon's drifting light
Calling from the cold, wet rocks
The sea rose of the low tides
A passing ship along the coast
Heard her sadly calling
And turned its sails to the sound
In the waves, the waves she's calling
Lonely, lonely, my heart is dark
The rocks lie cold beneath me
Come closer, closer darling one
We'll marry in the sea weed
On the passing ship, a sailor boy
He heard the sea rose calling
And from the bow he dove on down
To the waves, the waves, falling
The waves, the waves were falling
Come, come darling boy
Into my arms awaiting
Down, down in the cold
Dark sea I'm waiting here to love you
To her arms, her lovely arms
The currents pulled him splashing
But her body was only foaming waves
And her voice just water rushing
In the waves the sea rose falling
In the waves, the waves, my darling
The waves, the sea rose calling
"The Sea Rose" by The Handsome Family is a song that tells a haunting tale of a sea creature beckoning to a lonely boy. The song describes a sea rose, or a mermaid, calling out for companionship from the cold, wet rocks. The melancholic tone is enhanced by the image of the sea rose wrapped in weeds, emphasizing that she is trapped and abandoned. The lyrics paint a picture of a dark and foreboding sea, where the rocks are cold and lonely, and the waves are always falling.
Despite the ominous imagery, the sea rose's call for companionship attracts a passing ship, which turns its sails towards the sound. A sailor boy on the ship hears her call and dives into the waves to meet her, but he is met with a tragic end. The sea rose's embrace turns out to be nothing but foaming waves, and her sweet voice is replaced by the sound of rushing water. The song ends with the sea rose still calling to the lonely hearts who may hear her call.
Overall, "The Sea Rose" is a haunting and poetic song that explores themes of loneliness, isolation, and the dangers of longing for companionship. The lyrics are evocative and create a dark and foreboding atmosphere, making for a captivating listening experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Wrapped in the weeds of the shallows
The sea rose is surrounded by seaweed in the shallows
In the moon's drifting light
The sea rose is visible under the moon's light
Calling from the cold, wet rocks
The sea rose is calling from the cold rocks
The sea rose of the low tides
The sea rose blooms during low tide
A passing ship along the coast
A ship is passing along the coast
Heard her sadly calling
The ship's crew heard the sea rose's sad call
And turned its sails to the sound
The ship changed its direction towards the sound of the sea rose
The rose, the sea rose calling
The sea rose is calling out to the ship
In the waves, the waves she's calling
The sea rose's call is carried by the waves
Lonely, lonely, my heart is dark
The sea rose is sad and gloomy
The rocks lie cold beneath me
The sea rose is surrounded by cold rocks
Come closer, closer darling one
The sea rose is calling out to her lover
We'll marry in the sea weed
The sea rose desires to marry in the seaweed
On the passing ship, a sailor boy
A sailor boy is on the passing ship
He heard the sea rose calling
The sailor boy heard the call of the sea rose
And from the bow he dove on down
The sailor boy dove from the bow of the ship
To the waves, the waves, falling
The sailor boy dove into the falling waves
Come, come darling boy
The sea rose is calling out to her lover
Into my arms awaiting
The sea rose's arms are waiting to embrace her lover
Down, down in the cold
The sea rose and her lover are moving down into the cold water
Dark sea I'm waiting here to love you
The sea rose is waiting to love her lover in the dark sea
To her arms, her lovely arms
The sailor boy is taken into the embrace of the sea rose
The currents pulled him splashing
The sailor boy is pulled by the currents in the water
But her body was only foaming waves
The sea rose's body is just foaming waves
And her voice just water rushing
The sea rose's voice is just the sound of water rushing
In the waves the sea rose falling
The sea rose is falling in the waves
In the waves, the waves, my darling
The sea rose's lover is falling in the waves with her
The waves, the sea rose calling
The waves are carrying the sea rose's call
Writer(s): Rennie S Sparks, Brett Sparks
Contributed by Julia S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Melrensckit
"The Sea Rose"
Wrapped in the weeds of the shallows.
In the moon's drifting light.
Calling from the cold, wet rocks,
the sea rose of the low tides.
A passing ship along the coast
heard her sadly calling
and turned its sails to the sound,
the rose, the sea rose calling.
In the waves, the waves she's calling.
Lonely, lonely, my heart is dark
the rocks lie cold beneath me.
Come closer, closer darling one.
We'll marry in the sea weed.
On the passing ship, a sailor boy,
he heard the sea rose calling
and from the bow he dove on down
to the waves, the waves, falling.
The waves, the waves were falling.
Come, come darling boy
into my arms awaiting.
Down, down in the cold,
dark sea I'm waiting here to love you.
To her arms, her lovely arms,
the currents pulled him splashing,
but her body was only foaming waves
and her voice just water rushing.
In the waves the sea rose falling.
In the waves, the waves, my darling.
The waves, the sea rose calling.