Lyrically Speaking: Exploring the dense depiction of love in Adrianne Lenker’s ‘Anything’
When it comes to lyrical longing, Adrianne Lenker is second to none. Both at the helm of indie folk outfit Big Thief and in her solo work, the Indiana-born songwriter has infused her musical musings with unparalleled vulnerability. She’s one of few artists who can truly capture the intensity of love, in all of its messy, chaotic glory, without ever losing her poetic prowess. Perhaps the finest example of this is ‘Anything’, the lead single from her 2020 record, Songs.
Though the instrumentation barely ventures beyond tender plucks and soft shakers, ‘Anything’ sounds impossibly cosy and dense. Reverb and layered vocals serve this purpose, but so too does Lenker’s lyricism, which is overspilling in adjectives and feelings. It’s almost reminiscent of Pre-Raphaelite poetry in its dense descriptions and raw natural imagery.
For a song about love, ‘Anything’ opens with some unexpectedly brutal images. “Staring down the barrel of the hot sun,” Lenker sings, “shining with the sheen of a shotgun.” It’s a shocking start to a track so tender, taking typically violent imagery to describe the warmth of the sun and the sweat it leaves on her skin.
This isn’t the only time Lenker juxtaposes threat and tenderness in the track. In the second verse, she finds a similar motif in the dog bite she takes home as a souvenir from a festive season spent with her lover. “Dog’s white teeth slice right through my fist,” she sings, “Drive to the ER and they put me on risk.” Despite the beauty of love, there comes with it a sense of danger, one that Lenker figures to be worth it for the chance to lay in her lover’s lap.
Amidst those moments of violence, Lenker depicts the softness and sensuality of love in lush natural imagery. With references to circles of pine and drops of mango juice, she remembers the passion in between the pain. “Weren’t we the stars in Heaven?” she asks, “Weren’t we the salt in the sea?” Though it might have been lost, remnants of their love can still be found all around them, everywhere between the sky and the ocean.
Though Lenker’s verses are impossibly detailed, so intricately tied to the relationship they describe that they even name her former lover, she still never alienates her listeners. It’s easy to paste your own memories onto her words, particularly as the song reaches its chorus.
“I don’t wanna talk about anything,” Lenker declares, finally affording the album title its rightful place within the song, “I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again, wanna witness your eyes looking”. Adjectives in abundance are replaced with love in its purest form, as she perfectly distils down that desire to just be with your partner, to relish in the comfort of their presence, to accompany them even in the mundanities of sleeping or driving.
Between the potential pain, the intensity, the stars and the sea, real love can be found in those moments. It’s a simplicity and a comfort Lenker contains into one line: “I don’t wanna be the owner of your fantasy, I just wanna be a part of your family.” Love isn’t ownership, it isn’t the sheen of a shotgun or the pain of a dog bite, it’s the comfort of familiarity, it’s existing side by side, it’s driving your lover home as they sleep beside you.
‘Anything’ remains one of the finest lyrical depictions of love in modern indie, and Lenker remains one of the finest songwriters in that sphere. It’s a song that’s lush with description, detailed and specific, but it never loses the universality of the feeling amidst its intricacies and intimacies. As she underscores her words with subtle strums and shakers, Lenker continues to prove her unparalleled poetic prowess and her unwavering grasp on the topic of love.
Revisit ‘Anything’ by Adrianne Lenker below.
