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.
Lily Pond
Vashti Bunyan Lyrics
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All upon a summer's day
Then I chased a dragonfly
All across an ancient sky
Falling with a thousand stars down the Milky Way to Mars
Back again in time for day
In a lily pond I lay
Was 'young lady I love thee'
The lyrics of Vashti Bunyan's song Lily Pond are both charming and enigmatic at the same time. On a surface level, the lyrics describe the singer lying in a lily pond on a summer day, chasing a dragonfly in the sky, and falling amidst a thousand stars down to Mars, only to come back in time for the day again. The song takes the listener on an adventure that can be interpreted in different ways.
The lyrics, however, go beyond just being a picturesque narrative. The lily pond symbolizes a state of calm and serenity, where the singer can unwind and escape the mundane. The dragonfly represents freedom and the boundless possibilities of the world. The Milky Way and Mars, meanwhile, represent the vastness and wonder of the universe, taking the listener on a journey through space and time.
The last two lines of the song, "And the only thing he said to me / Was 'young lady I love thee'," suggest that there was someone present with the singer. It's unclear whether this is a quote from a real experience or a more symbolic gesture. It could be interpreted as the acknowledgement of her being, that someone loves her just as she is, without having to say or do anything more.
Line by Line Meaning
In a lily pond I lay
I was lying in a pond surrounded by lilies
All upon a summer's day
It was a sunny day in summer
Then I chased a dragonfly
I started pursuing a dragonfly
All across an ancient sky
It took me across the vast and timeless sky
Falling with a thousand stars
While falling through a thousand stars
Down the Milky Way to Mars
I descended along the Milky Way and went to Mars
Back again in time for day
I managed to return in time for daylight
In a lily pond I lay
Once again, I found myself lying in the lily pond
And the only thing he said to me
The only thing he told me
Was 'young lady I love thee'
Was 'I love you, young lady'
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