The violets adorned her, and wishers would mourn for hours/ 
but fountains of joy have hollowed her eyes.

Rose Chronicles “Awaiting Eternity” is an obscure song by- and it will not appear on other top 500 lists, but you’ll find it belongs here. The song is haunting and beautiful. The lyrics are purposely obscured, but we know the song is about a woman dying or dead. I am not sure it really matters. The experience I have listening to this song is similar to an opera- you can appreciate it without knowing the words.

“Awaiting Eternity” might have the largest vocal range of any in pop or rock. It is not a sing-along. It sounds like a typical rock song until Kristy Thirsk decides to hit the high notes. They are insane. They don’t sound gratuitous-like those crazy ‘runs’ you find in Mariah Carey songs. These sound like the woman is being vaulted into eternity propelled by the emotion escaping from Thirsk’s voice!

Awaiting Eternity Lyrics

A violent encounter
The red sky was bleeding
Glimpses of heaven
In sections of seven
Awaiting eternity

The violets adorned her
And wishers would mourn for hours
But fountains of joy
Have hollowed her eyes

Soul bound in my body
My eyes are broken windows
Go inside of me
Awaiting eternity

Her breath was all given
And torn by a living heartache
Who’s choking despair
Wrenched with claws she could not bear
Awaiting eternity

Her death withdrew sunshine
Now drops of the separation
Find sharp, jagged mountains
To echo her cries

Soul bound in my body
My eyes are broken windows
Go inside of me
Awaiting eternity

written by: Kristy Thirsk / Judd Cochrane / Richard Maranda / Steven Van Der Woerd

To the outside the dead leaves, they’re on the lawn/
Before they died, had trees to hang their hope.

“The Funeral” is the second song of Band of Horses where the stripped-down acoustic version is better than the regular record.  Also check out “No One’s Gonna Love You“.

The melody and instrumentation for Band of Horses “The Funeral” is so good that it overcomes its lackluster lyrics. I am all for obfuscating lyrics to some extent but most of the time it just sounds like poor writing. For a good example of obfuscating lyrics look at “I am the Walrus” by The Beatles or “Visions of Johanna” by Dylan.

Despite the complaints the song is still great. The vocals are outstanding. The piano and guitar mix sound perfect together and the sound quality of the live performance is top notch. The vocal variety throughout the song is also unique and adds flavor to the song.

The Funeral Lyrics

I’m coming up only to hold you under
I’m coming up only to show you wrong
And to know you is hard, we wonder
To know you, all wrong we were

Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh

Really too late to call, so
We wait for
Morning to wake you, that’s all we got
To know me as hardly golden
Is to know me all wrong, they were

At every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral
Every occasion, once more, it’s called the funeral
Every occasion, know I’m ready for the funeral
Every occasion, oh, one billion-day funeral

I’m coming up only to show you down, for
I’m coming up only to show you wrong.

To the outside the dead leaves, they’re on the lawn
Before they died, had trees to hang their hope.

Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
At every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral
Every occasion, once more, it’s called the funeral
Every occasion, know I’m ready for the funeral
Every occasion, oh, one billion-day funeral

Songwriters: Benjamin Bridwell / Timothy Ian Meinig / Christopher Early

I’m waiting for you/
For I’m broken down…

The narrator of Broken by Jake Bugg, tells us at the beginning of the song that he is broken and waiting for his Sophie. But he knows she is not coming. You see, Sophie committed suicide at her house, after she perhaps had unsuccessfully tried before. She was broken.

He knows that for at least the immediate future, a big part of his life will be overcoming the fact that he, himself, is broken. He is angry, yet he still loves her. Why could she not see this? He feels an obligation to appear together, perhaps because there are other people in her life who are equally hurting.

The next section of lyrics are slightly obfuscated—so we have to fill in some of the blanks to create a coherent picture of what Bugg is singing about.  How does he keep it together? It appears that he imagines her in a happy, heaven-like place: “down in the valley where the church bells cry…with a future bright…never broken.”

He tries to share this vision of her (in a better place) with others, and it seems to bring him some sort of peace. In this future he and all her friends and family will gather in the valley of the church bells. This thought brings him peace.

The vocal delivery really makes this song. It is a sad song and Bugg delivers it perfectly. While the immediacy of the lyrics might not hit us, it is clear what emotion he is expressing. That is a rare feat in music. Bugg sounds like a mix of Dylan and Donovan-which is saying something.

Broken Lyrics

I’m waiting for you
For I’m broken down.
Coming down this time.
For my heart lies
Far and away where they took you down.
Let them over to your house-
Where I’m broken.
Down by the people if they let you breathe;
Don’t give a damn if you still can’t see,
Still my heart beats, for you
Have become, all I love
And all I hoped for.
But I, must carry on
Always one
Never broken.
Run to the lobby where I saw you try.
Don’t give a damn for your reasons why.

Where Sophie’s down in the valley where the church bells cry,
I’ll lead them over to your eyes.
Woah, I am one.
I am one.
Pray, story eye
Peace and love
In a future
Bright. Sacrifice
Came around, never broken.
Down by the people if they let you breathe,
Don’t give a damn if you still can’t see,
Traveling a street that I did not go.
Lifetime to the winter load.
Down in the valley where the church bells cry
I’ll lead them over to your eyes.
Woah, I am one
Woah, I am one
I am one.

written by Jake Bugg/Crispin Hunt