Joanna Newsom, on SADIE
TMT: One of my favorite and one of the most heart rending songs on
your new record is "Sadie," is there a story behind it?
JN: There are actually three stories; as with almost all of my songs,
there's this recurring triumvirate structure that imposes itself without my even
realizing it at first. The three subjects are always connected, but often in
merely intuitive or symbolic ways. In this particular song, the most
straightforward subject is my then-dog, Sadie, who passed on recently. She was a
lovely white Labrador who liked nothing more in the whole world than to play
fetch. And I've always been impatient about that; I'd look at the soggy pinecone
dropped at my feet while I was trying to get into my car, and I'd say, "I'll
play with you later."
The second subject of the song is a friend, my age, who was diagnosed with
cancer. I remember marveling at the reaction of people around me, the way they
sprung to action, finally articulated to her their love and appreciation,
finally made those lunch dates they'd always talked about...and I sheepishly
include myself in this phenomenon. It wasn't disingenuous; it was just that our
collective illusion, that we have forever to let someone know how loved she is,
had been shattered.
The third subject is one of my most beloved friends, whom I've grown apart from.
We had this sort of running argument, or a running series of disagreements
founded on the same fundamental points of divergence, and if we had been close
at that point, talking every day or whatnot, then those disagreements would have
seemed like nothing. But because our correspondence had fallen behind, and we'd
developed insecurities and bitterness, these disagreements became all-consuming;
we fixated on them, let resentments build around them, let a silence build
between us. And I remember just having my breath taken from me in one sickening
moment when I paused one day to imagine what I'd do if this friend fell ill with
cancer, like my other friend. I knew that I would fly to be with her, stay by
her side forever if I had to, and revel in her extraordinary rarity,
intelligence, kindness, forget all the shitty stupid petty small points of
contention between us, because they were so insignificant in light of our own
inevitable mortality.
So. Those are the basic subjects of the song. It's about all sorts of things,
but I guess the main story is about death, love, putting things off..
Lyrics...
Sadie, white coat, you carry me home
And bury this bone and take this pine cone
Bury this bone to gnaw on it later
Gnawing on the telephone
Until then, we pray and suspend
The notion that these lives do never end
And all day long we talk about mercy
Lead me to water, Lord, I sure am thirsty
Down in the ditch where I nearly served you
Up in the clouds where he almost heard you
And all that we built and all that we breathed
And all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds
Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocably
And we spoke up in turns 'til the silence crept over me
And bless you, and I deeply do
No longer resolute, oh and I call to you
But the water go so cold
And you do lose what you don't hold
This is an old song, these are old blues
And this is not my tune, but it's mine to use
And the seabirds where the fear once grew
Will flock with a fury and they will bury what'd come for you
And down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
You and I, and a love so tender
Stretched on a hoop where I stitched this adage:
"Bless our house and its heart so savage"
And all that I want, and all that I need
And all that I've got is scattered like seed
And all that I knew is moving away from me
And all that I know is blowing like tumbleweed
And the mealy worms in the brine will burn
In a salty pyre among the fauns and ferns
And the love we hold, and the love we spurn
Will never grow cold, only taciturn
And I'll tell you tomorrow
Sadie, go on home now
And bless those who've sickened below
And bless us who have chosen so
And all that I've got and all that I need
I tie in a knot and I lay at your feet
And I have not forgot, but a silence crept over me
So dig up your bone, exhume your pine cone, my Sadie
your new record is "Sadie," is there a story behind it?
JN: There are actually three stories; as with almost all of my songs,
there's this recurring triumvirate structure that imposes itself without my even
realizing it at first. The three subjects are always connected, but often in
merely intuitive or symbolic ways. In this particular song, the most
straightforward subject is my then-dog, Sadie, who passed on recently. She was a
lovely white Labrador who liked nothing more in the whole world than to play
fetch. And I've always been impatient about that; I'd look at the soggy pinecone
dropped at my feet while I was trying to get into my car, and I'd say, "I'll
play with you later."
The second subject of the song is a friend, my age, who was diagnosed with
cancer. I remember marveling at the reaction of people around me, the way they
sprung to action, finally articulated to her their love and appreciation,
finally made those lunch dates they'd always talked about...and I sheepishly
include myself in this phenomenon. It wasn't disingenuous; it was just that our
collective illusion, that we have forever to let someone know how loved she is,
had been shattered.
The third subject is one of my most beloved friends, whom I've grown apart from.
We had this sort of running argument, or a running series of disagreements
founded on the same fundamental points of divergence, and if we had been close
at that point, talking every day or whatnot, then those disagreements would have
seemed like nothing. But because our correspondence had fallen behind, and we'd
developed insecurities and bitterness, these disagreements became all-consuming;
we fixated on them, let resentments build around them, let a silence build
between us. And I remember just having my breath taken from me in one sickening
moment when I paused one day to imagine what I'd do if this friend fell ill with
cancer, like my other friend. I knew that I would fly to be with her, stay by
her side forever if I had to, and revel in her extraordinary rarity,
intelligence, kindness, forget all the shitty stupid petty small points of
contention between us, because they were so insignificant in light of our own
inevitable mortality.
So. Those are the basic subjects of the song. It's about all sorts of things,
but I guess the main story is about death, love, putting things off..
Lyrics...
Sadie, white coat, you carry me home
And bury this bone and take this pine cone
Bury this bone to gnaw on it later
Gnawing on the telephone
Until then, we pray and suspend
The notion that these lives do never end
And all day long we talk about mercy
Lead me to water, Lord, I sure am thirsty
Down in the ditch where I nearly served you
Up in the clouds where he almost heard you
And all that we built and all that we breathed
And all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds
Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocably
And we spoke up in turns 'til the silence crept over me
And bless you, and I deeply do
No longer resolute, oh and I call to you
But the water go so cold
And you do lose what you don't hold
This is an old song, these are old blues
And this is not my tune, but it's mine to use
And the seabirds where the fear once grew
Will flock with a fury and they will bury what'd come for you
And down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
You and I, and a love so tender
Stretched on a hoop where I stitched this adage:
"Bless our house and its heart so savage"
And all that I want, and all that I need
And all that I've got is scattered like seed
And all that I knew is moving away from me
And all that I know is blowing like tumbleweed
And the mealy worms in the brine will burn
In a salty pyre among the fauns and ferns
And the love we hold, and the love we spurn
Will never grow cold, only taciturn
And I'll tell you tomorrow
Sadie, go on home now
And bless those who've sickened below
And bless us who have chosen so
And all that I've got and all that I need
I tie in a knot and I lay at your feet
And I have not forgot, but a silence crept over me
So dig up your bone, exhume your pine cone, my Sadie