Joanna Newsom - Soft As Chalk Lyrics






So, so long ago and so far away
When time was just a line that you fed me when you wanted to stay
We'd talk as soft as chalk till morning came, pale as a pearl
No time, no time, mow, I have got all the time in the world

Say, honey, did you belong to me?
Tell me, honey, was your heart at rest when, darlin'
All the mourning doves were howling us
A song of love's oh god-awful lawlessness? Lawlessness
Say, honey, did you belong to me?
Tell me, honey, did I pass your test?
I lay, as still as death, until the dawn
Whereupon I wrested from your god-awful lawlessness, lawlessness

I roam around the tidy grounds of my dappled sanatorium
Coatless, I sit amongst the motes, adrift, and I dote upon my pinesap gum
And the light, through the pines in brassy tones lays over me, dim as rum
And thick as molasses, and so time passes, and so, my heart, tomorrow comes

I feel you leaning out back with the crickets
Loyal heart marking the soon-ness
Darkness, tonight, still the mourning doves will summon us
Their song of love's neverdoneing lawlessness, lawlessness

While, over and over, rear up, stand down, lay round
Trying to sound-out, or guess the reasons
I sleep like a soldier, without rest
But there is no treason, where there is only lawlessness, lawlessness

In the last week of the last year, I was aware
I took a blind shot, across the creek at the black bear
When he roused me in the night and left me cowering with my light, calling out
"Who is there? Who's there?
Who is there?"

I watched you sleep, repeating my prayer
You give love a little shove and it becomes terror
And now I am calling in a sadness beyond anger and beyond fear
"Who is there? Who's there?
Who is there?"

I glare and nod like the character God bearing down upon the houses and lawns
I knew a little bit, but, darling, you were it and, darling, now it is long gone
Sweetheart, in your clean, bright start back there, behind a hill, and a dell
And a state line or two, I'll be thinking of you, yes, I'll be thinking and be wishing you well
We land, I stand but I wait for the sound of the bell
I have to catch a cab and my bags are at the carousel
And then, Lord, just then time alone will only tell, you mourning dove





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Joanna Newsom Soft As Chalk Comments
  1. J.... ....

    what a beautiful song

  2. s.... j....

    I have read several moaning complaints in the YouTube comments which accompany her music on here.
    Moan moan voice.
    Moan moan face.
    Etc. Etc.
    You Americans don’t know when you have something...
    (an artist so very talented and original)
    absolutely fabulous in your midst!
    I’m an Englishman and I get her!
    She is molasses, towns small forgotten
    The South maybe?
    Talks about shooting - black powder perhaps
    Old religion is in her too
    Dusty corners Dead spiders
    Some soul said,
    ‘sounds like a grandmother?’
    No!
    Or yes.
    Or both!
    Because don’t you see?
    Your Grandmother once was a young girl like she
    And could have sounded something like Jo!
    Tis a strange thing doth seem to me
    That many Americans don’t get her.
    Ah! but see
    I do wonder if
    somehow someway
    back in long times ago far in the past away..
    If a Grey jeans-cloth lad
    barefoot heading North,
    could somehow hear Jo’s voice across time’s long wastes..
    HE ....
    Yes!
    HE would get Joanna..!

    Disagree profoundly if you wish
    It matters not to me!
    But for Heavens sake
    use your hearts and your brains and understand why
    Joanna Newsom matters!!!!

  3. c.... c....

    Sitting at 344,835, and at least 100,000 of those are me!

  4. M.... D....

    I feel like this song is about manipulation in relationships.

  5. c.... c....

    Anyone else catch a little bit of Grace Slick here and there? "Loyal heart marking the soon-ness..."

  6. j.... a....

    this is one of my fav albums of all time, and it's brilliant the way that the 3 sides are sequenced.
    and this is kind of a weird comparison but whenever she sings "lawlessness" (at 1:02 for example) it reminds me of the song "Not to Touch the Earth" by The Doors

  7. J.... ....

    Damn! this is some good shit

  8. S.... M....

    No way that this song isn't about Andy Samberg

  9. v.... ....

    Totally unlike anything else.

  10. E.... R....

    Elements of Nina Simone in this song. Just great stuff.

    E.... R....

    thank god! someone finally noticed the Nina Simone influence in her music!!! most people just take the face value and compare her music to Kate Bush's when Bush and Joanna are nothing alike!!!

  11. B.... ....

    Her voice kinda sound like those sweet grandma

  12. F.... Y....

    this song starts out cool as shit, and just gets cooler as it goes along.

  13. M.... A....

    I grew up with this song and hearing it again in brought back so many memories

  14. S.... G....

    OH MY GOD how can one person be so talented?!?

  15. J.... C....

    that was very good.

  16. D.... M....

    Yo. Mad good.

  17. D.... K....

    she's so underrated I want to cry:(

  18. T.... S....

    I could listen to this one a loop forever.

  19. P.... N....

    Dude i have no idea how i ended up here, but i swear these 6:30 minutes :O, never have I felt so heavy with sadness and yet so hopeful for the future as I do now, what an adventure of a song!

    P.... N....

    Procrasti Nation I know exactly what you mean. Her songs are amazing like that. Check out tv's song Good Intentions Paving Company. That one really gives me the feeling you described.

    P.... N....

    yeah, quite a few of her songs have that effect on me ... powerful stuff

  20. t.... ....

    Qcknd brought me here

    t.... ....

    SarahRoseTea Ditto.

    t.... ....

    shannon brought me here

  21. T.... O....

    It's interesting how there's a reprise of "Good Intentions Paving Company" slipped in the middle.

    T.... O....

    Good intentions paving company is about how she knows deeply the relationship won't work but decides to move forward anyway because she loves him so much. As they say, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' - and this section of this album is all about the hell of the end of the relationship; this song is her finally getting really pissed off at him so the songs are linked nicely

  22. B.... A....

    Reminds me of Sia's "Buttons"

  23. M.... ....

    love did song, her voice is so unique <3

  24. A.... F....

    this is amazing, what with this woman, how can she make this stuff

  25. s.... g....

    in my top 3 joanna songs, this song is everything man

    s.... g....

    +sam gundy +1, musicians are magicians

  26. E.... S....

    Brilliant in a strange way!!!!

    E.... S....

    Brilliant in a million ways.

  27. B.... B....

    Guess Spotify will never add her music.

    B.... B....

    None of her music is on iTunes either :(

    B.... B....

    In the words of Newsom herself: "Spotify is like a villainous cabal of major labels. The business is built from the ground up as a way to circumvent the idea of paying their artists."

    B.... B....

    Brittany DeLuca all of her music is on iTunes.....

    B.... B....

    I bought it all to support her making this beautiful noise.

    B.... B....

    Brad Bryan iTunes has all her stuff

  28. C.... n....

    Why can't I stop listening to this song?

    C.... n....

    i feel the same way... its like musical crack

    C.... n....

    I'm having the same problem, I can't get enough.  I think there's an answer to a question I've been pondering in this song but I can't quite extract it.

    C.... n....

    +Chris S it's childish wonder.

  29. N.... D....

    This song is stupid good.

  30. S.... C....

    she's just talking about talking softly late at night. chalk is very soft.

  31. S.... C....

    seems a bit fare fetched?

  32. F.... ....

    That totally adds a layer of depth I hadn't previously known! Thanks for sharing :)

  33. F.... M....

    Talent....this is real talent. No BS like all the reality music shows. No politics just raw talent. Molto bene

  34. p.... ....

    Does anyone know songs with this kind of standard played for example between 4:46 - 5:00? Thanks ;-)

    p.... ....

    you might like thelonious monk! try Thelonious Alone In San Francisco

  35. F.... M....

    so talented,,,,,, thats just how it is

  36. e.... ....

    Fair enough. You should check out her performance of this same song on Jimmy Fallon. It's on youtube. Also, her song "Book of Right On" is another good one, in my opinion.

  37. e.... ....

    Why? For being original in a world of copycats? This is fucking art. Be grateful your ears got to experience something different than the usual commercialized bullshit. This goes for not only music, but other forms of art as well. We should be supporting stuff like THIS.

  38. E.... R....

    "There is no treason where there's only lawlessness."

    Oh my, Ms Newsom, you get it so right every time.

  39. k.... ....

    The lyrics are in the video, my friend :D But actually, they ARE hard to make out, some of them. So put the gun away please :)

  40. M.... B....

    never shot yourself. a patient ear is better than a hard hand.

  41. D.... ....

    second one

  42. X.... J....

    this is hauntingly perfect

  43. W.... B....

    You shoulnd feenl pround!

  44. a.... ....

    I just tried to write down the lyrics for like 15 minutes and gave up being unable to make out over half of the words.
    Is she singing not-so-clearly or am I so lacking in english and should shot myself ?

    a.... ....

    alan98pl mixture of both

  45. B.... B....

    this i my favorite song by her

  46. T.... ....

    i'm always convinced that one line or the other is the best one in the song... until the next line comes. :')

  47. e.... ....

    Haven't heard a song by her I don't like yet. It's really cool that someone exists that writes the exact kind of songs I wished I could write. It's also sad that I'll never write those songs now lol
    But I'm happy they exist :D

  48. m.... ....

    Can you believe she is dating Andy Samberg?

  49. T.... H....

    Marry me, Joanna?

  50. T.... R....

    That rif at 4:50 is so cool.I just love her.

  51. I.... W....

    She is gorgeous, simply adorable, and multi talented! It's hard to find a girlfriend like her. I'd love to listen to her sing with my head in her lap taking a nice long nap. A man can dream can't he?

  52. T.... ....

    @ladyofthemystnin yes, Bush and also, even though it does not need pointing out, Bing Crosby.

  53. o.... ....

    @ladyofthemystnin lol wut

  54. H.... J....

    @ladyofthemystnin they don't sound at all alike, and joanna's lyrics highly differ from kate's. still, both amazing artists.

  55. I.... W....

    It's a pretty blatant Kate Bush rip-off, but I can't complain about more of the same. I do love Kate Bush

  56. A.... R....

    @justforthesparks you should be proud! pretty awesome

  57. C.... J....

    I saw Joanna Newsom front row at the Melbourne Recital Centre, definitely the best concert i have ever been to! Ahhh she and her band were so amazing I have never heard anything like it.

  58. F.... G....

    Hi Clem!

  59. K.... G....

    2:25- 2:47 makes me want to just move.

  60. j.... ....

    JUST FIGURED OUT PART OF THIS SONG.
    its a reference to the brothers grim version of the three little pigs.
    in it the wolf can desguise himself as anything, except his voice will allways be low and scratchy and his paws will be big and hairy.
    so in order to catch the pigs he eats chalk so that his voice will be soft.
    i dunno, i felt pround after realizing that.

    j.... ....

    justforthesparks ughh what? it's not about that at all

    j.... ....

    "we talked as soft as chalk" wow that was a great realisation and adds so much to the interpretation of this bit of the song. i love it! thanks for sharing

  61. k.... c....

    JUST TOO GOOD.

  62. I.... S....

    "Those that go searching for love, only manifest their own loveless-ness.
    And the loveless never find love, only the loving find love. And they
    never have to seek for it." -D. H. Lawrence

  63. H.... M....

    @livelyarts49 Swansea, '81 and The Sprout and the Bean (Featured in the movie The Strangers)

  64. x.... ....

    She has really been working on her vibrato. Did I hear something about her getting some sort of throat surgery recently?

  65. C.... ....

    2:50-3:14 pure genius. I love that piano solo.

  66. T.... ....

    I get chills every time I hear this... one of the best songs ever ^.^

  67. K.... M....

    i keep coming back to this song... the melody is brilliant :D :D
    and of course the lyrics are genius in true newsom style

  68. t.... ....

    @livelyarts49 Go long, cosmia, baby birch and um..... every song she writes??

  69. A.... L....

    God, she's amazing...

  70. a.... ....

    @AviatorAndyK 'peach, plum, pear'

  71. a.... ....

    @illumiere I hear 'Peach, plum, pear'

  72. R.... ....

    @parisianna87 - I know, it's a joke isn't it. I think if it's not using the mainstream formula it needs to be in a video game or movie or something for it to gain attention. It's the unfortunate state of events we're in at the moment when a superb album (and artist) like this is overshadowed by a 15 year old boy and a fame seeking monster (with an aptly titled album).

  73. t.... ....

    The first time i heard this song i just about died at 2:25 .... actually i was thinking about something else and then joanna kicked me in the kneecaps and i melted while she ferociously danced on my puddle of a grave and used the billowing percussion to imprint the phrase "never doze off during one of my songs again" into my skull.

  74. S.... T....

    what a gem, I read the words and try to understand how she crafted them intertwined seamlessly into the music... im speechless it is fantastic

  75. M.... M....

    Her voice and lyrics are one of a kind!

  76. c.... ....

    wowowowwow

  77. B.... T....

    Man. Love it. I hope this girl writes music forever.

  78. S.... M....

    (gasp!!) her voice did change. glad she recovered from those vocal cord nodules, she stiill sounds beautiful.

  79. J.... J....

    amazing song..