May 2018
(4:56) Link to the NPR Tiny Desk Contest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAsnjoiR9Q
I am completely obsessed with this instrumentation of mandolin, banjo and cello in this video, (It is not the official release.) It was an absolute treat listening to this song over and over. However, once I started digging into the song, it sent a chill right up my spine.
I believe the narrator of this story has met with a harrowing demise, despite having lived her life “rightly.” A young woman named Rose was “a mother, a wife a fruitful life.”
It seems Rose was murdered, perhaps at the hand of a lover or an obsessed admirer, who is preparing to cover up his crime by dismembering her body with a bonesaw. This may not be the first time the “cutter” has committed murder because he appears to have the disposal process down pat.
The really cool part of the story is that Rose is haunting her killer and revealing hints to his identify by compelling him to confess his sinswhile disposing of the evidence. I think the killer may be a member of her church who is destined for hell, but not before he attends Rose’s funeral and sings in the choir. “Get you ready for the fire, sing in your good God’s choir.”
The line “They freed my disease, we’ll watch those cutters drown” Makes me wonder, did Rose know she was sick? Was she relieved of future suffering? Did she get the last laugh?
All in all a rather depressing story, yet the haunting music and modest lyrics play over in my head. It fills me with angst and I can’t stop thinking about Rose’s story.
Well folks, those are my thoughts…what’s yours?
I am not a music expert. I am a writer who also interviews musicians on a weekly radio podcast distributed via my Jacque Roche YouTube Channel and Soundcloud.com, as well as WPWL 103.7FM TheBeatOfTheValley.com. #MyMusicMusings are my random thoughts and opinions. If you’d like to have your music mused upon, contact me at JacquesGiantShow@gmail.com
Thank you for reading, Jacque
Pluck & Rail:
George Gierer, Banjo, lead vocal, Andy Sussman, cello, vocals
Bonesaw Lyrics
Momma called me Rose
and the story goes
I lived my life…rightly
A mother, a wife
A fruitful life
Now these cutters rip my bones from me
‘cause the Dead don’t need a thing
Just a pile of bones and skin
Get you ready for the fire, sing in your good God’s choir
Won’t you Sing Bonesaw Sing
So I sit and soak
And in darkness’ cloak
Peel off my skin down like a wedding gown
Do you see me?
You who receive me?
They freed my disease
we’ll watch those cutters drown
‘cause the Dead don’t need a thing
Just a pile of bones and skin
Get you ready for the fire, sing in your good God’s choir
Won’t you Sing Bonesaw Sing
