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Barren rocks and sand, Bear & Fox held hands,
held like a timber hitch, held candles to the sun
Both faint and fading fast, they walked on, windward
kept time with a pocketmouse, mouths kept mostly shut
Thought broke the silence like a bone
FOX: [half-moaning] "you've worn me like an albatross,
I've only slowed you down.
You could've long traded in your braided crown by now
you could've found that Anabaptist girl you always used to go on about
As we rode in circles on our bicycles;
we walked on balance beams
the audience cheered for us
We burned like fevers under carriage hats
hid behind Venetian masks
In our human costumes
We stood like statues once in shepherd's check
we'll both be decked in herringbone,
wrapped border drab around already broken ironstone"
BEAR: "But I've seen these cliffs before,
St. Agnes brought her palm branch to the hospital
looked upward lest the charm had fled
from my brother's breathing bed
And when he died I shut his dogtooth violet eyes:
He looked just like me
climb on down and see
they laid him on the rocks below
there'll be enough to fill your cup for days;
I'll stay up here and rest.
[aside] We'll fly in straight lines as from carronades
we'll crash like tidal waves, decimate the islands
As our hollowed lumber falls like water, ends where I start
In that tattered rag shop back in Asbury Park
Look how soon my hands won't move
but if you'll improve, we'll all improve
Sixty feet and my feet won't move
but if you'll improve, we'll all improve
Forty feet, my legs won't move
but as you improve, we all improve
Fill our den with acorn mast,
I'll wake before the salmon pass
Ten foot more and nothing moves"
Lyrics submitted by DarthFly0
Track duration: 04:59
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I'll wake before the salmon pass
Ten foot more and nothing moves"
I am not a native speaker so I just may not interpret it as it should, however for me it seems that just for a second bear hopes to think that it is just a dream, from which he wakes up as if it was the end of winter. "I wake before the salmon pass". But in the nick of time he realizes that he is not dreaming, but passing away in ten more feet.
And I believe that last stanza is supposed to be about Bear's fall toward the rocks below, just him counting the feet before impact.
cbay is spot on in my humble opinion, except that I don't think there really was a brother.
I actually get the impression the story about Bear's "brother" is misdirection... I think Bear intends to throw itself from the cliff to provide food for Fox, but knows Fox won't eat him. So he gives him this story about how his brother (who looks "just like me") is at the bottom, and will "fill your cup for days".
"I'll stay up here and rest" is, I think, a white lie intended to cover for Bear long enough for it to make its sacrifice for Fox.
"...on the new record, there is a song called “Bear's Vision of St. Agnes,” which is super melancholy throughout and has a big, dramatic ending. Well, this music fit perfectly with an idea I’ve wanted to write a song about for years, about an animal throwing itself from a cliff to feed its starving friend (taken from a story my buddy told me, which he said had Buddhist origins – though I don’t know). So in that case, there was a concept waiting around for a while, and when the music came along that fit the concept’s mood, it unfolded pretty easily."
Since the album is a story, this song should be looked at in the context of the rest of the album. This is something I will take into account somewhat, but there is likely more that could be learned from looking closely at other songs.
Bear and Fox are wandering together, and, as noted in "Fox's Dream of a Log Flume", they have already had a discussion where (I think) Bear seems to recount a tale of unrequited love and Fox depicts his dream of Bear's suicide ("...and that you jumped from the top of the log flume.")
"Bear's Vision..." brings us back to Fox and Bear, now wandering and apparently growing weak from hunger. The fox feels that it is a burden to Bear ("you've worn me like an albatross, I've only slowed you down") this could be referring to their physical journey, but also relationally
"You could've long traded in your braided crown (virginity?) by now you could've found that Anabaptist girl you always used to go on about".
Apparently, Bear has talked to Fox about a girl he was interested in throughout their time in the circus. It's likely that their starving is somehow thematically related to celibacy and the unfulfillment of each of their relational/sexual desires towards others and each other (also: "we burned like fevers under carriage masks").
The pair approach the Asbury Cliffs (referenced in Fox's dream). Here, Bear says that his brother has passed away and has been laid at the bottom. Mention is made of St. Agnes (saint of virginity/chastity, among other things) and how she was present at the hospital where his brother died. The saint averted her eyes at Bear's brother's death (possibly due to some sort of sexual impurity, or to assume purity and and avoid disappointment?). Bear tells Fox his brother is located at the bottom of the cliff, and that Fox should climb down where "there'll be enough to fill your cup for days". It may be that Bear is telling Fox to eat the remains of his brother to avoid starvation (though Bear says of himself "I'll stay up here and rest"). "There'll be enough to fill your cup for days" might be a reference to the traditional story of the death of St. Agnes, where believers soaked up her spilt blood with rags (insinuating that Bear's brother was indeed a virgin at his death).
Presumably, Bear is trying to get some privacy from Fox so that he can throw himself from the top of the cliff to join his brother and fulfill Fox's earlier dream. In his aside, Bear descibes his fall and his return to his beginnings (which ties in with the next song on the album):
"We'll fly in straight lines as from carronades we'll crash like tidal waves, decimate the islands as our hollowed lumber falls like water, ends where I start in that tattered rag shop back in Asbury Park"
While it looks like Bear is trying to preserve Fox's life, Bear does say "We'll" when describing his death. Not sure what to think about that. The song ends with a stanza I am somewhat clueless on. It seems that Bear may be describing how quickly his strength is leaving him and telling Fox that his survival will make Bear's death and sacrifice (more food for Fox?) worthwhile. If my theory of Bear offering his brother and himself as sustenance is correct (it may not be), this song is slightly dark, but also beautiful.
Further thoughts/corrections welcome.
St. Agnes looked up from Bear's death because Bear committed suicide, which is a mortal sin that cannot be repented off (even though his intentions were pure). The ending chorus is, to me, Bear slowly dying and telling himself that as long as fox is saved from starvation, the world will be better ("we'll all improve") and thus his sacrifice is worth it. His death will be a good death, to paraphrase Henri Nouwen.
I think Fox is supposed to be Aaron himself? Or is that Bear?