I love you truly, or I love no one.
"The people who hear this record will split into two crowds: The ones who think it's silly and precious, and the ones who, once they hear it, won't be able to live without it."
Ys is the second studio album by harpist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released November 16, 2006 via record label Drag City. It features orchestration by Van Dyke Parks and was produced by Steve Albini. Newsom says the songs on the album all contain true stories about herself and important people in her life, dealing with themes of grief, loss, womanhood, and love.
Preceded by The Milk-Eyed Mender in 2004; Succeeded by Have One On Me in 2010.
Tracklist
- "Emily" (12:08)
- "Monkey & Bear" (9:29)
- "Sawdust & Diamonds" (9:55)
- "Only Skin" (16:53)
- "Cosmia" (7:17)
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: A favored trope in Newsom's writing, there's quite a few moments of this.
- An Aesop: "Monkey & Bear" seems to have the structure of one, animals and everything. It also resembles Animal Farm: after Monkey and Bear escape from the humans masters, Monkey starts treating Bear like a slave, telling her that they need her dancing to make money. Monkey slowly becomes more and more human-like in behavior, and Bear doesn't stand up to him... instead, she chooses to cast off her body, limb by limb, and vanish from Monkey's life.
- Animal Motif:
- The dove on "Sawdust & Diamonds." Doves are usually used as symbols for peace and innocence, and Newsom describes the dove to be "stuffed now with sawdust and diamonds," or taxidermied.
- Moths represent grief on "Cosmia," and she holds a framed moth on the cover.
- Baroque Pop: The most fitting for this label in Newsom's discography.
- Beast Fable: "Monkey & Bear," one of Fractured Fairy Tale variety.
- Bit-by-Bit Transformation: Bear's transformation into the Ursa Major constellation. She's described abandoning her body limb by limb in the water before joining the stars.
- Cool Crown: Wears a flower crown on the cover.
- Design Student's Orgasm: The cover art is a detailed oil painting of Newsom in a medieval-style dress by artist Benjamin Vierling.
- Dreaded Kids' Party Entertainer Job: What the Monkey makes Bear do for money.Bear would stand on her hind legs, the organ would grind dregs of song
For the pleasure of the children who'd shriek, throwing coins at her feet then recoiling in terror - Epic Rocking: Making up for the short tracklist, the shortest song on the record is seven minutes, two are close to ten minutes, and one is almost twelve minutes. "Only Skin," at sixteen minutes, is her longest song to date.
- Flower Motifs: One stanza in the final verse of "Emily:"Come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now
Blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow
Peonies nod in the breeze, and while they wetly bow
With hydrocephalitic listlessness, ants mop up their brow - Grief Song:
- The most common interpretation of "Sawdust & Diamonds" is that the dove is an allegory for the loss of an unborn child (possibly the same one written about on "Baby Birch").
- "Cosmia" is this much more straight-forwardly, written about a close friend of Newsom's who died in a car crash while on tour.
- Manipulative Bitch: The Monkey is described as using some emotionally abusive tactics on Ursula to keep her in his control, such as telling her that he'll "love her still" only if she continues to dance, and planning to insult Ursula after her bath so she'll stop going places without him.
- Meaningful Name: Bear's name is Ursula, from "Ursus": "Bear." The song itself is a loose interpretation of the story of the Ursa Major constellation.
- New Sound Album: Unlike The Milk Eyed Mender which was defined mostly by just the harp (with an occasional piano, harpsichord, and steel guitar), Ys brings in a full orchestra on nearly song (except for ''Sawdust & Diamonds).
- Non-Appearing Title: The title, Ys, is named after the mythical city on the coast of Brittany, France that was swallowed by the sea. The songs never mention the city or have much to do with the legend despite it taking the title.
- One-Woman Song: "Emily," named after her sister Emily Newsom.
- Rearrange the Song: Done for "Cosmia" on the Ys Street Band EP, which is around thirteen minutes long compared to the seven-minute original recording.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Newsom is occasionally guilty of this, but the best example of it is using "hydrocephalitic listlessness" to describe flowers that have been overwatered.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Several lines of "Only Skin" suggest that the narrator's lover is one. The first few stanzas describe him having a nightmare about a war.
- Soprano and Gravel: The climax of "Only Skin" features the baritone Bill Callahan harmonizing with Newsom, the soprano.
- Stairway to Heaven: Invoked with opening/closing lines of "Sawdust & Diamonds."At the top of the flight, of the wide white stairs
For the rest of my life, do you wait for me there? - Talking Down the Suicidal: Implied on "Only Skin":Stay with me for a while; that's an awfully real gun
And though life will lay you down, as the lightning has lately done
Failing this, failing this, follow me, my sweetest friend
To see what you anointed in pointing your gun there
Lay it down! Nice and slow! There is nowhere to go - Textless Album Cover: One version of the cover has no text and just red borders on the sides of the illustration.
- World of Symbolism: A good majority of the lyrics are allegorical/metaphorical.
