My favorite album of all time!! Sawdust and Diamonds is my favorite but definitely the most difficult to parse (of a rather lyrically opaque set of songs to begin with). It's, in my interpretation, a metaphorical reckoning with a few major life events that happened to Joanna around this time. The primary one that others have mentioned is the either miscarriage or abortion of a potential child, the "dove" stuffed with the titular sawdust and diamonds - a beautiful, valuable thing that is now dead, taxidermied/remembered with enough love and care to put expensive diamonds in its eyes but propped up by nothing but cheap sawdust all the same (Also a topic she explores much more transparently on her next album Have One On Me with songs like On A Good Day and Baby Birch). The second is the effect this has on the relationship with the presumed father, and how the potential life they could have had together is now gone - "And though we will be fine, what was yours and mine appears to me a sandcastle that the gibbering wave takes." The end of the song focuses on how these experiences have made her mature as a person, and she's ready to move on - "I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight...", "enough of this terror, we deserve to know light, and grow evermore lighter and lighter". All of the songs are amazing through, glad you liked it!! I always love to see new people getting into her music, it's really something special.
The lyric content of this album is quite dense, obfuscated through lots of imagery and metaphor. I've been listening to it since it was released in 2006 and I still don't think I know everything that's going on, exactly. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!
omg... super excited to watch this and hopefully more jnew to come! have one on me is personally my favourite from hers, divers is great too and her first album is definitely good too it's more acoustic and mellow. Great artist, and hopefully a new album from her is on the way
Have One on Me and Divers are also fantastic. Her vocal control and depth change on HOOM, and she really solidifies her singing style. The lyrics are incredible, and still very poetic, but not nearly as abstract and cryptic as these songs. The backing instruments are pretty paired back compared to the decadence of YS. Finally i’ll add, she premiered 5 new songs at a Fleet Foxes surprise concert a few months ago. The recordings are very high quality and her style has changed again. She has even more vocal control and variability. The Air Again is the new fan favorite at the moment
Man holding off on listening to the new songs has been SO hard. Trying to wait until the album. Want to hear them in pristine and intimate quality for the first listen.
@@Meister_Dwight The new songs are in pretty high quality as is. Especially the audio. It’s not like the days of early iphone concert recordings. I’ve listened to them a million times already
Hello from the Czech republic and thanks for your reactions - it's nice to see that the music of my youth (or even older) is interesting to today's generation. I like not only your (genre unlimited) taste, but also how you perceive music. I was going to give you a music tip, but I guess you've probably heard the iconic Dummy album by Portishead before, right?
YESSSSS LFG!!!! Okay, so maybe this album is pretty difficult to parse on a first listen; I've heard it so many times that, while abstract, I can intuit the meaning behind most of it. Let me give you a basic synopsis of the tracks. Emily is Joanna's sister. The song is a nostalgic reckoning of her childhood with her sister, a telling of how her sister helped her through a rough patch of her life (namely, an abortion/miscarriage (it's unsure which) that left Joanna despondent), a condemnation of her sister then having a loose tongue about the situation, and, most pivotally, how both she and her sister draw fascination from stargazing and meteor-watching, but how that fascination differs as they differ from each other. Emily is an astrophysicist, and so is drawn to the science of the cosmos, whereas Joanna has an artistic appreciation of the stars as a marvel of nature. Joanna sets her sister's excited explanations of the distinction between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids to poem (she was an English major in college prior to dropping out to pursue music full-time), but notably gets it wrong somewhere along the way, identifying them incorrectly. This is a symbol used to demonstrate her relationship with her sister, where things aren't always perfect, and their lives have diverted, but she still has much love and fondness for her sister. I'm leaving a rundown of the other songs in separate comments.
Monkey and Bear is an exploration of a romantic relationship fraught with peril. I believe it to be referring to her relationship with Bonny Prince Billy, who she subtly identifies as an abusive partner she once had at the end of the song Go Long on her next album, Have One On Me. Bonny Prince Billy is a music artist from her label, Drag City, who really shopped her homemade demos to the label and helped establish Joanna as a recording artist and performer, taking her on tour with him. I think this is the monkey leading the bear outside her comfort zone of relative obscurity and having her be a dancing bear as referenced in the song. Through honeyed words, he, significantly older than her, pushed her forwards while subsequently leading her on. You see, their relationship was anything but idyllic, as he became more controlling and derogatory and vitriolic towards her. At the end of the song, she breaks away from him, represented as the bear shedding her skin in a place the monkey couldn't reach, and subsequently becoming a constellation of stars, Ursa.
Sawdust and Diamonds is a much trickier song to pin down lyrically, as it describes emotions and ponderings moreso than it does events. Joanna reflects on what could have been had she bore her daughter to term, while also considering the doomed relationship she now has with her boyfriend, musician Bill Callahan, with her unborn daughter driving a wedge between them emotionally, and his depression and trauma making him unavailable emotionally when she truly needs him most, having to instead go to her sister for comfort.
Only Skin goes into depth about Joanna's romantic and sexual relationship with Bill Callahan, his wartime trauma and suicidal ideations and substance abuse, and her prior relationship with Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy). Notably, it is Bill Callahan singing with Joanna in the duet portion of the song. The song retreads a lot of ground, recontextualizing it in various ways and adding details, so there's not too much to discuss in terms of themes. In a way, this song is the most accessible one on the album, despite its labyrinthine abstraction and its runtime. I think if one were to experience this album fresh, this is the song one could glean the most from.
Cosmia is about the death of a dear friend of Joanna's. In it, Joanna ascribes to her friend the likeness of a moth, her spirit leaving Earth as a moth is drawn to the moon. The shortest track on the album, and easily the most emotional, being a musical expression of Joanna's grief and coming to terms with her friend's death. The best song ever written. I love you, Lugga. Thank you for listening to my favorite album. 😻
@@collinbeal There is absolutely no evidence that she was romantically linked to Will Oldham. While Bonnie "Prince" Billy albums are referenced at the end of "Go Long", I wouldn't go so far as to assume "Monkey & Bear" is about him, particularly since they were still seemingly close at the time of Ys's recording, (as evidenced recently on his Instagram of his CD copy of the Albini recordings of the album, though he took a somewhat critical tone in that post). I would just recommend being a bit careful when saying "I believe it is about x person being abusive to x person" when that's not confirmed, nor may it directly involve the people in question. Also, Bill Callahan has wartime trauma? I don't think he was ever in the military and can't find a source to back that claim up.
Helloooo, I'm new here, and I've seen that you react to several albums and I'm here to recommend two in particular, "Serotonin ll" and "Glitch Princess" both are by Yeule :D
can anyone share the name of the anime mentioned around 14:30 related to love letters? can't quite decipher the title & looking up 'anime + love letter' seems too general a query, but my curiosity is piqued
Check out her song Time as a Symptom. It's pretty amazing. BTW, if you want to check out some recent stuff that is very good, and at least partially inspired by Joanna, check out Black Country, New Road. The "Live at Bush Hall" show is here on UA-cam, and it's amazing.
Lmao not “corn wine, Lord, or merlot”! The lyrics is “sun pouring wine, Lord, or marrow into the bones of the bitches and the spires of the churches jutting out from the shadows”
I just started watching but wanna point out right away that these lyrics are way off in some lines. "Some corn wine, lord, or merlot" is just not right. That would be such a bad line. It actually is "sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow".
emily is joanna's sister taht passed away, she was an astrophysicist ("you taught me the names of the stars overhed that i wrote down in my ledger") seh plays the acedemic role between the two of them, while joanna (narrator) represents a more poetically driven kinda person. she promised to write a song about what emily taught her about teh stars, and this is taht song.
I’m loving the love Joanna is getting in recent times
Only Skin is one the most beautiful songs ever written, and that comes from a mad rocker.
JUMPSCARE SEEING THIS RECOMMENDED I NEVER EXPECTED YOU TO REACT TO JOANNA NEWSOM!!!! PLEASE DO JONI MITCHELL TOO BUT DO JOANNAS WHOLE CATALOGUE FIRST❤
I want to echo this comment :D. This reaction was a long time coming, but well worth the wait :D
My favorite album of all time!! Sawdust and Diamonds is my favorite but definitely the most difficult to parse (of a rather lyrically opaque set of songs to begin with). It's, in my interpretation, a metaphorical reckoning with a few major life events that happened to Joanna around this time. The primary one that others have mentioned is the either miscarriage or abortion of a potential child, the "dove" stuffed with the titular sawdust and diamonds - a beautiful, valuable thing that is now dead, taxidermied/remembered with enough love and care to put expensive diamonds in its eyes but propped up by nothing but cheap sawdust all the same (Also a topic she explores much more transparently on her next album Have One On Me with songs like On A Good Day and Baby Birch). The second is the effect this has on the relationship with the presumed father, and how the potential life they could have had together is now gone - "And though we will be fine, what was yours and mine appears to me a sandcastle that the gibbering wave takes." The end of the song focuses on how these experiences have made her mature as a person, and she's ready to move on - "I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight...", "enough of this terror, we deserve to know light, and grow evermore lighter and lighter". All of the songs are amazing through, glad you liked it!! I always love to see new people getting into her music, it's really something special.
The lyric content of this album is quite dense, obfuscated through lots of imagery and metaphor. I've been listening to it since it was released in 2006 and I still don't think I know everything that's going on, exactly. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!
omg... super excited to watch this and hopefully more jnew to come! have one on me is personally my favourite from hers, divers is great too and her first album is definitely good too it's more acoustic and mellow. Great artist, and hopefully a new album from her is on the way
A brilliant piece of work. Thanks for reacting and acknowledging.
Have One on Me and Divers are also fantastic. Her vocal control and depth change on HOOM, and she really solidifies her singing style. The lyrics are incredible, and still very poetic, but not nearly as abstract and cryptic as these songs. The backing instruments are pretty paired back compared to the decadence of YS.
Finally i’ll add, she premiered 5 new songs at a Fleet Foxes surprise concert a few months ago. The recordings are very high quality and her style has changed again. She has even more vocal control and variability. The Air Again is the new fan favorite at the moment
Man holding off on listening to the new songs has been SO hard. Trying to wait until the album. Want to hear them in pristine and intimate quality for the first listen.
@@Meister_Dwight The new songs are in pretty high quality as is. Especially the audio. It’s not like the days of early iphone concert recordings. I’ve listened to them a million times already
Hello from the Czech republic and thanks for your reactions - it's nice to see that the music of my youth (or even older) is interesting to today's generation. I like not only your (genre unlimited) taste, but also how you perceive music. I was going to give you a music tip, but I guess you've probably heard the iconic Dummy album by Portishead before, right?
One of the best!! Will you also check out her other albums?
I dont know yet, maybe :)
@@luggareviews Have One on Me is long, but phenomenal (in a bit of a subtle way). Absolutely worth your time.
YESSSSS LFG!!!! Okay, so maybe this album is pretty difficult to parse on a first listen; I've heard it so many times that, while abstract, I can intuit the meaning behind most of it. Let me give you a basic synopsis of the tracks. Emily is Joanna's sister. The song is a nostalgic reckoning of her childhood with her sister, a telling of how her sister helped her through a rough patch of her life (namely, an abortion/miscarriage (it's unsure which) that left Joanna despondent), a condemnation of her sister then having a loose tongue about the situation, and, most pivotally, how both she and her sister draw fascination from stargazing and meteor-watching, but how that fascination differs as they differ from each other. Emily is an astrophysicist, and so is drawn to the science of the cosmos, whereas Joanna has an artistic appreciation of the stars as a marvel of nature. Joanna sets her sister's excited explanations of the distinction between meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids to poem (she was an English major in college prior to dropping out to pursue music full-time), but notably gets it wrong somewhere along the way, identifying them incorrectly. This is a symbol used to demonstrate her relationship with her sister, where things aren't always perfect, and their lives have diverted, but she still has much love and fondness for her sister. I'm leaving a rundown of the other songs in separate comments.
Monkey and Bear is an exploration of a romantic relationship fraught with peril. I believe it to be referring to her relationship with Bonny Prince Billy, who she subtly identifies as an abusive partner she once had at the end of the song Go Long on her next album, Have One On Me. Bonny Prince Billy is a music artist from her label, Drag City, who really shopped her homemade demos to the label and helped establish Joanna as a recording artist and performer, taking her on tour with him. I think this is the monkey leading the bear outside her comfort zone of relative obscurity and having her be a dancing bear as referenced in the song. Through honeyed words, he, significantly older than her, pushed her forwards while subsequently leading her on. You see, their relationship was anything but idyllic, as he became more controlling and derogatory and vitriolic towards her. At the end of the song, she breaks away from him, represented as the bear shedding her skin in a place the monkey couldn't reach, and subsequently becoming a constellation of stars, Ursa.
Sawdust and Diamonds is a much trickier song to pin down lyrically, as it describes emotions and ponderings moreso than it does events. Joanna reflects on what could have been had she bore her daughter to term, while also considering the doomed relationship she now has with her boyfriend, musician Bill Callahan, with her unborn daughter driving a wedge between them emotionally, and his depression and trauma making him unavailable emotionally when she truly needs him most, having to instead go to her sister for comfort.
Only Skin goes into depth about Joanna's romantic and sexual relationship with Bill Callahan, his wartime trauma and suicidal ideations and substance abuse, and her prior relationship with Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy). Notably, it is Bill Callahan singing with Joanna in the duet portion of the song. The song retreads a lot of ground, recontextualizing it in various ways and adding details, so there's not too much to discuss in terms of themes. In a way, this song is the most accessible one on the album, despite its labyrinthine abstraction and its runtime. I think if one were to experience this album fresh, this is the song one could glean the most from.
Cosmia is about the death of a dear friend of Joanna's. In it, Joanna ascribes to her friend the likeness of a moth, her spirit leaving Earth as a moth is drawn to the moon. The shortest track on the album, and easily the most emotional, being a musical expression of Joanna's grief and coming to terms with her friend's death. The best song ever written. I love you, Lugga. Thank you for listening to my favorite album. 😻
@@collinbeal There is absolutely no evidence that she was romantically linked to Will Oldham. While Bonnie "Prince" Billy albums are referenced at the end of "Go Long", I wouldn't go so far as to assume "Monkey & Bear" is about him, particularly since they were still seemingly close at the time of Ys's recording, (as evidenced recently on his Instagram of his CD copy of the Albini recordings of the album, though he took a somewhat critical tone in that post).
I would just recommend being a bit careful when saying "I believe it is about x person being abusive to x person" when that's not confirmed, nor may it directly involve the people in question.
Also, Bill Callahan has wartime trauma? I don't think he was ever in the military and can't find a source to back that claim up.
Give some more times to it i believe Sawdust & Diamond will be ur fav too and this alb will deserves at least a 9.!
Usually one or two tracks from her are enough for me... But definitely quality
Fantastic album😍😍Fantastic Lugga with whisker😍😍
Helloooo, I'm new here, and I've seen that you react to several albums and I'm here to recommend two in particular, "Serotonin ll" and "Glitch Princess" both are by Yeule :D
can anyone share the name of the anime mentioned around 14:30 related to love letters? can't quite decipher the title & looking up 'anime + love letter' seems too general a query, but my curiosity is piqued
Violet Evergarden :)
@@luggareviews ty!
This album is absolutely amazing. Have One On Me is her best it's truly perfect imo
Check out her song Time as a Symptom. It's pretty amazing. BTW, if you want to check out some recent stuff that is very good, and at least partially inspired by Joanna, check out Black Country, New Road. The "Live at Bush Hall" show is here on UA-cam, and it's amazing.
Lmao not “corn wine, Lord, or merlot”! The lyrics is “sun pouring wine, Lord, or marrow into the bones of the bitches and the spires of the churches jutting out from the shadows”
birches or b! tches?
I thought Joanna does not use curse words in her songs
@@desireandfire lmao, birches*
@@desireandfire typo aside, the word 'bitch' shows up in a couple songs on her first demo EP
only skin lays me out every single time .
Could you do a reaction to Agnes Obel 😊
I live joanna newsom react to divers next!
Are you just "working" off older requests now since its sold out in Kofi? Just curious if theres a point in me asking for Roisin Murphy - Hit Parade
Just old requests from long time viewers :)
But I will take yours to the agenda thx!
@@luggareviews ok i understand... I did actuslly watch some of your videos months ago though :)
@@luggareviews its the singer from moloko btw, not sure if that was obvious. Their one album you reviewed wasn't really their best though imo
they have been requested some time ago multiple times :)@@achnix3167
Yes. You should do some research.
It‘s a first listen what do you expect
I just started watching but wanna point out right away that these lyrics are way off in some lines. "Some corn wine, lord, or merlot" is just not right. That would be such a bad line. It actually is "sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow".
emily is joanna's sister taht passed away, she was an astrophysicist ("you taught me the names of the stars overhed that i wrote down in my ledger") seh plays the acedemic role between the two of them, while joanna (narrator) represents a more poetically driven kinda person. she promised to write a song about what emily taught her about teh stars, and this is taht song.
Emily didn’t pass away she is alive and well 😭
emily is alive 😭
Do u have instagram?