Lyrics for The Island: Come and See; The Landlord's... as interpreted by Nodima

The Island: Come and See; The Landlord's... Lyrics
Come and See

There's an island hidden in the sound
Lapping currents lay your boat aground
Affix your barb and bayonet
The curlews carve their arabesques
And sorrow fills the silence all around
Come and see

There's a harbor lost within the reeds
A jetty caught in overhanging trees
Among the bones of cormorants
No boot-mark here nor fingerprint
The rivers roll down to a soundless sea
Come and see
Come and see

The tides all come and go
Witnessed by no waking eye
The willows mark the wind
And all we know for sure
Amidst this fading light
We'll not go home again
Come and see
Come and see

In the lowlands, nestled in the heath
A briar-cradle rocks its babe to sleep
Its contents watched by Sycorax
And Patagon in parallax
A foretold rumbling sounds below the deep
Come and see
Come and see

The tides all come and go
Witnessed by no waking eye
The willows mark the wind
And all we know for sure
Amidst this fading light
We'll not go home again
Come and see
Come and see

The Landlord's Daughter

As I was a-ramble
Down by the water
I spied in sable
The landlord's daughter
I produced my pistol, then my saber
Said, "Make no whistle or thou will be murdered!"

She cursed, she shivered
She cried for mercy
"My gold and silver if thou will release me!"

"I'll take no gold, miss, I'll take no silver
But I'll take those sweet lips, and thou will deliver!"

You'll Not Feel the Drowning

I will dress your eyelids
With dimes upon your eyes
Laying close to water
Green your grave will rise
Go to sleep, little ugly
Go to sleep, you little fool
Forty-winking in the belfry
You'll not feel the drowning
You'll not feel the drowning

Forget you once had sweethearts
They've forgotten you
Think you not on parents
They've forgotten too
Go to sleep now, little ugly
Go to sleep now, you little fool
Forty-winking in the belfry
You'll not feel the drowning
You'll not feel the drowning

Go to sleep, little ugly
Go to sleep, little fool
Forty-winking in the belfry
You'll not feel the drowning
You'll not feel the drowning

Hear you now the captain
Heed his sorrowed cry
Weight upon your eyelids
Is dimes laid on your eyes

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Kitrona
09-12-2009

Rated 0 
"Come and see" could be a Biblical reference to Revelations: The Apocalypse of John, Chapter 6:

. . . and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!"

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adsen
06-15-2009

Rated 0 
There are some interesting theories on here, no doubt. I'd just like to add that as I was reading Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, there is in fact a landlord's daughter who believes that her father, the landlord, is taking in a murderer. Now I'm not really giving much away here as it's really within the first 40 pages of the book--

Man: "Much obliged to you, Miss Wilfer."
Daughter: "Obliged?"
Man: "I have given you so much trouble."
Daughter: "Signing my name? Yes, certainly. But I am your landlord's daughter, sir."

One paragraph later--

Daughter: "Pa," said Bella, "we have got a Murderer for a tenant."

Now I can't say that this is what the song is about, because I'm almost sure it's not, but I suppose I'll have to finish reading the book! There are definitely some interesting parallels, though.

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karenina
04-01-2009

Rated 0 
"I produced my pistol, then my saber"

Is the reference to a saber what I think it is? Or is my mind just too graphic?


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blue.painted.tears
03-29-2009

Rated 0 
Utter, uncompromising brilliance. This song covers the whole spectrum, mysterious, mischievous, haunting, remorseful, beautiful.

And I want to read The Tempest now, as I'm sure tons of other people do.

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bivvy
03-15-2009

Rated 0 
Obviously all the albums have a theme, but they do not just "put pretty words with their pretty sounds". All of their songs tell a story and if you would just read the lyrics it's pretty clear.
I think all of these songs are separate and the reason they were put on one track is because the music blends together.

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Dulynoted
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
I think the interpretation of these lyrics can be taken many ways, but a brief analysis of "The Highwayman" demonstrates it's almost certainly not the basis of the song. The Highwayman and Bess, the Landlord's daughter, seemed to have a consensual relationship. She commits suicide to warn him of the soldiers who have been stationed there. (A jealous servant betrays them.) Whereas "The Landlord's Daughter" sounds like rape. And the piratish-rogue/lovely daughter seem to be relatively common archetypes in literature, Bess is not the only landlord's daughter.

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beatbox55
12-20-2008

Rated 0 
anyone know "deja vu" by Crosby Stills Nash and Young? Doesnt it sound so like this at the start?!

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personmanthingguy
12-04-2008

Rated 0 
The colonial american idea sticks as the one that makes that makes the most sense to me. Come and See could be the view of America most people had before landing - savage, and horrible, yet inviting. The "we'll not go home again," line alludes to the finality of going to America, the fact you'll probably never go home unless you can bear (or afford) the horrible voyage again.

Landlord's Daughter seems to be much more metaphorical. Could the rapist be Britain, and the daughter the colonies? I'm not sure about how this works with the landlord also having to be Britain, but still. Britain seems less intent on getting money in the end, than with the "conquest" (coughcough) of America, forcing her to obey, breaking her spirit. Of course, this could be about a physical rape, but I enjoy over analyzing stuff. :D

You'll Not Feel the Drowning could be an extension of the last song, the attempted rape/murder of America. Coins on the eyes reminds me of the taxes Britain would force on America. Sort of a last ironic gesture, "You can have your money, but I don't think you could enjoy it very much...". The line about heeding the captain also reminds me of the relationship between America and Britain. Heed the captain (England), or else. The sorrowed cry could be regret as America began to win the fight for independence?

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slipkid7
11-26-2008

Rated 0 
I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned Jethro Tull as a major musical influence for this song (unless I missed it) as well as other songs on this album. Just listen to Tull's classic rock-opera Thick As A Brick and hear the similarities: swirling organs, Irish jigs, and enigmatic lyrical metaphors, alliterations, and jumbled rhymes that that are both haunting and humorous -- a cryptic social commentary bordering on the absurd.

I was pleased to see the Harp piece on them mentioned this as well, along with the more obvious (and standard) Pink Floyd reference.

Anyone have more Tull similarities?

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callmestonewall8
10-06-2008

Rated +1 
there are a lot of shakespeare refferences in their songs. colin malloy used to teach english at harvard so it makes sense that he would know a lot about that.

as for my take on it. i think its about the tempest (obviously) but that ferdinand, the innocent prince of naples, rapes and kills miranda rather than wooing her and gaining prospero (her father)'s approval. its more or less a spin off of past values meets the current take what you want and ask questions later mindset.

colin malloy wants to be a pirate.

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Marnicx
07-27-2008

Rated 0 
With the reference to Miranda and the fact that she's a virgin, it seems odd that they'd also mention "my sweet untouched Miranda" in We Both Go Down Together.

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jessimocha
02-06-2008

Rated 0 
To me it goes like this:

the island: an approaching storm, and basically what happens to the ship.
"there's a harbour lost within the reeds/a jetty caught in overhanging trees" the ship crashed into the shore of this island, and it's all smashed up and all over the place

"no bootmark here or fingerprint" no one survived

then the landlord's daughter is a sailor on the ship, the captain maybe, someone's regrets on what they did in life. sort of a last confession of a great sin.


and "you'll not feel the drowning"

is the captain telling the sailors to sleep so they won't feel the drowning.

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LateRose
01-25-2008

Rated 0 
the island is my favorite song out of all three. this was the first decemberist song i heard when i got this album, and it caught my attention and made me fall in love with the decemberists. i absolutely adore it. Colin is a genius, seriously. and the iambic pentameter is so perfect! this is my favorite band now and this song is the reason why

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shotahsea
01-17-2008

Rated 0 
i love "you'll not feel the drowning".

it's pretty awesome. it's about death, but it feels like a lullaby.

i always forget it's about death when i'm listening to it.

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sucia
12-20-2007

Rated 0 
I picked up on the iambic pentameter as I was falling asleep one day, and I absolutely agree on the Tempest. I did find this, tho, regarding You’ll Not Feel the Drowning. Colin described in Harp Magazine as follows:

The third part of it, “You’ll Not Feel the Drowning,” while I think it’s misread as a murder song, it’s really a monologue of a sailor telling one of the cabin boys that, in rough seas, he should just go to sleep and he won’t feel the drowning. And that’s taken directly from (British travel writer) Bruce Chatwin’s (1977) book, In Patagonia, where that scene is described."

He doesn’t say anything about the rest of the song- you can read it here:

http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=4805

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ngansen
12-18-2007

Rated 0 
One thing I love about actually reading the lyrics is that it helps you see the "big picture" of the song. For instance, the perspective: Come and See is told in the third person; Landlord's Daughter is told in the first person; and You'll Not Feel the Drowning is told in the second person. It may not mean anything in the context of the song, but as a work of art it's admirable the subtle yet notable distinction in the story-telling.

And seriously? Iambic pentameter? It's fantastic! Who does that?

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imaginaryordinary
11-07-2007

Rated 0 
I know this is not what the song is actually about, but to me, "You'll Not Feel the Drowning" is about abortion.

This morning I woke up to this song, and I was still in that half-dream state and this really vivid music video type image went through my head:

"I will dress your eyelids
With dimes upon your eyes"
A girl is emptying her bank account to pay for an abortion

"Laying close to water
Green your grave will rise"
flashback: she is bent over the toilet with her first morning sickness

"Go to sleep, little ugly
Go to sleep, you little fool
Forty-winking in the belfry
You'll not feel the drowning
You'll not feel the drowning"
She is in a hospital and there are doctors and nurses talking around her, but not to her. Everything starts to get fuzzy and goes black by the end of the refrain

"Forget you once had sweethearts
They've forgotten you"
She is holding the pregnancy test in her hand, crying and desperatley trying to get in touch with her boyfriend. The scene cuts to him with another girl as he sees her call and turns the ringer off

"Think you not on parents
They've forgotten too"
Her mother is sitting crying as her father yells at her to get out of the house

second refrain:
Dream-like images of her as a mother with her child, going on a picnic, playing on the playground, holding hands etc...images dissolve as she wakes up

The rest of the song shows her leaving the clinic alone, getting in to her car, getting on the highway and driving to an unknown destination

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labyrinthofstreets
10-26-2007

Rated 0 
...well. As lovely as this song is, I'm a bit disappointed with the analysis' I've been reading. I was under the impression that the entire Crane Wife album was based on the Japanese folk tale, the Crane Wife. So, if anything, wouldn't this song be a reflection of that story? Maybe I'm wrong. Whatever.

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absolin
09-27-2007

Rated 0 
This Tempest play follows the three unities of Place / Time / Action, a rarity for Shakespeare. The Decemberists mimic this in the three parts of their songs: Home / Rape / Death.

Calaban, sad and alone on the isle long after Prospero has left, is being consumed by isolation and sings three unities:
Come and See: A lost hope that men will return to the island.
The Landlord’s Daughter: Reminiscing of companionship, Miranda enters his thoughts. His attempted rape shows both his lust for company and the reason he’s been left alone.
You’ll Not Feel the Drowning: Calaban is singing about his own death, yet to come. He’s semi-consciously considering suicide, of lying down at low tide staying there.

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fatcat
09-19-2007

Rated 0 
Well, I think of it as a tale telling the stoy of a miltary assault gone awry. In The Island, he says "fix your barbs and bayonets," so that's obviously a reference to a military campaign f some sort. I think of The Landlord's daughter as told from the POV of a soldier who escaped the slaughter and is now wandering the countryside, coming across a woman and raping her. Then I take the final part as being told from the POV of a person finding the bodies of all these soldiers who died far from home. Also, I had a question about the landlord's daughter. When he says "I spied in sable" does he mean that he was in mourning, or she was mourning, or that neither of them were in mourning and she was just wearing the fur of a sable?

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InsanityAgain
08-24-2007

Rated 0 
To caitsith01: (who wrote: "One complaint - I don't like Colin's use of "thou", and in, "I'll take those sweet lips, and thou will deliver". It just sounds forced.")

It sounds forced because the conjugation should be "wilt." But personally I think the "thou" form is correct there. Used as a form of contempt -- to indicate inferiority.

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bsheitman
07-29-2007

Rated 0 
I'm glad someone else is feeling the Pink Floyd vibe a well as me. I was starting to hum the rest of the lines of the song....

This album drew heavily from 70's rock. I hear Zeppelin, Rick Wakeman, Floyd, and ELP to name a few.

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mlmccord
07-19-2007

Rated 0 
I like lyricists who leave some room for interpretation much more than I like listeners who are pedantic about meaning, so please don't take me for the latter. This is just what I hear.

It seems to me a song about imperialism, and perhaps about the birth of America. The intro is all swagger, the sound of marching feet and the ring of steel.

"Come and See" is part sales pitch, part warning. The ominous Caliban in the crib is tended by Shakespear's voice of anti-colonialism and a member of a mythical aboriginal South American tribe. Will we not go home again because this is our new home? Because we will die first? Or because we are entering a place that will change us and it irrevocably?

The rape in "The Landlord's Daughter" may at first be seen to be driven by a thirst for wealth (for sable, silver and gold). But like pirates and empires, who also find it easiest to justify their courses in economic terms, the rapist cares more for the act of the conquest, the exercise and proof of his own sick power. "Thou wilt deliver" is more important than whatever is being delivered.

And "You'll Not Feel the Drowning" says more about the lying, cynical speaker than the little fool (who may be a dying soldier of the empire, asked to believe that her sacrifice was for noble reasons, or a victim of the invasion, being told that the carnage was all for his own good). Compare the dimes with the lush, inviting scenery in "Come and See", or the silver and gold, free for the taking in "Daughter". After the conquest, what does the little fool get? The thinnest and smallest of coins, not even the silver dollars of tradition, but ten cents. Empire, after all, is for the emperors.

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LadyBaird
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
mchugh: Yay! I'm not the only person who thinks that way about this song! XD

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Lothos
07-05-2007

Rated 0 
"Incase you didn't know, a curlew is a shorebird and an arabesque seems to be here used as the design that they carve into their tree trunks."

Or perhaps it's referring to the french meaning of arabesque, which is a pose in ballet. The dancer stands on one leg, straight or bent, with the other leg raised behind, fully extended. The arms are held in a harmonious position to give the longest possible line from fingertips to toes.

So perhaps it is describing the curlews "carving" through the air, gracefully gliding and turning while they spread their wings wide, imitating a ballet dancer performing an arabesque.

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