Their signature style is dreamy slow songs, with beautiful melodies.
The original band, including Mike Bitts (bass), and Steve Brown (drums), was formed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the early 80s when the members met during a Catholic school production of Godspell. Although all members of the band have contributed musically, Karen Peris does most of the group's writing.
Their eponymous debut album, released in 1989 (A&M Records), was produced by Larry Klein, then-husband of Joni Mitchell, and recorded in the couple’s basement recording studio. The album peaked on the Billboard charts at #167 in 1990, and the album’s second track, "Black Sheep Wall", released as a single in 1989, peaked at #22 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. The album’s fifth track, "Clear to You", was used on the soundtrack of the pilot episode of Beverly Hills 90210. Klein also produced their 1991 follow up, Umbrella.
Their third and final A&M album, Glow, released in 1995 (A&M Records), Was produced by Dennis Herring, who had previously produced two records for Camper Van Beethoven. This album is a departure from Klein's heavier production style. Whereas the first two releases may have brought to mind The Sundays and The Cocteau Twins with their moody keyboards, Herring's lighter touch gave more emphasis to the group's guitar work and to Karen's vocals and lyrics.
Glow contains songs that appear on the soundtracks of the films Empire Records, and Dream for an Insomniac, as well as the television series Party of Five. The album’s second track, Bright as Yellow, peaked on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks at #33.
In 1999 the band recorded for a new label, Badman. Additionally, drummer Steve Brown left the band to pursue a career as a chef. On the subsequent album, Birds of My Neighborhood, Brown played drums and brushes on "Snow," but otherwise the group became a trio. Now bereft of drums, their sound took an even more acoustic direction. Some songs featured just Don and Karen, and a few, such as "She May Turn Around," featured only Karen's voice and instrumentation.
The 2000 release of Christ is My Hope, featuring religious music that had inspired them over the years, was independently released on their own website. Small Planes, released in 2001, featured outtakes from Glow and Birds of My Neighborhood. 2003's Befriended was their next "regular" album.
In 2004, the Innocence Mission released Now the Day is Over, a collection of lullabies. Except for "My Love Goes With You," all songs are cover versions, such as a stripped-down vocal and piano rendition of Henry Mancini's Moon River,
The Innocence Mission's new album We Walked in Song was released March 13, 2007.
Some Clear Joy Is Coming
The Innocence Mission Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
comes here to bless me
My Father in the morning
will bend to hear me
Some clear joy is coming on some slowest train
I am hearing it coming again
Flowerless in the country
my man and I are weeping
we have been weeping
Some clear joy is coming on some slowest trains
Do you hear that it s coming again
The lyrics to The Innocence Mission's song "Some Clear Joy Is Coming" convey a sense of hope amidst despair. The opening lines, "Father John in the driveway comes here to bless me, My Father in the morning will bend to hear me," suggest a spiritual reassurance that someone is looking out for the singer. The refrain, "Some clear joy is coming on some slowest train, I am hearing it coming again," conveys patience, as though the singer recognizes that good things may take time to arrive but believes in their inevitability.
The second verse then juxtaposes the hope expressed in the refrain, as the singer acknowledges that they are "flowerless in the country, birdless in the spring," and are experiencing profound grief with their partner. Despite this, the refrain returns to evoke some sense of impossible optimism. The repeated line, "Do you hear that it's coming again," implies that the singer is not alone in their hopeful anticipation of some clear joy.
Overall, the song suggests that hope exists even in the darkest of times, and that even when things seem bleak, there is always the potential for joy to arrive.
Line by Line Meaning
Father John in the driveway
A priest named Father John is present in the singer's driveway
comes here to bless me
The singer is being blessed by Father John's presence
My Father in the morning
The singer's father is present in the morning
will bend to hear me
The artist's father is attentive and listens to the artist
Some clear joy is coming on some slowest train
The artist is anticipating the arrival of happiness which is moving slowly towards them
I am hearing it coming again
The singer is confident that the awaited joy will arrive
Flowerless in the country
There are no flowers in the country
birdless in the spring
There are no birds chirping in the spring
my man and I are weeping
The artist and their partner are crying
we have been weeping
The artist and their partner have been crying for some time
Some clear joy is coming on some slowest trains
The singer is still anticipating the arrival of happiness which is moving slowly towards them
Do you hear that it s coming again
The artist asks if the listener can also hear the imminent arrival of joy
Contributed by Nora D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.