Make Hay
Posted: 06 Dec 2016, 16:06So grateful to Joanna for sharing this with us, what an incredible cap-off to Divers. Just thought I'd make a post here to create a space for analysis and discussion if there's any interest- as Adam has noted, posts on the Facebook group tend to get layered over pretty quickly.
I think the line 'it was before our time' really sums up a key component of the Divers era in general- as much as Joanna's music gets labelled as somehow anachronistic, it's pretty clear that her approach to songwriting places her firmly ahead of her time- each album's explorations of narratorship, polysemy and world-building through music simply haven't been done before. In keeping with Divers' questions of what endures, and the legacies that remain, the line might also suggest some bittersweet solace that her work will get the attention and recognition it deserves at some point later in time. It really is the sound of genius; I think 'You Will Not Take My Heart Alive', amongst other things, might refer to this idea of confronting the possibility of erasure, and later resurfacing.
Let's all give the gift of Divers these holidays
Also, 'I was the queen of the rodeo (and everybody'd know)'; the symbolism of horses keeps coming up! Maybe horses are hearts, souls or minds, and hay represents that on which they graze? Do the rhythms in Divers represent canters and trots, or 'en gallops'? Much to discuss!
I think the line 'it was before our time' really sums up a key component of the Divers era in general- as much as Joanna's music gets labelled as somehow anachronistic, it's pretty clear that her approach to songwriting places her firmly ahead of her time- each album's explorations of narratorship, polysemy and world-building through music simply haven't been done before. In keeping with Divers' questions of what endures, and the legacies that remain, the line might also suggest some bittersweet solace that her work will get the attention and recognition it deserves at some point later in time. It really is the sound of genius; I think 'You Will Not Take My Heart Alive', amongst other things, might refer to this idea of confronting the possibility of erasure, and later resurfacing.
Let's all give the gift of Divers these holidays
Also, 'I was the queen of the rodeo (and everybody'd know)'; the symbolism of horses keeps coming up! Maybe horses are hearts, souls or minds, and hay represents that on which they graze? Do the rhythms in Divers represent canters and trots, or 'en gallops'? Much to discuss!