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Okay, most people who see me on the daily might have noticed my obsession with Joanna Newsom's Ys. This album is an anomaly, to say the least. Anyway, there are only five "songs," so it's impossible to pick a favorite. Thus, here are my top five lyrical "moments."

5. "Only Skin"

"...with your hands in your pockets, stubbily running
to where I'm unfresh, undressed and yawning
well, what is this craziness? this crazy talking?
you caught some small death when you were sleepwalking

it was a dark dream, darlin', it's over
the firebreather is beneath the clover
beneath his breathing there is cold clay, forever
a toothless hound-dog choking on a feather

but I took my fishingpole (fearing your fever)
down to the swimminghole, where there grows bitter herb
that blooms but one day a year by the riverside - I'd bring it here:
apply it gently
to the love you've lent me..."

4. "Monkey & Bear"

"...they trooped past the guards,
past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards
all night, till finally:

the space they gained grew
much farther than the stone that bear threw
to mark where they'd stop for tea

but walk a little faster
and don't look backwards
your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture

when the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap
and their applause caws the kettle black
and we can't have none of that!

move along, Bear; there, there; that’s that
(though cast in plaster
our Ursala's heart beat faster
than monkey's ever will)..."

3. "Sawdust & Diamonds"

"...I wanted to say: why the long face?
sparrow, perch and play songs of long face
burro, buck and bray songs of long face!
sing: I will swallow your sadness and eat your cold clay
just to lift your long face

and though it may be madness, I will take to the grave
your precious longface
and though our bones they may break, and our souls separate
- why the long face?
and though our bodies recoil from the grip of the soil
- why the long face?..."

2. "Cosmia"

"...and all those lonely nights down by the river
brought me bread and water (water, in)
but though I tried so hard my little darling
I couldn't keep the night from coming in

and all those lonely nights down by the river
I was brought my bread and water by the kith and the kin
now in the quiet hour when I am sleepin'
I cannot keep the night from comin' in..."

1. "Emily"

"...we could stand for a century
starin'
with our heads cocked
in the broad daylight at this thing
joy
landlocked
in bodies that don't keep..."


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So, that's that. Listening to this shit can seem like the equivalent of reading a book of poems from a century or two ago- most fans either see this is as laudable or deplorable. And she's only twenty-five or something. Kickass. Young America. Signing off.

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