Joanna Newsom

This Side of the Blue

Svetlana sucks lemons across from me
And I am progressing abominably
And I do not know my own way to the sea
But the saltiest sea knows its own way to me
And the city that turns, turns protracted and slow
And I find myself toeing the embarcadero
And I find myself knowing the things that I knew
Which is all that you can know on this side of the blue
And Jaime has eyes black and shiny as boots

When she looks at you, you know that she's nowhere near through
It's the kindest heart beating this side of the blue
And Gabriel stands beneath forest and moon
See them rattle and boo, and see them shake, see them loom
See him fashion a cap from a page of Camus
And see him navigate deftly this side of the blue
And the signifieds butt heads with the signifiers
And we all fall down slack-jawed to marvel at words
When across the sky sheet the impossible birds
In a steady illiterate movement homewards
And the rest of our lives will the moments accrue
When the shape of their goneness will flare up anew
Then we do what we have to do(-re-loo-re-loo)
Which is all that you can do on this side of the blue
Ot it's all that you can do on this side of the blue
Oh it's all that you can do on this side of the blue