Mason's popularity rose after musician Conor Oberst discovered his music backstage at a Bright Eyes show. Oberst would soon sign Mason to his new record label, Team Love and release his debut LP. Since then, he has toured with the likes of Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie, Ben Kweller, and Unbusted, and played such venues as the Glastonbury Festival, South By Southwest, and the Offshore Ale House.
Mason's debut album Where The Humans Eat, and singles (Oxygen and So Long), charted in the UK Singles Chart and Albums Chart in 2005. Mason went on to release The Ocean Gets Rough in 2007.
Willy’s new album, 'Carry On', was recorded over the course of 2011 in south London with producer Dan Carey (MIA, Hot Chip, Franz Ferdinand) and is released in December 2012.
“The album itself is about growing up and trying to find one’s place” Mason says. “I think of this record as the third and final chapter to a particular narrative that started with ‘Where the Humans Eat’”.
Simple Town
Willy Mason Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's demons in the trees
Come and rescue me
Its a simple town; where the face becomes a veil
Where the eyes become a jail;
For the settlers minds to pale
Its just a simple town
Where the secrets drown
But tonight they have been found
With the words come shatter out your mouth
You made a thundercloud come and rain on me
Under a simple sky in a simple town
You made a knife of sound, cut the air for me
Cut the secrets free
Its a simple town, just a simple town
But that simple choked
The life right out of me
Cause simple things
Aren't so simple anymore
Death is easy to ignore
When its numbers on a screen
And that simple town
It likes a simple war; chooses red or blue
The rest can be ignored
While the secrets wait; on tortured lips
Till they're moved to sing; with the passion of a kiss
And there's the words...
In Willy Mason's song Simple Town, the lyrics describe a town that seems plain and ordinary on its surface, but harbors dark secrets and demons beneath it. The town's simplicity masks the complexity of the issues it faces, and the secrets that lie within it. The imagery of demons in the trees and eyes becoming a jail highlights the suffocating nature of the town's secrets, which are hidden away from the world.
The chorus of the song expresses a desire for rescue, for someone to come and release the secrets and the suffocating atmosphere of the town. The lyrics describe the words as shattering out of the mouth, a thundercloud coming and raining down, and a knife of sound cutting the secrets free. This imagery paints the picture of the cathartic release that comes with expressing the hidden truths and releasing the demons that are trapped in the town.
The song goes on to describe how the town chooses to ignore certain issues and focus on others, which leads to the secrets remaining hidden and the demons becoming more powerful. In the end, the song suggests that the simplicity of the town is just a facade, and that the issues it faces are far from simple.
Line by Line Meaning
Its a simple town; with a lonely sound
This place may seem small and uncomplicated, but it feels abandoned and alone.
There's demons in the trees
The natural world here holds a sense of unease and malevolence.
Come and rescue me
The singer is trapped in this place and needs someone to help them escape.
Its a simple town; where the face becomes a veil
Despite its apparent simplicity, this place can be deceiving and hide deeper, darker truths.
Where the eyes become a jail;
The artist feels trapped and scrutinized in this town, unable to escape judgment or scrutiny from others.
For the settlers minds to pale
The people living here are likely to feel numb and jaded, unable to escape the negative aspects of their surroundings.
Its just a simple town
Where the secrets drown
Before they get around
But tonight they have been found
This town has a tendency to keep things hidden and swept under the rug, but tonight the hidden truths have finally come to light.
With the words come shatter out your mouth
You made a thundercloud come and rain on me
The truth is out and the artist is feeling the consequences of it, as though a storm has descended upon them.
Under a simple sky in a simple town
You made a knife of sound, cut the air for me
Cut the secrets free
The simple facade of this place has been shattered by the truth, which came like a sharp and cutting blade.
Its a simple town, just a simple town
But that simple choked
The life right out of me
This town may have once seemed straightforward, but it has become suffocating and oppressive for the artist.
Cause simple things
Aren't so simple anymore
The singer has come to realize that things here are not as straightforward as they may have seemed at first glance.
Death is easy to ignore
When its numbers on a screen
People in this town may be able to distance themselves from death and human suffering when they only see it through detached media.
And that simple town
It likes a simple war; chooses red or blue
The rest can be ignored
Even in times of conflict or crisis, this town may fall back on oversimplified solutions and ignore or neglect anything more complex.
While the secrets wait; on tortured lips
Till they're moved to sing; with the passion of a kiss
The singer knows that there are still hidden truths waiting to be revealed, and hopes that they will be exposed with a sense of warmth and urgency.
And there's the words...
The song concludes on this ambiguous note, suggesting that there are still more truths and revelations to be spoken.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: WILLY MASON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind