Upward Over the Mountain

I'm relieved to see a fair number of people actually interpreted this song correctly, that's encouraging. I believe the general premise of the song is a son addresses his mother in various situations over the years in a fashion that, removed from the context of the moment and alligned in the order they have been, creates a near perfect metaphor for the universal relationship of a mother to her son. The mark of true brilliance, in my mind, is to fully accomplish a grand ambition in as simple and basic a fashion as possible. Sam Beam, somehow as a man, encapsulated the bittersweet, ageless sentiment billions of mothers have felt watching their sons grow up. This, along with the innocent love, thankfullness, distance and guilt felt for them by their sons through their lives in just a few short measures. He uses simple, succinct metaphors that contain volumes of profundity that echo so loudly within the human experience. I have my own issues with my mother, but even if only for the sheer beauty of this song, I choke back tears every time I hear it. I can't name one other song I've ever heard that evokes that much emotion from me, years after first hearing it and every time at that. Simple metaphors, simple chord progression, and all the richer for that. Lyrically, this is probably the most brilliant song I've ever heard. Better than anything the beatles, zepplin, or pink floyd could ever write in a million years. I honestly consider this song to be unparalleled in terms of it's lyrical content.

I will say with regard to the specific lyrics, I took a differen't meaning away from a couple of the lines than what I'm seeing from most of the reviewers here. I see the subjects in the song as more realistic people, not lofty metaphorical devices. I think the song is a bit more honest and richer looking at it from that angle.

1. "Mother, remember the blink of an eye when I breathed through your body?" I think Sam is implying that, to her son, the nine months she toiled carrying him seemed to be the blink of an eye from his perspective. He's remembering this vague time before his birth, keeping the consistency of the narrative as coming from him as a small child. This actually operates on a grander metaphorical level when you consider it this way, because something as huge as carrying her son to term amounted to less than a second in his perception. He doesn't realize her sacrifice, her love at his young age, he just wants to play and enjoy himself. He doesn't understand she holds him back out of love, wanting to protect him. He steps over her feelings, unaware in his innocence, as we all do as young children.

2. "Mother, I made it up from the bruise on the floor of this prison." He's gained a bit of independence, he's more sure of himself. This is him resenting his mother, seeking distance and freedom in order to find his own identity. He establishes his own religious beliefs, rebelling against the principles she tried to guide him by. "Mother, forget me now that the creek drank the cradle you sang to." Absoloutely brilliant. He's somewhat guilty for outgrowing her, and asks her to put the burden of her love for him aside now that he feels he's a man. "Mother, I sold your car for the shoes that I gave you." This is a metaphor for having held her back in life. He slowed her life down, he took her independence and gave her something simpler in return. He ends by modifying the end of the chorus from the first, signifying that this is a period of confusion and strife in his life. Looking to the future hopeful that he can be delivered from the chaos into the next chapter of his life, even further from his mother, over the mountain.

3. The third verse is fairly self explanatory. He leaves her a young man, he doesn't have much, but he has enough, He's even found a girl and they're trying to get established, building their future together. Tending a garden is such a beautiful metaphor for this. "Mother, remember the night the dog had her pups in the pantry?". The mother feels such pity for the dog, bearing puppies she loves with her whole heart into a world where she doesn't have the means to care for them. I imagine she knows that they must give the puppies away, but feels such a great sorrow for the dog, knowing also a mothers love and being forced to take her puppies away.

Honestly, this is what music should be. Most anything that sets out to be profound comes off as wordy and prentous, and hardly anything sets out to be profound in the first place. A few songs approach what Sam Beam has accomplished with this song, but none match it and I question if I'll find another song in my lifetime that I consider to be it's equal in terms of resonance and vision.