Joanna Newsom - Does Not Suffice (with lyrics)

[@beefcaked]

that last bit always makes me think of the feeling of your brain racing through memories as you drive away from the house where you know youll never be back at again

[@mossjames5444]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Andreasleon27]

This song is a masterpiece. "And everywhere I tried to love you is yours again and only yours."

[@esprit15d]

+Andreas Landgren One of the greatest lines of the last decade.

[@Kyosan13]

+esprit15d I love it, also "It does not suffice to merely lie beside each other, as those who love each other do". Just incredibly powerful lyrics. Incredibly powerful and upsetting song.

[@Andreasleon27]

Agreed. I love that line as well.

[@AndreaBussinger81]

the whole album is... love this album :D

[@toperic02]

The most poetic lyricist of this generation. Astonishing!

[@ooomingmak_]

The last 1 minute, the part without words, says more about the feeling of the end of a relationship than any verse of any other music

[@juansayagocheein9348]

The instrumentation, the pace, THE LYRICS, the outro. I cannot believe a human being has been able to produce a song this magnificent

[@eachness]

Yes. In the record this is titled "Does Not Suffice (In California, refrain)". It's like the concluding paragraph of her essay, referencing both In California, and the first song, Easy, taking back to where it started. Such a beautiful statement.

[@PedrotheWombat]

I put this song on whenever I want to feel like I've been gutted.

[@llsspp]

It's beautiful how she uses the melody from 'In California' for that final part of 'la la las', especially when you remember that the lyrics from the original melody are: I don't belong to anyone My heart is heavy, is an oil drum Really hits me hard x

[@mview4843]

'How easy i was not' the way she sings that line just makes me so sad

[@eknekron]

JN is a poet. I have always loved her sensitivity to the way she phrases things and this is such a good example: complicating the line by reordering the words - making them "not easy" to read.

[@TalkAsSoftAsChalk]

@@eknekron I completely agree! The way this one line takes us back to the first song in which the narrator went on and on about how she is so easy to please. Only we now find out that perhaps she wasn't faultless either and that's completely alright. She is admitting to her faults with just this one line.

[@asourpo1yphony]

@@TalkAsSoftAsChalk YES such an thoughtfully clever contrast

[@riverjuniper]

100% crying rn. I've loved Joanna Newsom since i was like 12 (24 now) and I don't think her songs have ever made me cry but I just went through a breakup and this one is really getting to me

[@alex84950]

It's great someone uploaded the song with lyrics because it just shows her choice of words are peerless. Just the joy of language, of phrases and double meanings, of imagery and even the musicality of the words themselves 'quiet as gondoliers' just delicious, listing those types of fabric, cartouche,cashmere, tweed and silver shot. sorry i'll stop evangelising.

[@marijanatoplak2777]

Why do you say "evangelising"? You mean "preach"? Interesting, interesting (I've never met the phrase)...

[@13strong]

Ah, this song is amazing in so many ways. The way it blends melodies from the other songs on the album (California is always the one that jumps out for me). The way it's so sad, but also incredibly empowering - she sounds so defiant but accepting. And the end, when her voice becomes echoed, like she's standing in the big, cavernous empty house removed of furniture and possessions. And then the last, wordless singing, as if there's nothing more to say. One of the best musicians of this century.

[@concars1234]

that "La La La" at the end of this song is one of the sweetest moments of release in Joanna's music, of which there are so many

[@ft-eg8tq]

those lalas and discordant piano notes and violin somehow get me more than the lyrics and the lyrics are so emotional

[@sheepbeepbeep]

everytime i listen to this song i think about how weirdly bittersweet it was leaving the apartment i shared with my ex-boyfriend who i was still on good terms with. he helped me pack everything up into my car and carried my cat carrier to my car and when i left we hugged and kissed goodbye even though we both had all these negative emotions. this song makes me very emotional

[@uhluz]

listening to this song and reading this made me cry. i hope you are doing well!!

[@sheepbeepbeep]

@@uhluz thank you for the sweet comment!! i am doing great and have a new life i love! i hope you're doing great too :)

[@henrybrown6667]

My ex was the one who showed me this song. It didn’t resonate with me too much when we were together, but it definitely does now.

[@lizardpeoplepoetry]

tfw you have to bind your silks :'(

[@devoutburrito]

she's amazing. same instrumental as in california. the line "...everything that could remind you of how easy i was not." woven this thread throughout all three discs. easy, in california, does not suffice. incredible.

[@missmarliee]

listened to this song LITERALLY over 90 times this week. hitting me especially hard.

[@ricachic]

this has to be one of the most beautifully sad songs I've ever heard, I dont know what more to say except that it truly breaks my heart

[@kayleighkeller4347]

this is just one of those songs that makes me weep like a baby

[@sjswords]

This is unbelievably special! While the emotions in the song are hard to contend with, it fills my heart with joy to know someone can create and capture a feeling in such a profiund way. Pure magic, pure poetry.

[@Vegeta187x]

"...and everywhere I tried to love you, is yours again, and only yours." :(

[@viniciuscomacento]

everytime she goes on singing that last bit (which refers to some of "In California" melody) I breakdown everytime

[@ghostofdayinperson]

Any man who couldn't love Joanna isn't worth it.....but I'm glad he inspired this song

[@dharmallars]

Ten years with Andy though! I hope they’re insanely happy together.

[@nacarreira777]

Makes me teary every time......

[@cltravag]

liek if u cry everytim

[@julilassa]

you are an evil suol

[@Heydotcalv]

Listened to this at midnight New Years Eve.

[@eskimoKUKL]

i love endings like this. especially the last minute and a half. beautiful.

[@purpleandgreen]

I agree with those pointing out the common bit this song has with Cosmia. Both songs are about profound losses (Cosmia about her friend who died, this one presumably about moving out of Bill Callahan's place..?) And that rhythmic structure captures the furious persistent pain of loss so beautifully...

[@idlerwheeliswiser]

I cried so hard the first time I heard this

[@yearofthesnitch]

this is the best song ive ever heard

[@Steerpikey]

@jacobrayyy: exactly... she seems to be creating music in the ancient tradition of storytelling, like medieval bards repeating the patterns of their ballads... it helps to imprint her visions in our memories.

[@SatieSatie]

Too relevant in my life right now. I feel understood.

[@viniciuscomacento]

+Lemony Chagall I feel it too

[@marino.habulan]

It hurts even more when you hear exact same thing you've done to one you love

[@bobbybob2573]

Incredibly written, incredibly performed ... Brilliant

[@ItsGiiiiibb]

I could listen to this all day and night. I would try to feel sad, but it seems to soak up all my emotions.

[@Steerpikey]

I can't yet grasp how beautiful this song is

[@higgobraga]

That made me cry. Too damn touching. Beautiful.

[@DefenderM8]

I love coming back to this. Art.

[@jacobharris3208]

This song honestly makes me cry. There aren't many artists or songs that can do that 💔

[@youthdecay411]

@5:37 oh god, always gives me chills. This album is one of the best I have ever heard in my life.

[@laurenmaguire7695]

This makes me happy and sad at the same time... it's so beautiful

[@animalloverabh]

listening to all your women things by callahan before this makes me want to curl up and cry for a few days

[@danielamhh]

this song is heartwrenching. goddamn

[@beefcaked]

ah so pretty i love her voice sigh

[@ranice]

@LanIost On the album (which I bought physically), the song is called 'Does Not Suffice (In California, Refrain)' ;)

[@TheIskra127]

The echo on the "La la la's" just kill me

[@jacobrayyy]

i really like how she repeats some of her music in this album. the beginning of this song sounds almost exactly like a part of "in california". i know some people say that this is unoriginal or stupid, but in a way it makes me feel as if this entire album is an autobiography or some epic story. in another song, which i can't seem to remember which one it is now, there is an instrumental part that sounds alot like a part in "ys". i think her repetitiveness is genius and extremely creative.

[@hannahreviews2735]

beautiful

[@yinnthebin]

this song makes me wanna chew my arm off

[@thenoah23]

my favourite song from the new album

[@some.niallist]

@LanIost Throughout the entire album she brings themes and motifs back all over the place. It's as if it's a libretto with composition, intensely planned out, act by act, not song by song.

[@esprit15d]

@flavaflavs I see where you are comng from, and I contemplate this fact as well, but the great contrast comes in the way she sings it, which is very unpredictable and teeters on the melody. Also, the relentlessness of the melody almost marches you to the inevitable end of this relationship (in mood), so i like the effect of it.

[@andrewmcdonnell826]

I wonder if Bill Callahan ever listened to this.

[@samuelkastin5643]

course he fuckin did

[@LanIost]

My mp3 player screwed up the other day and started skipping through songs. I thought this was some secret version of In California. I've been listening to this album since it came out and I haven't got through every song in detail yet. Somehow I hadn't listened to this song at all. Has anyone noticed that this melody is EXACTLY the same as "In California" You can seen the lyrics right over it and it fits. Deja Vu. Wow, even the piano is exactly the same down to the tiniest touches.

[@flavaflavs]

@esprit15d Yeah I've come to embrace it. Especially since I'm only really listening to the piano this very moment, the piano is constantly changing and hitting unpredictable notes while staying constant throughout the song, in a jazzy way almost. There's something interesting and lullaby-ish about the repetition in this one. It's not one of my favourites by any means but there's no denying it's beauty, especially considering its simplicity.

[@piefolk]

I think the repetition gives the album a thematic through line. I think I would like to cover this song, and I very well might.

[@alexf7377]

I would have preferred a "la la la" fade out to represent her walking away, rather than the cacophony, but still.. what a song to end this 2 hour masterpiece referencing both the opening track Easy and the centrepiece In California. Here I am commenting 14 years later, with only a single album in the meantime. I know Joanna has done some gigs with new songs and can't wait to hear her lyrical take on marriage and children.

[@Andreasleon27]

vegeta that is the best lyric i think so too it stood out so moving

[@brightslumber]

Hearts and possessions divide... I think we've all been here.

[@TheIkaraCult]

i dont know what part of Joanna Newsom this song came from, and i never want to know. Like all the best songs it belongs to us from the minute we hear it.

[@celty234]

obaby i listen to her when i want to cry

[@asteroid1717]

Sadder than the slow parts of Only Skin. Sadder than the arrangement of Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie off of Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band. Sadder than that Disney movie that made you cry when you were five.

[@slithygogs]

Does anyone else hear Cosmia in the piano at 5:23?

[@LanIost]

Ok, It's not jut a a coinsidence. The part before the easy riff is one of the other parts off In California "content to see my garden grow" - that part. Then the piano riff that has been used in In California and in Only Skin.

[@saSkylark]

Ruthless

[@ryanpatricksmith5795]

Does anyone know what she means by cartouche? I'm only familiar with the hieroglyphics sense

[@scrumbole]

Tiny Marsh a type of fabric :)

[@ryanpatricksmith5795]

@@scrumbole Thanks. I guess it refers to a certain style of patterning? Not many dictionaries list such a sense, but I see mentions of it here and there

[@lafalsaeraacuario1786]

WoW ❤

[@FirionDarklight]

i will come off as stupid for asking this probably. what is the main theme of this song? seperation? wanting to be together but not being able for some reason? i am trying to understand but the meaning eludes me. any info appreciated.

[@Jhaqen]

Her breakup with Bill Callahan I believe.

[@junipercosmic6841]

***** They simply wondered what Joannas original inspiration behind the song was. Zero wrong with that. Don't be a dick.

[@esprit15d]

+FirionDarklight This is a couple that is living together. Even though the man probably has not said it outright, it has become CLEAR to the woman that he doesn't love her anymore, and so she decides to leave. As is often the case, however, she is still in love with him. As she packs her things to go, she first describes in detail all her personal items. They are expensive, high-quality, elegant materials that give insight into what type of person she is. As the song progresses, she acknowledges the fact that she is a very difficult person and that she understands how her personality contributed to their break-up, while making it clear that his passive aggressive way of treating her didn't help the situation any. It appears that he is still at it, saying nice things to her as she heads out of the door: that she is " a sweet girl," and that he hates to see her said because of him. It's not enough though; it doesn't suffice for them to just pretend they are a couple while they're actually miserable, so she's still leaving. In some kind of perverse, masochistic reverie, she imagines what this home will be without her, and how the space they once share will all go back to him.

[@FirionDarklight]

+esprit15d Oh. That makes sense. Thanks. :)

[@alimete92]

this song is a reply to Bill Callahan's (Smog) song "All Your Women Things". Both of these songs are the same in the main theme. Their break-up.

[@Andreasleon27]

This might be her finest moment For some reason it also made me want to listen to elton johns song sacrifice

[@MatheusAgostin]

The Cosmia part killed me.

[@ColdOasisU2]

this is like Blond on Blonde or Blue album of our times

[@1.0.10.9]

Love these two albums.and while i never tough that were the best albums by Dylan and Mitchell,still i think i agree that this album by Joanna is at the top of this century so far so many songs and emotions,HER BEST SO FAR

[@nomihabo9752]

I'm so glad it's over

[@decorumgun]

Crygasm. This gets me, so bad. I think I'm going ot be sick. Bravo.

[@flavaflavs]

@jacobrayyy This song is subtitled 'In California, Refrain', meaning its somewhat of a reprise to In California. I love it when In California's melody kicks in. It's a good song but I don't like the fact that the melody stays the same for so long in the beginning. Until the In California melody, the entire song doesn't change much.

[@cloudz9467]

really sounds like ''in California''

[@hystericalsidewalk]

she's using the melody from In California purposefully

[@rohansixtythree]

+Cloud z I think in the lyric booklet it calls this song "In California (refrain)" as well as "Does Not Suffice"

[@martian1138]

i think all the songs are very well thought variations of the same theme musically, i can hear easy also here.just like autumn and ribbon bows

[@dinospumoni663]

Also known as a _motif._

[@christeafur]

This sounds like California by her..?

[@justforthesparks]

its suposed to have the same notes as california right?

[@esprit15d]

@spectrum99122 cuz it rox

[@amgm1996]

does not suffice is to joanna newsom what love ridden is to fiona apple

[@juliewinson4467]

Brilliant dansed

[@jacobrayyy]

yeahh it's cosmia! i thought so, but i wasn't sure so i wasn't going to put it down and sound like i didn't know what i was talking about :p thanks!

[@whatoncewaslostbutnowissou7889]

Wait... is it "pack up" or "pack all" my pretty dresses?

[@steveparsons6719]

I believe "up" is correct

[@LanIost]

It's beyond that acutally.. the most I listen to it.. it has the EXACT same melody. Same parts where she stresses her vocals.. high pitches. low pitches. It's the same. Am I crazy? I can't be the only one who has noticed this.

[@DeeDeeFatmLoverWanab]

Her vibrato jesus christ

[@reneverduzcocortes]

Big Big song.

[@GermaniasWacht]

@DenverMini I did...

[@spectrum99122]

I try to avoid poetry at all costs, on every occasion. So why am I intrigued and bewitched by this?

[@dharmallars]

I hope the twelve years have changed you

[@McManatee]

weep-worthy

[@esprit15d]

@Vegeta187x that line feels awful. i barely survived it.

[@claudiamar69]

SHE S GOOD SINGR AND SHE DOESNT HAVE ANY CHANNEL.

[@spiritkazoo]

@everyone: I love Joanna Newsom fans. What a well-worded bunch!

[@3letterox]

subjectively, this work is genius. objectively for the sake of da forum, this work is equally genius at worst. at best..... even. fucking. somehow? more so. brava belllllllaaaa~~!~~1!!!!!! aliens n robots would agree~

[@Mdoorey95]

i really like this comment. idk why it received negative votes....

[@angievigilante]

i think she lost a baby too....

[@bmdola]

lol

[@chitinaarmet5737]

julia holter

[@philipsmog]

I don't find this story sad, it's ridiculously self-indulgent, but also ridiculously beautiful.

[@TheGreatEcstasy]

From a mans perspective this sounds like the lyrics of a woman admitting she made the guys life miserable accepting defeat and moving on. Interesting.

[@isabellaatkinson4329]

MEN WILL NEVER GET IT

[@ichirosuzuki2252]

No. Coming from a man's perspective who was unable to reciprocate love properly, it is precisely about that, and the devastating pain that comes with having to let someone you love go because they can't be vulnerable and return the sentiment. This whole album has really hammered home what an empty life I've lived, the pain I've caused two women that loved me because of my emotional detachment, and how I need to enter therapy or do some deep introspection before being involved with anyone else in an intimate capacity