“This Side of the Blue” by Joanna Newsom
“The Side of the Blue” is very intellectual in its approach, one that only fans of artists like Joanna Newsom would probably be able to truly appreciate from a lyrical perspective. And underneath all of the poetic references, some of which may require a bit of research to understand, this piece appears to be existential in nature.
And in terms of laying the groundwork of all that’s going down here, it would appear that the term “this side of the blue” basically points to the concept of being alive in and of itself.
What the singer seems to be putting forth, in summation, is that life progresses in some type of cyclical motion. And along the way, challenges may materialize. But as for the vocalist herself, she’s the type to more or less go with the flow. Put simply, she has come to the philosophical conclusion – as perhaps made most evident by the reference to the late Albert Camus – that life is meant to be lived, not pondered upon.
Indeed the last verse in particular is imbued with a sense of futility for lack of a better word. Here, we find Joanna coming to the realization that we are all born, do our earthly bid so to speak and then move on.
In Conclusion
So in putting all of this together, maybe we can conclude by saying that this narrator isn’t the type of person who feels for instance that she has to like something exceedingly great or notable. To the contrary, just being “on this side of the blue” can be deemed an accomplishment in and of itself. And by the time all is said and done, it’s as if we of the human race basically do the same things anyway.
So all in all, this philosophical piece apparently points to the idea of life’s ultimate goal being just to simply live.
When was “This Side of the Blue” released?
Joanna Newsome is a singer from Northern California who has been doing her thing since the early-aughts. “This Side of the Blue” is one of the songs to be had on her debut LP, “The Milk-Eyed Mender”, which an indie label called Drag City put out 23 March 2004.
Who wrote it?
Joanna wrote “This Side of the Blue”, with its producer being Noah Georgeson. And back when this song was dropped, both of them were part of a rock band known as The Pleased.
NOTE
Albert Camus (who is mentioned in this song) was a prominent, Nobel Prize-winning early 20th century philosopher who is mostly associated with a frame of thought known as absurdism. Absurdism is the belief that mankind exists in universe that is both disorganized and without any purpose.
Camus lived was born in 1913 and died in 1960.
