Charles Ives - Tom Sails Away

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Scenes from my childhood are with me
I'm in the lot behind our house upon the hill
A spring day's sun is setting
Mother with Tom in her arms
Is coming towards the garden;
The lettuce rows are showing green
Thinner grows the smoke o'er the town
Stronger comes the breeze from the ridge
'Tis after six, the whistles have blown
The milk train's gone down the valley
Daddy is coming up the hill from the mill
We run down the lane to meet him
But today! In freedom's cause Tom sailed away
For over there, over there!
Scenes from my childhood
Are floating before my eyes

Release Date: January 01, 1922

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Charles Ives

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The meaning of the song

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"Tom Sails Away" by Charles Ives is a nostalgic and bittersweet song that captures the innocence and simplicity of childhood memories. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a spring day in the past, with the sun setting and a gentle breeze blowing. The speaker recalls a moment when their mother held their sibling, Tom, in her arms as they walked towards the garden. The scene is filled with familiar sights and sounds, from the green lettuce rows to the smoke over the town and the whistle of the milk train. The arrival of the speaker's father from the mill is a joyful moment, but it is tinged with sadness as Tom sets sail for a distant land in the name of freedom. The song beautifully captures the mixture of emotions that come with growing up and saying goodbye to loved ones.

Biography

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Arguably the first modernist composer, Charles Ives (1874-1954) was a solitary figure who composed in obscurity for most of his life. The son of a U.S. Army bandleader, Ives enjoyed a wildly successful career as an insurance executive. In his spare time, he composed music in a wide variety of genres that combined popular song, church hymns, military marches, and European art music in ways that used tone clusters, polytonality, and other techniques decades before they were adopted by European composers.