Probably not abortion, but definitely the loss of a child. Both this and On A Good Day sound to me like a woman mourning a miscarriage, not wanting to abort a child.
I agree that the image of a skinned bunny, held "upended, kicking and mewling, unsung and blue" evokes a baby, but I think the "unsung and blue" is key - the baby dying before birth.
~told her "wherever you go,
little runaway bunny,
I will find you."~
I think she's saying here that she won't be able to let go of this lost child. That's the theme here - imagining what the baby would have looked like as it grew up. Walking around lake, etc. She can't let go of this child that never came to be.
The following song "On A Good Day" she talks about still being frozen by this loss, but she has made progress. She can see the end (on a good day).
HOWEVER, I don't think this is from Joanna's perspective, but her sister's. The song "Esme" has a verse:
And I do not know
If you know just what you have done
You are the sweetest one
I have ever laid my eyes upon
And...
The phantom of love moves among us at will
Each phantom-limb lost has got an angel
So confused like the wagging bobbed-tail of a bulldog
Kindness, kindness prevails
I think these allude to her sister Emily's losing one child, but finally having Esme - who doesn't replace Baby Birch, but still brings joy and life back to her.
A lot of people talk about the album being about relationships (which some songs are), but I think the core of the album centers around this. I imagine her going back home to Nevada City and helping Emily deal with this loss, then a new birth, all while taking into account everything that has changed in her life and that of her loves ones.
Esme was a friend's child, as far as I know, not Emily's, but that doesn't invalidate your point -- pretty sure the friend (Jamie, maybe? I remember reading that name...) lives in Nevada City. Interesting thought.
Esme was a friend's child, as far as I know, not Emily's, but that doesn't invalidate your point -- pretty sure the friend (Jamie, maybe? I remember reading that name...) lives in Nevada City. Interesting thought.
Probably not abortion, but definitely the loss of a child. Both this and On A Good Day sound to me like a woman mourning a miscarriage, not wanting to abort a child.
I agree that the image of a skinned bunny, held "upended, kicking and mewling, unsung and blue" evokes a baby, but I think the "unsung and blue" is key - the baby dying before birth.
~told her "wherever you go, little runaway bunny, I will find you."~
I think she's saying here that she won't be able to let go of this lost child. That's the theme here - imagining what the baby would have looked like as it grew up. Walking around lake, etc. She can't let go of this child that never came to be.
The following song "On A Good Day" she talks about still being frozen by this loss, but she has made progress. She can see the end (on a good day).
HOWEVER, I don't think this is from Joanna's perspective, but her sister's. The song "Esme" has a verse:
And I do not know If you know just what you have done You are the sweetest one I have ever laid my eyes upon
And...
The phantom of love moves among us at will Each phantom-limb lost has got an angel So confused like the wagging bobbed-tail of a bulldog Kindness, kindness prevails
I think these allude to her sister Emily's losing one child, but finally having Esme - who doesn't replace Baby Birch, but still brings joy and life back to her.
A lot of people talk about the album being about relationships (which some songs are), but I think the core of the album centers around this. I imagine her going back home to Nevada City and helping Emily deal with this loss, then a new birth, all while taking into account everything that has changed in her life and that of her loves ones.
Esme was a friend's child, as far as I know, not Emily's, but that doesn't invalidate your point -- pretty sure the friend (Jamie, maybe? I remember reading that name...) lives in Nevada City. Interesting thought.
Esme was a friend's child, as far as I know, not Emily's, but that doesn't invalidate your point -- pretty sure the friend (Jamie, maybe? I remember reading that name...) lives in Nevada City. Interesting thought.
Hmm... Interesting points.
Hmm... Interesting points.