With some mild success with singles during the mid-late 1960s, Bunyan released the LP, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. This consisted of songs written while traveling in a horse drawn gypsy cart. Critics panned the album and a discouraged Vashti soon disappeared from the music scene. However, by the 2000s her work had finally been finding an audience among contemporary artists and fans of folk music.
In 2002, she was invited by Piano Magic musician Glen Johnson to sing guest vocals on his song "Crown of the Lost", her first recording in over 30 years. After guesting on Piano Magic's album 'Writers Without Homes', she released her critically-acclaimed second album, Lookaftering, 35 years after its predecessor.
In 2006 she collaborated with Adem and began to tour for the first time, accompanied by various musicians including Jo Mango and Gareth Dickson. She collaborated with Animal Collective on the Prospect Hummer EP. Vashti also sang with Devendra Banhart on his album Rejoicing in the Hands.
Bunyan's cover of the late John Martyn's "Head and Heart" appeared on the 2011 tribute album, Johnny Boy Would Love This...A Tribute to John Martyn.
Against The Sky
Vashti Bunyan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It had it bring a tree down
Untidy lime tree holding tight
To the end of my last garden
One of five against the sky
An elegant surrender
It broke the wall and bent the gate
And warmed us through the winter
Whatever pulls the wind tonight
Will have the roof slates fly
But rows of chimney pots don't wave
Like trees against the sky
The hill behind the old house
I can trace it with my finger
Against the sky I see it still
And draw it down on paper
Whatever pulled me over here
You were the main contender
And with the tress against the sky
Another life's remembered
Some evening skies are yellow
And over my head they're blue
What happened to the green between
It happened to me
Too
At its core, Vashti Bunyan's "Against The Sky" is a meditation on change and the passage of time. The song opens with an image of a tree brought down by the wind, a symbol of the impermanence of nature and the havoc that can be wreaked by unexpected events. The untidy lime tree is described as "holding tight / to the end of my last garden", emphasizing the personal nature of the loss. The tree is depicted as one of five against the sky, which adds to the sense of transience and the inevitability of change. The line "an elegant surrender" suggests a certain grace in the tree's demise, although the fact that it "broke the wall and bent the gate" also underscores the destruction wrought by the storm.
The song then shifts to a more general reflection on the power of the wind, which is capable of making "roof slates fly". However, while chimney pots may not wave like trees, they are also subject to the forces of change; as the song notes, "some evening skies are yellow / and over my head they're blue". In other words, even familiar objects can take on a new appearance depending on the circumstances. The final stanza brings the focus back to the personal, with the singer suggesting that it was a person who pulled her over to this new place. Despite the upheavals that accompany change, there is a sense that these experiences are worth remembering, even if they are tinged with sadness.
Line by Line Meaning
Whatever pulled the wind that night
There was some force that caused the wind to blow that particular night
It had to bring a tree down
The wind was so powerful that it caused a tree to fall down
Untidy lime tree holding tight
The fallen tree was an untidy-looking lime tree that was still holding onto the ground tightly
To the end of my last garden
The tree was located at the end of the artist's last garden
One of five against the sky
The tree was one of the five that could be seen against the sky
An elegant surrender
The fallen tree appeared to have surrendered in a graceful manner
It broke the wall and bent the gate
The tree broke the wall and bent the gate as it fell
And warmed us through the winter
The wood from the fallen tree provided warmth for the artist and others throughout the winter
Whatever pulls the wind tonight
The wind may be caused by some force yet again tonight
Will have the roof slates fly
If the wind is strong enough, it may cause the roof slates to fly away
But rows of chimney pots don't wave
Unlike trees, rows of chimney pots don't sway in the wind
Like trees against the sky
The image of trees against the sky is a powerful one, and not easily forgotten
The hill behind the old house
There was a hill located behind the old house
I can trace it with my finger
The singer can still remember the hill and trace its outline with their finger
Against the sky I see it still
The hill is visible against the sky, even from a distance
And draw it down on paper
The artist has the ability to draw the image of the hill on paper
Whatever pulled me over here
Something brought the artist to this particular place
You were the main contender
The person addressed in the song was likely the main reason the singer came to this place
And with the trees against the sky
The sight of the trees against the sky is a reminder of the singer's past experiences in this place
Another life's remembered
The artist is remembering a different time in their life
Some evening skies are yellow
Some evening skies have a yellow color
And over my head they're blue
Despite the yellow skies in the distance, the sky above the artist's head is blue
What happened to the green between
The greenery that existed between the singer and the yellow skies has disappeared
It happened to me too
The artist has also changed, just like the landscape around them
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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