Four Cypresses

Album: Painted Ruins (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Daniel Rossen told Pitchfork that his lyrics for this simmering reflection on the state of a displaced world started as a narrative from the perspective of a homeless person sleeping in the driveway of a place he was staying in L.A. It then broadened to "become a meditation on internal chaos that mirrors the chaos in the outside world."
  • Rossen explained the song's haunting lyric "It's chaos, but it works" during a track by track interview with NPR:

    "That line is not a reference to the political chaos we are currently dealing with. It was meant in more human terms and referring back to the previous line in the song, 'living in a pile,' living in ruin or disarray. 'It's chaos but it works' is meant more like, 'It's a mess, but it has to be good enough.' We are adaptable. We sometimes live in abject conditions because that's all we have and we make it work. It ended up sounding a bit more flippant than I thought it would."
  • According to Rossen, Grizzly Bear percussionist Chris Bear kick-started this song "with the strange rolling drum feel and chord change at the top. Eventually I took it and wrote a melody and lyric and we built it from there."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.