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There's a random painted highway
And a muzzle of bees
My sleeves have come unstitched
From climbing your tree
And dogs laugh, some say they're barking
I don't think they're mean
Some people get so frightened
Of the fences in between
And the sun gets passed from tree to tree
Silently, and back to me
With the breeze blown through
Pushed up against the sea
Finally back to me
I'm assuming you got my message
On your machine
I'm assuming you love me
And you know what that means
Sun gets passed, sea to sea
Silently, and back to me
With the breeze blown through
Pushed up above the leaves
With the breeze blown through
My head upon your knee
Half of it's you, half is me
Half of it's you, half is me
And a muzzle of bees
My sleeves have come unstitched
From climbing your tree
And dogs laugh, some say they're barking
I don't think they're mean
Some people get so frightened
Of the fences in between
And the sun gets passed from tree to tree
Silently, and back to me
With the breeze blown through
Pushed up against the sea
Finally back to me
I'm assuming you got my message
On your machine
I'm assuming you love me
And you know what that means
Sun gets passed, sea to sea
Silently, and back to me
With the breeze blown through
Pushed up above the leaves
With the breeze blown through
My head upon your knee
Half of it's you, half is me
Half of it's you, half is me
Lyrics submitted by eastcidskl
Track duration: 04:52
"Muzzle of Bees" as written by Jeff Tweedy Jim O'rourke
Lyrics © BUG MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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There's a random painted highway
And a muzzle of bees
My sleeves have come unstitched
From climbing your tree
Sounds like he's on the road (the muzzle of bees being a the sound of the car/van/bus) and he thinking of someone he loves and what he would do to be with them. Maybe this person makes him feel young and giddy, like a kid climbing a tree to see a girl he likes.
And dogs laugh, some say they're barking
I don't think they're mean
Some people get so frightened
Of the fences in between
I agree these dogs could be his doubts laughing at him, but could also show that he's not afraid of the consequences of loving someone.
And the sun gets passed from tree to tree
Silently, and back to me
With the breeze blown through
Pushed up against the sea
Finally back to me
Again he could be thinking of someone while he on the road. Could signify each passing day.
I'm assuming you got my message
On your machine
I'm assuming you love me
And you know what that means
He knows she got the message as she got with him and that she loves him and you know he loves her back.
I don't know that's how I always looked at that part of the song...
"There's a random painted highway
And a muzzle of bees"
- I envision Tweedy traveling on tour. The muzzle of bees may be his feeling of self (or somewhat forced) restraint from being able to effectively convey his message (referred to later).
"My sleeves have come unstitched
From climbing your tree"
- Like the expression "heart on your sleeve", I feel Tweedy feels he might have somewhat lost his skill to convey what is in his heart. The Tree? The listener. I sense that Tweedy feels a disconnect with his listener.
"And dogs laugh, some say they're barking
I don't think they're mean
Some people get so frightened
Of the fences in between"
- "And..." continues from the previous stanza, which makes me feel that the dogs are barking at him as he climbs the tree. Perhaps the dogs are his doubts; they laugh at him, but he doesn't necessarily feel they are antagonistic. He clarifies this by mentioning people being afriad of fences. Perhaps these fences partition him from the dogs, his doubts, which gives him no reason to fear them. On the other hand, the idea of being afraid of fences may conjure up the idea of fearing what you don't know. I admit I'm a bit cloudy here.
The next stanza presents one overarching theme I feel and introduces another idea in the song: collectiveness. The sun and breeze pass on from one tree (listener) to the next, and back to him, the writer. Here, tweedy may be introducing the idea that the collective experience/character/consciousness among his listeners and himself alleviates his writer’s anxiety. Reminds me a bit of Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.”
In the next stanza, I do not think that Tweedy is mentioning an answering machine, but something like a record player (or mp3 player nowadays). He addresses his audience (being on tour, I see him on stage now) saying “I assume you’re a listener, and that you like what I write, and you know what that means…I appreciate that you’re here. This is what gives me solidarity with you, the listener, and myself, the writer.”
After repeating the chorus, he mentions the breeze again, and he feels the collective nature of the audience. His head on their knee, I feel, is a simple indication of his elated feeling of physical proximity to the audience. The feeling manifests collective happiness, once again, half of it being contributed from the audience, and half from the band, together making that good feeling happen.
it sounds so full of life to me and everytime i hear muzzle of bees it paints a different picture in my mind.
my favourite part of the song is close to the beginning when it says "The sun gets passed from tree to tree, silently and back to me" it sounds wicked.
i have the pleasure of seeing wilco next month and i am SO stoked. they rock my world.
some of it makes sense that way
If you want an album that has an even sound level from start to finish, why don't you go out and record one yourself, since you seem to know exactly how it should be done.
And maybe knees are some sort of fetish for Jeff Tweedy because he has several lyric references to them. "Under your bended knee..."
For some reason this song connects to Heavy Metal Drummer in the way that he is going on some sort of a vacation with the people he loves.