I don’t think this song has any specific meaning or purpose, other than to express a sense of religious skepticism, and very poetically, I might add. It draws on several Christian stories, maxims, and beliefs, but adds sinister twists to them. There is a stark juxtaposition of idealistic religious dogma against secular realism. For instance:
“Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms
Yesterday the solace of a poison fish”
The dogwood fable, as explained above by Beam92, specifically alludes to Christ. Sitting under the dogwood blooms could be listening/understanding his teaching, it could be mourning his crucifixion. I prefer the former because during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus fed the masses with one fish–but the fish in this song is poisoned, a twist to traditional dogma, a hint of skepticism. The fish, perhaps an image for the sermon itself, feigns solace. People listen to Jesus and are comforted, but there is something not quite right about what they are hearing, something beneath the surface is not quite healthy–while they are taking in the idealism, they are dying. The body is in pain while the “spirit” soars towards something hopeful and chimerical.
“No one is the saviour they would like to be
The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree”
Despite all Christ’s good intentions, the world is still full of shit. Terrible stuff still happens. Things die, other things eat the dead things (like the buzzard). The buzzard could also be Christ, which I think is a pretty shocking image. He preaches about life after death, an eternity of happiness, all wishes fulfilled. Almost like a buzzard feeding on carrion, his message gains strength on his “afterlife” assertions. People want hope, they want something greater, better than reality; they are more likely to abide by his teachings if they are promised a cushy seat in heaven. Jesus gains strength and followers by feeding on their fears and notions of death. The horses and the “cradle’s unimaginative sense of time” also juxtapose worldly and heavenly life. Horse laughing: “Yes this world sucks; sucker them in by offering better.” The cradle plays the obvious, “unimaginative” eternity card to sway a mass of mortal followers.
“Springtime and the promise of an open fist
A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist”
Jesus rises on Easter, opens his fist to show where the stakes hung him to the cross, but in this instance he is very worldly and contemporary, having a tattoo instead of a hole, and despite having risen from death as the son of God, he still has a broken wrist, a very mortal thing to sport when associated with God. The "flower tattoo" also substantially links Christ to the dogwood image. Anyway, all of this puts his "godhood" into serious doubt: what diving being has a tattoo and broken wrist?
These descriptions are framed by the scene of two people, man and woman, sitting on a hill beneath a tree in the late afternoon. The song's religious skepticism is superbly amplified by the last two lines:
“Lucy tells me jokingly to pe her brow
With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down”
To wipe your brow with a map to heaven doesn’t put much faith or importance in the map. It’s like she’s saying, “Yes, Christ’s promises about eternity are nice, but right now my brow is sweaty and I’d like to clean it. I’ll deal with that other stuff later--if ever. Right now, the sun’s setting and I’d like to watch.”
Just a thought on another religious reference... I know one of the Catholic traditions is that on the way to Golgotha a woman wiped Jesus' brow. So I wonder if that's a wee part of Lucy's joke.
Just a thought on another religious reference... I know one of the Catholic traditions is that on the way to Golgotha a woman wiped Jesus' brow. So I wonder if that's a wee part of Lucy's joke.
@mellow hahaha, love the song - cant help the feeling of being a little out of my depth after reading some of the interpretations on here; thanks for taking the time to write this!
@mellow hahaha, love the song - cant help the feeling of being a little out of my depth after reading some of the interpretations on here; thanks for taking the time to write this!
I don’t think this song has any specific meaning or purpose, other than to express a sense of religious skepticism, and very poetically, I might add. It draws on several Christian stories, maxims, and beliefs, but adds sinister twists to them. There is a stark juxtaposition of idealistic religious dogma against secular realism. For instance:
“Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms Yesterday the solace of a poison fish”
The dogwood fable, as explained above by Beam92, specifically alludes to Christ. Sitting under the dogwood blooms could be listening/understanding his teaching, it could be mourning his crucifixion. I prefer the former because during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus fed the masses with one fish–but the fish in this song is poisoned, a twist to traditional dogma, a hint of skepticism. The fish, perhaps an image for the sermon itself, feigns solace. People listen to Jesus and are comforted, but there is something not quite right about what they are hearing, something beneath the surface is not quite healthy–while they are taking in the idealism, they are dying. The body is in pain while the “spirit” soars towards something hopeful and chimerical.
“No one is the saviour they would like to be The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree”
Despite all Christ’s good intentions, the world is still full of shit. Terrible stuff still happens. Things die, other things eat the dead things (like the buzzard). The buzzard could also be Christ, which I think is a pretty shocking image. He preaches about life after death, an eternity of happiness, all wishes fulfilled. Almost like a buzzard feeding on carrion, his message gains strength on his “afterlife” assertions. People want hope, they want something greater, better than reality; they are more likely to abide by his teachings if they are promised a cushy seat in heaven. Jesus gains strength and followers by feeding on their fears and notions of death. The horses and the “cradle’s unimaginative sense of time” also juxtapose worldly and heavenly life. Horse laughing: “Yes this world sucks; sucker them in by offering better.” The cradle plays the obvious, “unimaginative” eternity card to sway a mass of mortal followers.
“Springtime and the promise of an open fist A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist”
Jesus rises on Easter, opens his fist to show where the stakes hung him to the cross, but in this instance he is very worldly and contemporary, having a tattoo instead of a hole, and despite having risen from death as the son of God, he still has a broken wrist, a very mortal thing to sport when associated with God. The "flower tattoo" also substantially links Christ to the dogwood image. Anyway, all of this puts his "godhood" into serious doubt: what diving being has a tattoo and broken wrist?
These descriptions are framed by the scene of two people, man and woman, sitting on a hill beneath a tree in the late afternoon. The song's religious skepticism is superbly amplified by the last two lines:
“Lucy tells me jokingly to pe her brow With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down”
To wipe your brow with a map to heaven doesn’t put much faith or importance in the map. It’s like she’s saying, “Yes, Christ’s promises about eternity are nice, but right now my brow is sweaty and I’d like to clean it. I’ll deal with that other stuff later--if ever. Right now, the sun’s setting and I’d like to watch.”
Just a thought on another religious reference... I know one of the Catholic traditions is that on the way to Golgotha a woman wiped Jesus' brow. So I wonder if that's a wee part of Lucy's joke.
Just a thought on another religious reference... I know one of the Catholic traditions is that on the way to Golgotha a woman wiped Jesus' brow. So I wonder if that's a wee part of Lucy's joke.
@mellow hahaha, love the song - cant help the feeling of being a little out of my depth after reading some of the interpretations on here; thanks for taking the time to write this!
@mellow hahaha, love the song - cant help the feeling of being a little out of my depth after reading some of the interpretations on here; thanks for taking the time to write this!