It's an obscure adjective from the late 19th century to describe a person lacking something we all take for granted, but definitely notice when they are missing – eyebrows. But how to their arch up in lyrics? This word certainly doesn’t appear in songs, but what they describe as missing certainly do. The country classic song Big River has been covered by many artists, but the writer and original artist is of course Johnny Cash in 1968, about a man who is so smitten by a woman and her irresistible southern drawl that he pursues her down the Mississippi River, and she appears to have the effect on others too, raising a few eyebrows along the way:
Then you took me to St. Louis later on (down the river).
A freighter said she's been here but she's gone, boy, she's gone.
I found her trail in Memphis, but she just walked up the block.
She raised a few eyebrows and then she went on down alone.
Mink Deville’s hit song, Spanish Stroll also has an incidental eyebrow moment, describing a stylish, vain man who straightens his as part of a pose:
Hey Mr. Jim I can see the shape you're in
Finger on your eyebrow
And left hand on your hip
Thinking that you're such a lady killer
Think you're so slick!
Alright
The Hollies song, Don’t Let Me Down, describes a different way to raise eyebrows, is a more disdainful fashion:
Oh and don't let, don't let me down
Feelings are near the ground
Don't want the sun to be shinin', raisin' his eyebrows at the moon
Sayin' I told you, so she wouldn't show
Well, don't speak too soon
Carly Simon’s 1970 song, Waited So Long, is more pointedly seeking to raise several shocked eyebrows of relatives at the news about the young narrator.
Please tell my sweet mother
Go on now tell uncle Paul
Tell all my girlfriends
Not to wait for me
Daddy, I'm no virgin
And I've already waited too long
Raise up your eyebrows
Raise, I said raise your glasses with a song
But don't expect me to be home tonight
Daddy, I'm sorry
But I've already waited too long
Joni Mitchell’s lesser known song, Nathan la Franeer from 1968’s debut album Song to a Seagull, produced by David Crosby describes a vivid detail about the titular character:
I hired a coach to take me from confusion to the plane
And though we shared a common space I know I'll never meet again
The driver with his eyebrows furrowed in the rear-view mirror
I read his name and it was plainly written Nathan La Franeer
Eyebrows are hugely significant for appearance, and plucking them is all part of a self-grooming process. Perhaps the best known example is the cross-dressing Holly in Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side:
Holly came from Miami F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
Big Sugar, the Canadian blues-rock band, singing about how a woman’s behaviour “makes me mash my eyebrows down”, in Ride Like Hell from 2004:
The way she been talking
Make me mash my eyebrows down
The way she been talkin
Make me mash my eyebrows down
Make me fold my arms
And heave a lonesome sigh
Eyebrows can certainly have a life of their own. This anarchic song by the prog rockers The Mars Volta, Drunkship of Lanterns, contains the line "Lash of one thousand eyebrows clicking".
Everything Everything’s Cough Cough describes how eyebrows can express other reactions:
And that eureka moment hits you like a cop car
And you wake up just head and shoulders in a glass jar
You clear your throat you raise your eyebrow but you don't say
There's something wrong but it's okay if we're still getting paid
Finally, Beck’s song Outcome, an obscure outtake track from the oddities album One Foot In the Grave, describes how eyebrows can be exaggerated for theatrical effect:
Riot cops, cheerleaders
Eyebrows painted on their heads
Mouthful of rotting cavities
Drinking Coca Cola in the street
So to close, here is a gallery of famous eyebrows, some huge and unkempt, others carefully prepared, plucked, dyed or made distinctive:
So then, care to look up more songs that mention or feature eyebrows? Please feel free to share any further examples in songs, instrumentals, on albums, film, art or other contexts in comments below.
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