¤ milky moon ¤

As we know, Joanna played an hour-long unannounced set ahead of the Fleet Foxes concert at The Belasco, Los Angeles, USA, on 22 March 2023. She also returned later in the evening, to accompany Fleet Foxes on one of their songs. The songs she performed were:

Go Long
Bombs Are Whistling
Marie At The Mill
Little Hand
The Air Again
No Wonder
Sawdust & Diamonds
... and later ...
Blue Spotted Tail

The last song is a Robin Pecknold composition that first appeared on Fleet Foxes 2011 album 'Helplessness Blues'

I think and hope that it is a good bet that the five new Joanna songs, shown in bold, will feature on a new album, whenever that may be!

We fans have an appalling record of guessing her song titles ahead of their official release, but I have seen a photograph which might be of an on-stage set-list, so perhaps these five will prove to be more accurate than 'The Diver's Wife', 'Be A Woman', or the infamous 'Barbara'!

For me, Marie At The Mill and The Air Again are the stand-outs at this stage (but Joanna's songs have a habit of creeping up on me slowly, so I expect to be adding to that list in the future).

I will continue this thread by having a look at one of the others, and the efforts that people with better ears than me (or more expensive headphones, or lip-reading abilities, or greater acquaintance with the accents of the American south west) have made in compiling the lyrics.

BOMBS ARE WHISTLING

Here is my best effort at the lyrics for this song. I hasten to add, 99% of the work was done by other people: I concatenated several versions of the lyrics that I found on various websites, and then very carefully listened to the recordings to try to work out what I feel are the most likely words. There are several places that are still a bit obscure, and of course Joanna may make changes before any official release.

I face it with my flayed skull
And await the morning wind.
It burns like salt,
It's not your fault
That I ain't got no skin.
I ran into the dawn
Until my voice has gone.
I called,
"I love you through it all."
They said I couldn't hold you
When I tried to take your hand.
Alarm bells rang;
The nurse was saying
Things I can't understand.
Too warm, too warm.
I drew my arm
Away against the glass.
"Is he okay?"
my flayed skull asked.
I prayed the fear would pass.
They say you need me here,
And, oh, and I need that.
But I need it.
My eyes scan every place,
And I stand guard all night
In vigil, in warning and in waste,
Unheeded.
Wild, too
Cold and blue.
But look at those curls.
How do ya do?
Though I cannot imagine it,
Recall it or conceive.
I’m not going far away,
I know what I believe.
I know, I know, I know
Because they tell me that it’s true
And the spell will break and wake me anew.
So I sit and rock, and rock through space
And kiss your face and sing.
The smoke is thick,
My skin is sick,
The bombs are whistling.
The death, the doom,
The leaden, looming dread is always near.
But I love you,
And you are here.
I feared that it had gone.
I feared that you would never find me,
My darlin' son.
But you found me.
And though it took awhile,
Now I look and find your blindin' starlight smile
Surrounds me.
We bleed through,
Clear and true.
Here with you now.
I wish that I could show you
What I know about this pain.
I can’t now, I don’t know how,
But I’ll be back again.
For bowing in the scouring wind,
That lays low everything.
I love you,
My flayed skull sings.

What doe other people think? To save you the bother of collecting the online renditions that I found [Lyrics Genius, MatchLyric, I-Hit, Reddit, Lyrnow, and AZlyrics], here is the working document I compiled with the different interpretations:

I face it with [gaze up at] my flayed skull
And await the morning wind. / [in the glacial, moaning wind.]
It burns like salt,
It's not your fault
That I have [got] no skin.
I ran into the dawn
Until my voice was / [had] / [is] gone.
I called,
I love you through it all.
They said I couldn't hold you
When I tried to take your hand.
Alarm bells rang;
The nurse was saying
Things I can't understand.
Too warm, too warm. / [Too long, too worn,]
I drew my arm / [My tune, my own,]
Away against the glass.
"Is he okay?"
my flayed skull asked.
I prayed the fear would pass.
They say you need me here,
[Oh], And I need that.
But I need it. / [And I need it.] / [I need it.]
My eyes scan every place,
And I stand guard all night
In vigil, in warning and [in] waste / [haste],
Unheeded. / [Oh, heed it.]
Wild, /[through] / [I'm too] / [too]
Cold and blue.
But look at those curls. / [curse.]
How do you [ya] do? / [How do they do it?]
Though I cannot imagine [it],
[You'll] recall / [call] it or conceive[d] / [come see].
I’m not going far away,
I know what I believe.
I know, I know, I know
Because they tell me that it’s true
That the / [And the] / [The] spell will break and wake me anew.
So I sit and rock, and rock through space
And kiss your face and sing.
The smoke is thick,
My skin is sick,
The bombs are whistling.
The death, the doom,
The leaden, looming dread is always near.
But I love you,
And you are here.
I feared that it had won / [gone].
I feared that you would never find me,
My darling / [darlin'] son.
But you found me.
And though it took awhile,
Now I look and find your blinding starlight smile
Surrounds me.
We bleed through, / [Wiith me through,]
Clear and true.
Here with you now.
I wish that I could show you
What I know about this pain.
I can’t / [I tell you] now, I don’t know how,
But I’ll be back again.
For bowing in the [? / scouring] / [The vow within the scouring wind,]
[That lays o'er / [low]] / [One that] everything.
I love you,
My flayed skull sings.

Incidentally - this seems to be a very personal song about a birth with complications. Joanna has not shied from difficult emotions in her earlier work, but I would not be surprised if this one doesn't get some re-writes before it makes its official appearance.