Birmos in the Cowshed

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a stark picture of impending departure, possibly a final one. The opening lines immediately establish a sense of finality: "Now that you know who / Has entered the pen / I may never see you / Ever again." This sets a somber, almost fatalistic tone, suggesting a separation from which there's no return. The "pen" feels like a confined space, perhaps a place of waiting or even confinement, from which the speaker is now exiting. Despite the bleak outlook, the narrator clings to vivid, almost surreal memories. The recurring image of "Birmos in the cowshed / Silkies on the wrist" is peculiar and striking, juxtaposing the mundane (cowshed) with the unexpected (Birmos, which could refer to a type of bird or even a person) and the delicate (silkies on the wrist). This imagery feels like a potent, albeit strange, anchor to a past experience, something that persists even as the present offers little comfort. The narrator acknowledges the potential for "cheap nostalgia" to be irritating, yet these specific, odd memories are "hard to resist." The lyrics grapple with the power of ingrained memories versus the present reality. The line "Things ingrained invade all thoughts / Of fixing on today" highlights how the past can hijack the present, making it difficult to focus on current circumstances. This is further emphasized by the shift from practical concerns like a "flu jab" to a more abstract, perhaps escapist, "Vale away." The narrator seems to be drifting, caught between the tangible present and the persistent, soothing "pictures in the distance." The final stanzas reinforce the sense of irreversible departure and the enduring, almost hallucinatory, nature of these memories. The speaker is "leaving the pen," confirming the earlier premonition of never seeing the other person "Ever again." The shift from "Birmos in the cowshed / Silkies on the wrist" to "Phantoms in the cowshed / Silk scarf on my wrist" suggests a fading, ethereal quality to these recollections, perhaps intensified by the "morphine" mentioned. The core of the song lies in this poignant tension between inevitable separation and the tenacious, almost dreamlike grip of specific, unusual memories that offer a strange form of solace.