seems to be a sexual analogy

most of the time gbv songs mean, well, not much (there's quite a few notable exceptions) mostly bob's free association BUT since doug gillard wrote this song (and i can't quite figure out if it was a gem or cobra verde song - gbv merely covered it) who the hell knows what it's about.

I have the leaves that will fall off when wind blows by

I don't know anything about Guided By Voices, just discovered them, but I love this one. I think the tree's an analogy of himself.

"I am a tree - I show my age when I don't cry
I have the leaves that will fall off when wind blows by
Don't strip off my bark - I have been stripped of it before
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow has so much more in store"

By not crying he shows that he's more mature, but even something as gentle (or tough, in some situations) as the wind can blow parts of him off. He's been hurt by having his bark stripped, and yet he looks forwards to the future [or is possibly just convincing himself, see below...]

"You are a bird - you're taking off in every way
Say the last word until there is nothing more to say"

I love the first one, someone he wants to say is leaving him. I'm not sure about the say the last word line. Perhaps saying that she's leaving because there isn't now nor was there ever anything to say?

"Don't interrupt - you know the squirrels are my friends
Get off my limb - for I will break before I bend"

He tries to convince himself that he wants the squirrels as friends. The next line I'm not sure if he's referring to the bird (the girl) or the squirrels (the friends he tries to comfort himself with, knowing they aren't what he wants). If the bird, it's saying that even if she tries to help him, he'll break before he bends to help, even though he wants it. If it's the squirrels, he's telling them that they can't help it, and meaning it.

"I'm planning to see
I'm planning to feel you all over me
So climb up my trunk and build on your nest
Come and get the sap out if me
I am a tree!
Fruitless and free!
No symmetry!
Touch me and see!"

riserius1 said that it seemed like a sexual analogy, and here is where it would seem so. But I have three interpretations. From least likely to most likely in my opinion: 1) He gives himself over and starts having sex with anyone to try and comfort himself. 2) He continues being hopeful, and that one day he will have sex with the girl (the bird). 3) It's not sexual, he simply wants her to keep trying to bend him; to get the sap, the knowledge, out of him. Perhaps to prove that he does in fact have symmetry (or beauty).

"I am a tree - counting my rings will do no good
I won't live long but I would be with you if I could
When you take flight, remember me to one who lives there
Since you have flown, there's something special in the air"

And here he finally returns to ridding himself of his false hope. He wants to be with her, but says he cannot. He hopes that the bird will remember him and tell of him to whomever she meets. And my favorite line; the last one. I love this so much, at first I was thinking something in the air, like a feeling or such, and he was still hopeful. Then I connected it with the bird: since she is in the air, there is something special in it. He doesn't feel bitter towards her, and still considers her beautiful, but there's sadly nothing he can say about it. It's even better, as when she has flown is the same time as when she left him. Gah, I love that so much.

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"Remember me to one who lives there" is a copy from Scarborough Fair by Paul Simon. I actually only noticed that some years after I already knew and loved GBV and this song - caught an airing of The Graduate on cable and heard it, couldn't believe that this song came immediately to mind. Awesome reference.

I Am A Tree is a fantastic, fantastic song about being more comfortable on one's own than as part of a duo, yet still recognizing the beauty of the lost partner, without holding anything against them. For some creatures (like the Tree), being "one" is the natural state. Rather poetic.


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