Muzzle of Bees

[KansasAl]

Folks I love this song but I've been trying to get my head around what it really means any insight?

Muzzle of Bees

 

 

There's a random painted highway

And a muzzle of bees

My sleeves have come unstitched

From climbing your tree

 

And dogs laugh, some say they're barking

I don't think they're mean

Some people get so frightened

Of the fences in between

 

And the sun gets passed from tree to tree

Silently, and back to me

With the breeze blown through

Pushed up against the sea

Finally back to me

 

I'm assuming you got my message

On your machine

I'm assuming you love me

And you know what that means

 

Sun gets passed, sea to sea

Silently, and back to me

With the breeze blown through

Pushed up above the leaves

 

With the breeze blown through

My head upon your knee

Half of it's you, half is me

Half of it's you, half is me

[KansasAl]

seriously no one is going to take a shot at this? C'mon tyou guys are the experts!

[Head in a Guillotine]

I'm really not sure, but I'll just tell you what I hear when I usually listen to the song.

 

I think that its about how a person's relationships trump anything else in his life, which is really a theme that spans all of Jeff's writing. Its about how despite the forces surround you in life (the wind and sun in this song) what your happiness always comes back to is the one person who really matters to you, that one person who gives your life any sort of meaning. Without that person, you seem to be completly aliented from all of society (the "muzzle of bees") and all of nature (the "sun" and "wind") again.

 

Just a guess...

[Jesusetc84]

Folks I love this song but I've been trying to get my head around what it really means any insight?

Muzzle of Bees

 

 

There's a random painted highway

And a muzzle of bees

My sleeves have come unstitched

From climbing your tree

 

And dogs laugh, some say they're barking

I don't think they're mean

Some people get so frightened

Of the fences in between

 

And the sun gets passed from tree to tree

Silently, and back to me

With the breeze blown through

Pushed up against the sea

Finally back to me

 

I'm assuming you got my message

On your machine

I'm assuming you love me

And you know what that means

 

Sun gets passed, sea to sea

Silently, and back to me

With the breeze blown through

Pushed up above the leaves

 

With the breeze blown through

My head upon your knee

Half of it's you, half is me

Half of it's you, half is me

 

 

I always saw this as a follow upto Jeff's uncomfortable domestic sketches from Summer Teeth. To me, it's about comng to grips with the things that once put you off. In retrospect, it seems like the middleground between the violent rejection of such a life "Via Chicago" and the more mellow, acceptance of it in songs like "Either Way".

 

Like the lyrics of a lot of my favorite bands (in particular Wilco) I'm not sure every lyric actually fits together into one narrative, but it's still a very compelling impressionistic kind of work.

[theashtraysays]

"Half of it's you, half is me

Half of it's you, half is me"

 

That part reminds me of something Jeff said in an interview where music (or art of any form) is half what the artist intended, and half what the listener/viewer interprets it as. What you as the listener does with the song is half the art. The "meaning" of a song depends half on the listener; it's half a blank canvas. I liked that part.

 

Also, the "sun gets passed, sea to sea" to me sounds like days / time going by.

[bilbrekm]

I always took this one a bit more literally than the rest. I think it may just be about differences/arguments in relationships. i.e.-

 

"sleeves have come unstitched From climbing your tree"-maybe a disagreement?

"And the sun gets passed from tree to tree Silently, and back to me"-the back and forth of a discussion?

 

Also, for what it's worth, the verse about his message on the machine and the person (her?) knowing what he means is strikingly beautiful in its simplicity. Jeff bringing out the things that only couples share together is very cool. Something I've tried to duplicate for a while but can't.

 

Anyway, that's my .02

[junkiesmile]

I think the "muzzle of bees" is his desire to take off aimlessly down the "random painted highway" like a dog fleeing from a "muzzle of bees". To me the song is about a contemplative drive out in the country. The sun getting passed from tree to tree is just what it looks like when you're driving down the road between a line of trees and the sun is low on the horizon. The same with the sea and it sparkling off the water.

[KansasAl]

thanks all great responses. Kinda cool to see everyone's interpetation. The song is beautiful so that's one thing I think we can all agree upon.

[Doug C]

The song is beautiful so that's one thing I think we can all agree upon.

Exactly. Which is why I've always thought that it was about beauty and it's overall importance. The music is beautiful and the lyrics, though as a whole are somewhat abstract, when lines and/or verses are taken individually is stunningly beautiful.

[Scott Gyrrr]

Also I think parts of this song have evolved from a poem in his Adult Head book which may shed more light for you. Or not.

[alecrothman]

I think the "muzzle of bees" is his desire to take off aimlessly down the "random painted highway" like a dog fleeing from a "muzzle of bees". To me the song is about a contemplative drive out in the country. The sun getting passed from tree to tree is just what it looks like when you're driving down the road between a line of trees and the sun is low on the horizon. The same with the sea and it sparkling off the water.

 

I'm assuming you got my message

On your machine

I'm assuming you love me

And you know what that means

 

Maybe someone left a message and took off for a drive.

[MattZ]

I think this song is quite simply another example of Jeff's beautiful exploration of our modern struggles with (mis)communication. Our thoughts and actions are so often misinterpreted by others who come to view us through their own biased prisms. For better or worse.

 

What if dogs are really laughing when they bark? What if bees march to their own internal drums or dance to their own music and we attribute their actions to something else entirely?

 

What if you tell me you love me, but love means something different to the two of us? Even when you clearly hear the words that I say, do you understand what I am saying? That's the muzzle of bees.

 

And to take it a step further, it also gets back to the "half of it's you, half is me" bit and what Jeff has said in general about other songs. For example. it doesn't (or shouldn't) matter what Jeff thinks IATTBYH means. That is a song that could mean something different to every single person that has heard it. He can't control what the song means to you.

 

Simply beautiful.

[Guest Muncle Douchey]

I think this song is quite simply another example of Jeff's beautiful exploration of our modern struggles with (mis)communication.

 

this is pretty much exactly what this song means to me. well said.

 

i've always taken...

 

I'm assuming you love me

And you know what that means

 

to be a play on the whole "when you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME" thing... again a representation of miscommunication.

 

 

What if dogs are really laughing when they bark?

 

this might be my favorite tweedy line ever - And dogs laugh, some say they're barking, I don't think they're mean

[laurie]

"Half of it's you, half is me

Half of it's you, half is me"

 

That part reminds me of something Jeff said in an interview where music (or art of any form) is half what the artist intended, and half what the listener/viewer interprets it as. What you as the listener does with the song is half the art. The "meaning" of a song depends half on the listener; it's half a blank canvas. I liked that part.

 

Also, the "sun gets passed, sea to sea" to me sounds like days / time going by.

 

 

I actually had this eact thought. this is afv of ours and I remeber he made that comment. I love his poetry so much and poetry is sooften a joint venture between the author and the reader. The extreme artist presents an inviting canvas or jump off point, at least that's what I think....There is this uncanny way Jeff has of setting a tone or lkeading you in to think about things in a certain way. but the specifics, they come at least half I would say, from our own experiences and framework. It also adds to this experience that is so unique when you go to a show, and we all sing together. It 's a good thing.

[Golden Smoghead]

I agree with a lot of this, but I still want to know wtf a muzzle of bees is. If it's just a random, surreal visual image then OK, cool, definitely entitled to that. But it seems like there is more to it. Muzzles keep you from quiet, CHECK. Bees... Uh, yeah, that's where I think I lose it. To me, bees sting, they die after they sting, they making a buzzing drone, they are a thousand little things all working together, they're all uniform so maybe they represent just mindless masses...

 

Overall I just don't get a clear idea of the unifying concept, which is the muzzle of bees. Help me out!

[laurie]

I think this song is quite simply another example of Jeff's beautiful exploration of our modern struggles with (mis)communication. Our thoughts and actions are so often misinterpreted by others who come to view us through their own biased prisms. For better or worse.

 

What if dogs are really laughing when they bark? What if bees march to their own internal drums or dance to their own music and we attribute their actions to something else entirely?

 

What if you tell me you love me, but love means something different to the two of us? Even when you clearly hear the words that I say, do you understand what I am saying? That's the muzzle of bees.

 

And to take it a step further, it also gets back to the "half of it's you, half is me" bit and what Jeff has said in general about other songs. For example. it doesn't (or shouldn't) matter what Jeff thinks IATTBYH means. That is a song that could mean something different to every single person that has heard it. He can't control what the song means to you.

 

Simply beautiful.

 

Love that thouhgt !

[M. (hristine]

It's a random painted highway

and a muzzle of bees

 

I think he's talking about what the grill of your car looks like after driving down the highway in the summertime.

[tongue-tied]

I agree with a lot of this, but I still want to know wtf a muzzle of bees is. If it's just a random, surreal visual image then OK, cool, definitely entitled to that. But it seems like there is more to it. Muzzles keep you from quiet, CHECK. Bees... Uh, yeah, that's where I think I lose it. To me, bees sting, they die after they sting, they making a buzzing drone, they are a thousand little things all working together, they're all uniform so maybe they represent just mindless masses...

 

Overall I just don't get a clear idea of the unifying concept, which is the muzzle of bees. Help me out!

 

 

Hmmm, I don't see it here.

[blue_94_trooper]

I agree with a lot of this, but I still want to know wtf a muzzle of bees is. If it's just a random, surreal visual image then OK, cool, definitely entitled to that. But it seems like there is more to it. Muzzles keep you from quiet, CHECK. Bees... Uh, yeah, that's where I think I lose it. To me, bees sting, they die after they sting, they making a buzzing drone, they are a thousand little things all working together, they're all uniform so maybe they represent just mindless masses...

 

Overall I just don't get a clear idea of the unifying concept, which is the muzzle of bees. Help me out!

 

I always pictured something like this...

[nadja]

I was just going to say that - I always picture a guy with a mouthful of bees who wants to speak, maybe is trying to speak, but the sound of the bees buzzing doesn't let the listener hear what he's trying to say. The buzzing distorts his words, it's like static on a radio. And then there's the added feeling of danger, of these little creatures in his mouth that have a life of their own, that can sting. And that's something I get from so many other Wilco songs - the idea that words can hurt, that attempting to communicate is dangerous because when we don't understand each other, it causes pain. What might be meant as loving might come off as mean, what might be meant as laughing is heard as barking ( I think the muzzle image ties into the line about the dogs too).

 

But what makes this song so beautiful to me is that feeling of perfect non-verbal communication and intimacy at the end. The silence of the sun, the breeze, his head on her knee. They're communicating without words and there is no misunderstanding.

 

Which reminds me about another aspect of the bee thing - bees have this amazing capacity to communicate highly complicated information to each other. One bee can go out and find a field of flowers, then come back to the hive and actually describe where the field is - what direction, how far, what kind of pollen is there - and the other bees understand with perfect accuracy. It's been a whole field of study to figure out how that happens and I think they've decided that the bees communicate by dance. And that sort of ties into the part about how dogs communicate, and the feeling throughout the song that nature is perfect - the sun and seas and trees are all in communion - it's we humans with our egos and our fear and our clumsy language who are so isolated from one another.

 

Anyway, Jeff may or may not have intended all that but it's there to me nonetheless. Because, as always, there's no way to know what he meant, just what we hear. God, I love this band.

[afterthefact]

Unfortunately, I have no idea. Before you flame me for posting a completely useless post (which may or may not still happen) I will say that the reason I replied here is because these types of questions always remind me that I don't pay enough attention to lyrics. I have listened, for example, to "Muzzle Of Bees" oh, say, 300 times? And yet it wasn't until now that I started thinking about what the words mean.

 

I am a guitarist/musician by nature, and therefore I spend more time focusing on what is being played, not said. I don't really know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.