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Here's a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer's early sway
And all the bulbs all comin' in
To begin
The thrushes' bleeding battle with the wrens
Disrupts my reverie again
Pegging clothing on the line
Training jasmine how to vine
Up the arbor to your door
And more
Standing on the landing with the war
You shouldered all the night before
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
A barony of ivy in the trees
Expanding out its empire by degrees
And all the branches burst abloom
In the boom
Heaven sent this cardinal maroon
To decorate our living room
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
And years from now when this old light
Isn't ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
"I give my best to Springville Hill"
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
And summer comes to Springville Hill
Heralding a summer's early sway
And all the bulbs all comin' in
To begin
The thrushes' bleeding battle with the wrens
Disrupts my reverie again
Pegging clothing on the line
Training jasmine how to vine
Up the arbor to your door
And more
Standing on the landing with the war
You shouldered all the night before
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
A barony of ivy in the trees
Expanding out its empire by degrees
And all the branches burst abloom
In the boom
Heaven sent this cardinal maroon
To decorate our living room
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
And years from now when this old light
Isn't ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
"I give my best to Springville Hill"
But once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
You were waking
Day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
And summer comes to Springville Hill
Lyrics submitted by WriterOfFictions
Track duration: 03:58
"June Hymn" as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's: "Heaven sent this card in all maroon to decorate our living room."
As in: The deep wine-red light of a Summer sunset fills their living room like a greeting card from heaven.
Why would Heaven send a red bird into your living room, and why would this be worth mentioning in a song about the majesty of summer? An animal invading the singer's house is out of place, as is the idea of capturing and stuffing a cardinal for display in your house.
BTW: I am a musician and I LOVE emulating his full-throated delivery!
I don't think "cardinal maroon" makes as little sense as you seem to think... he is looking out his window on an early summer day and sees a cardinal. I don't think it has to actually be IN his living room, he is just enjoying the beauty of nature and the arrival of summer.
These songs are obviously bookends in a sense and have different feelings to them, just as spring and winter do... although they both have the sense of looking back and remembering with fondness. In the second verse of January Hymn, the narrator strikes me as an old man looking back fnodly to his childhood memories of winter... while in this song he is a younger man singing of the joys of Spring and wondering if he will still feel that joy as an old man...
June Hymn
Here’s a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer’s early sway
And all the bulbs all coming in
To begin
The thrushes bleating battle with the wrens
Disrupts my reverie again
Pegging clothing on the line
Training jasmine how to vine
Up the arbor to your door
And more
You’re standing on the landing with the war
You shouldered all the night before
And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill
A barony of ivy in the trees
Expanding out its empire by degrees
And all the branches burst to bloom
In the boom
Heaven sent this cardinal maroon
To decorate our living room
Chorus
And years from now when this old light
Isn’t ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
“I give my best to Springville Hill”
Chorus
You're standing on the landing
With the war you shouldered all the night before
and And all the branches burst to bloom
In the boom
Is this a reference to one of the lovers being involved in a war? It would certainly intensify the meaning of the innocent beauty of nature and the closeness of the lovers and their basking in the innocent glory of the moment. I am not that familiar with the whole album that this comes from, and I am aware that the Decemberists write songs that are connected by a story or theme. Could anyone comment on the context of the song within the album? It is most lovely and hard to get out of my mind.
Perhaps the person spent the night awake wrestling with his demons, and while he feels he is on his way to overcoming him, he is sleep deprived, which is clearly visible to anyone who looks while he stands on his porch. He feels confident though, because he's just stepped out into a beautiful morning in a beautiful town. The beginning of summer gives him hope for a new beginning.
Eternal devotion is the heart of this song. Devotion in terms of the achievement of domestic bliss. Devotion to a family home built together. Devotion to a neighborhood that one could not bear to leave even in death. Devotion is objectified by the growth brought by early summer, and personified in the place of Springville Hill.
It's such a beautiful work, so hopeful and certain. I place myself and my partner in the picture Meloy paints us and I am overcome with joy to the point of tears.
Bravo!
Thanks.
And years from now when this old light
Isn’t ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
“I give my best to Springville Hill”
The meaning changes dramatically if you take these as the correct lyrics. At first, with the reference to a 'lie', I thought the song might be a continuation of the January hymn, with the protagonist having given himself over to the delusion of having his love with him (perhaps explaining why she never shows up directly in the song), with 'rye' meaning whiskey (his refuge when the delusion no longer holds).
But with the new lyrics... well, the song becomes much less twisted. :)