Tree is about pursuing something that a person can never get, and the realization that they have been wasting away chasing it.
lyrics
Take a nail and a board and you find a tree.
Hide up high, beyond my vision.
I can hear when you sing. All the water hits me.
When I look up all I see is light.
According to others there is no tree,
Just a board with a nail driven straight into me.
So why do I stand out here in this field in the winter?
It's a freezing rain and it's bright as the sun.
Oh you sound so good, but you are no fun.
Why do I get burned as I shiver around?
Up inside your tree got me nice on the ground.
Grab a hand let it go, turn the coffee cold.
Lose a lot and gain a little.
Lead me on with a carrot, you're oh so bold.
I've been circling round this tree for years.
According to others there is no tree,
Just a board with a nail driven straight into me.
So why do I stand here out in this field as I'm dying?
It's a freezing rain and it's bright as the sun.
Oh you sound so good, but you are no fun.
Why do I get burned as I shiver around?
Up inside your tree got me nice on the ground.
You're a fancy thing, but you aint very real,
Just a happy thought I was hoping to feel.
How do I decide all the good from the bad?
Days I never knew were the best I had.
credits
from The Man Behind the Wheel,
released August 9, 2011
Keith Holland (mixing) Jonathan Neal (organ)
The Oakland singer's latest album imagines the power struggle between man and nature as a slow, steady tempest of dark folk. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 20, 2019