¤ milky moon ¤

This is where we get to discuss Joanna's beautiful new song, unofficially called The Diver's Wife. It's amaaaazing.

You can find speculative lyrics, and maybe a recording, in this .

New contributions to the lyrics would be great.

What do y'all think?

I hear:

A diver is my love
(and I am his if I am to be deceived),
who takes one breath above for every hour below the sea,
who gave to me a jewel,
worth twice this woman's life
though it cost her less
than laying at low tide to see her true love phosphoresce.

and also:

And never will I weep.
I'll hunt the pearl of death
to the bottom of my life.
And ever hold my breath till I may be the diver's wife.

"And in an infinite capsize,
like a bull tearing down the coast, [I was initially hearing 'bow' which doesn't work -- I switched to bull upon remembering The Last Unicorn, thinking it could possibly be a reference, and it certainly sounds like bull as well. Not really sure though, it might be too out-of-place.]
double hulls*, bearing double masts.
I don't know if you loved me most,
but you loved me last."

When I heard this live I could have sworn she sang:

"like a boat tearing down the coast,"

which fits in with capsize, masts, hulls

yeah "boat" , imma give up use guys too fast for us oldies

...death is more expensive than pearls laying at low tide can be dangerous or diving without the right equipment

this song could well be in the line with the one about the girl that drowned, seems under water is a real theme for JNew

In french... "La femme d'hiver".

I'm out

All I know is that I live on the coast in Florida, and at night you can go to certain bridges along the coast and see particles glowing in the water. I've always been told it's "ocean phosphorescence," which some people say is actually bioluminescence. I'm not sure exactly what Joanna means, but it relates to the jewel she mentions, which is also a shiny, sparkling thing.

Here's another difference I hear:

i dream it every night
the ringing of the ? (not convinced it's 'pale')
the motes of sand dislodge the shocking, cooking bright
That 'tween that cast-off shells reveal a single heart of white.

This part would make much more sense if she sang, "That 'tween the cast-off shells," so either I've got it wrong or maybe she sang it wrong. This happens sometimes when trying out new material. ;)

that second line isn't what it seems....

i'm hearing

i yum hated...which isn't it, but don't think it is" i am his"...

Beautiful song! OK, I did my part. Now, I'll leave it to you guys to do the analysis.

"Tell me why is the pain of birth
Lighter borne than the pain of death"

I'm tempted to hear Nabokov's influence in these lines. (See my comment history for more stabs in that direction). Their meaning is very close to that of the opening sentences of "Speak, Memory", Nabokov's autobiography. Read it for yourself at http://bit.ly/MyNUYT. Most coincidences are just that, and I'm aware there's no way I can lose or this game (save deus ex), but since it's the very first lines of the book, and seems like something she'd pick up on, and she's known (somehow -- anyone have a reference?) to be a Nabokov fan, I'm calling it on this side of "worth suggesting".

I really don't have anything to add besides it's beautiful. Can't wait for the album. Such a nice treat today!

I swear, I typed out a longer post before I gave up and "phosphorous" was my interpretation of those sounds; "phosphoresce" makes more sense. "Bell" would certainly be a good fit, given Ys, but that the word doesn't sound a whole lot like "bell".

I hear "the divers and the sealers", not "singers".

I'm almost crying, this is so beautiful.

I think it could be bell, pale doesn't fit the rhyme scheme nearly as well. Perhaps it's pail instead of pale? I do hear whirl instead of world - she really doesn't pronounce a d at all - and the word before it is still a total mystery. Severing? Sovereign?

Also, does he lurk the waves that lay a bed of shining pearls?

EDIT: oooh update, apparently it could be "this arid world", which really does sound right. At the same time, the world presented in the song clearly isn't arid, but oh well.