How’s About Tellin’ a Story

Song Meaning

Devendra Banhart’s "How's About Tellin' a Story" isn't so much a narrative as it is a meta-commentary on the very act of storytelling. The track immediately establishes a playful tension: a yearning to recount a life, complete with its pivotal moments of birth, experience, and death, juxtaposed against a frustrating writer's block. The initial invitation, "how's about tellin' a story?" quickly unravels into an admission of creative paralysis. The song becomes less about a specific tale and more about the struggle to capture the essence of a life within the confines of art. Banhart lays bare the challenge of transforming lived experience into a coherent narrative. The self-awareness deepens with the lines, "By the time I found a name I moved onto another game / Called write a song..." This suggests a restless, almost flippant approach to creativity, a constant shifting of focus before anything substantial can take root. The mention of "toes and spines" hints at the physical, almost visceral, connection Banhart feels (or perhaps *doesn't* feel) with his material. He wants to sing about a "person, place, or thing," but the inspiration remains elusive. This part of the lyrics analysis reveals the artist's vulnerability as he grapples with the creative process. The final verse descends into a flurry of seemingly random images: "Mansonite and the Wolfman, Katmandu, and Honest Abe." These disparate references, spanning myth, history, and geography, underscore the chaotic nature of inspiration. The mentions of Tucson and Maine, followed by San Francisco, further emphasize this sense of disconnectedness. The nonsensical "ladeedada da... na na!" serves as a final, almost defiant, gesture of playful absurdity. Ultimately, the song's meaning lies not in any concrete story told, but in the honest, slightly self-deprecating portrayal of the creative process itself – its frustrations, its fleeting moments of inspiration, and its ultimate embrace of the absurd.