Annan Water Lyrics
You loom so deep and wide
I would cross over
If you would stem the tide
Build a boat
That I might thwart the other side
To reach the farther shore
Where my true love lies in wait for me
In wait for me
In wait for me
In wait for me
Your waters ramble wild
The horses shiver
And bide against the bridle
But I will cross
If mine own horse is pulled from me
Though my mother cries that if I try
I sure will drowned be
Will drowned be
Will drowned be
Will drowned be
And let me pass
You may render me a wreck
When I come back
So calm your waves
And slow the churn
And you may have my precious bones on my return
Oh hear my true love call
Hear her holler
Above your water's pall
God, that I could
That my two arms could give me wing
And I would cross your breadth
And rest my breast about her amber ring
Her amber ring
Her amber ring
And let me pass
You may render me a wreck
When I come back
So calm your waves
And slow the churn
And you may have my precious bones
On my
On my
Return
Amber ring could be a halo, or she could be a redhead.
yeah i think it's her hair.
yeah i think it's her hair.
He's singing "You may render me a-wrack when I come back"
Will drowned be
what's the likelihood of that being an intentional play on words?
Haha! Good one!
Haha! Good one!
Oh nice! Never noticed that!
Oh nice! Never noticed that!
That's the actual lyric. "Will drown it be" is incorrect.
That's the actual lyric. "Will drown it be" is incorrect.
I have seen many people talking about the "amber ring" on these lyrics sites, and I went to a Decemberists show last year and had a chance to speak with Colin, so I just asked him out of curiosity. He said that while writing the lyrics he had always pictured Margaret with a big (literal) amber ring, you know that they have insect fossils in, etc.? Thought I should share.
i love this song, it's beautiful..
but i really really hope he's saying "you may render me a-ret" or "you may render me a wreck" instead of a rat.
Yeah, I transcribed the lyrics here having only heard it twice, so there are some inaccuracies which I was hoping other people would correct. Figured it would be better just to get them up. I'm not sure about this, though, since he usually enunciates the k when he says 'wreck' and he is a shape-shifting animal, so rat might work as well. I don't have the official lyrics in front of me of course.
I thought rat too. But it seems awfully...un-poetic of him.
I thought rat too. But it seems awfully...un-poetic of him.
oh, and the horses shiver and bite against the bridle..i think ;)
I got tired of fully interpreting every line of every song.
But this song pretty much suggests only one real location for the setting of the album. It must be Scotland. The Welsh name, the notion of castles [not sure if there is ever direct mention] and now the Annan, a river found in Scotland. Although the taiga does not appear to extend all the way down to Scotland on any maps I saw, it does appear to be on the outer reaches of the climate zone. Upon additional research, I have found that it definitely contains taiga forest.
Riddle solved. Knowing all of the thought I put into this, Colin probably already stated somewhere that this takes place in Scotland, but I had fun doing detective work anyway. I really like how the Celtic theme is carried through the entire albums settings.
this is mostly for my own clarification of the story. let me know if i'm off.
so after the rake kidnaps margaret, and the Queen basically says "as long as you keep this girl away from my innocent son (william), i'll help you cross the river," this is basically william following behind, asking the river to help him "To reach the farthest shore where my true love lies in wait for me" and basically says, as long as i can get to the other side in one piece to be with margaret just this once, you can kill me on the way back and i won't care (a la the hazards of love 4?)
i also don't understand that bit about "her amber ring" ...insight anyone?
The correct lyrics are "You may render me a wrack when I come back"
:definition: Wrack: seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.
Basically he is begging the river to calm itself and let him pass just this once and in turn the river can be as strong as it wants when he returns and do what it wants with him as he tries to cross back over.
The lyrics from the vinyl jacket read:
The lyrics from the vinyl jacket read:
"You may render me a wreck when I come back"
"You may render me a wreck when I come back"
Trivial matters!
Trivial matters!