This week, our retro Friday video takes us all the way back to 2002 when Iron & Wine, AKA Sam Beam, released his debut studio album. ‘The Creek Drank the Cradle’ is a beautifully subtle, understated piece of work that rewards repeated listening. The opening song is ‘Lion’s Mane’, which begins with gentle guitar before Beam’s captivating voice is introduced, hushed and hypnotic and intimate. His quietly expressed but heartfelt lines of love are like poetry: “Love is a tired symphony you hum when you’re awake…So I’ll clear the road, the gravel and the thorn bush in your path // Burns the scented oil that I’ll drip into your bath // The water’s there to warm you and the Earth is warmer when you laugh // And love is a scene I render when you catch me wide awake // Love’s a dream you enter though I shake and shake and shake you.” That sense of love as a waking dream is expressed with such lyrical artistry, typical of Beam’s songs. ‘Lion’s Mane’ benefits from his spare, restrained approach – it’s all the more impactful for holding back.
The video captures the mood of the song well, featuring a sequence of intriguing characters, each of which could be the subject of a film. Beam directed the video himself and it’s great art in it’s own right. The message in the bottle at the beginning subtly changes how you might interpret the lyrics. There’s a sadness here, but, perhaps, also hopefulness in the act of reaching out.
