Blessing All the Birds

Welcome to Blessing All the Birds, a feminist fan project focused on the work of songwriter Joanna Newsom. We see Newsom's work as feminist literature and our goal is to provide it the serious critical analysis it deserves, as well as to discuss her unique place in popular culture.

Contributing Authors

princepsfemina Dux femina facti.

Posts tagged "Consumption"

The Baring and Burying of Bear

[CONTENT WARNING: ABUSE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, RAPE, SUICIDE]

I have been having thoughts about the refrain of “sooner or later, you’ll bare your teeth” in “Monkey & Bear” for quite some time now. I wrote an early draft of this mini-essay on my iPhone while on a disastrously long subway ride to Queens a month ago and it’s taken me this long to actually set it down officially.

As mentioned previously on this blog, “Monkey & Bear” is probably my least favorite from Ys musically and aesthetically, but its lyrics have always been a treasure trove for feminist analysis. Some of what I will talk about below responds in part to Rachel’s most wonderful essay on Bear, clothing, and performative femininity.

At a literal level, the refrain refers to Bear and her (in)ability to eat because of Monkey’s abuse. Monkey is controlling her food consumption as a way to fetter her and exploit her. He explicitly begins their “liberation” from the farm with fear-mongering about eating (But, Ursala, we’ve got to eat something/ And earn our keep, while still within/ The borders of the land that man has girded).

But the refrain also bespeaks of Monkey’s fear of Bear and the revenge she may take against him.