“Incomprehensible” Song Analysis: Big Thief Lyrics Meaning & Interpretation
Big Thief – Incomprehensible : A Gentle Anthem for Letting Go and Being Yourself
Have you ever listened to a song that feels less like a performance and more like a peek into someone’s travel journal? That’s exactly the vibe of “Incomprehensible” by Big Thief. It doesn’t shout its message at you. Instead, it whispers, sharing intimate moments and profound thoughts in a way that feels like you’re right there in the passenger seat, watching the world blur by. It’s a song about a road trip, yes, but it’s also a journey into something much deeper: the radical act of self-acceptance.
The Spontaneous Road Trip at the Heart of Big Thief’s “Incomprehensible”
The song kicks off with such a vivid scene. You can almost feel the humid air and taste the sweet, sticky fantasy of “cotton candy rain” on Highway 17. Right away, we learn that the plan went wrong: “Driving with my lover, we missed our plane.” But instead of frustration, there’s this beautiful pivot. They decide to just keep going, adding hours to their trip to see the lupine flowers. It’s that perfect, unplanned detour that often leads to the best memories, isn’t it?
Adrianne Lenker’s lyrics paint this incredible picture of their journey through Ontario, past Thunder Bay. The imagery is so specific and raw. “The pine trees are narrow, a billion broken arrows” – what a line! It’s not just “we saw trees.” It’s a feeling. It captures the rugged, almost dangerous beauty of the Canadian wilderness. You can picture the sharp, dark lines of the pines against the sky. The mention of specific birds, the static on the stereo, and a swim in Old Woman Bay makes it all feel so real, so tangible. It’s a memory in the making.
Leaving More Than Just a Childhood Home
Then, the journey takes a turn inward. The singer mentions traveling with some “stuff” she left behind as a kid, including “Mr. Bear and the wooden box I hid.” This isn’t just about cleaning out an old bedroom. It’s a powerful metaphor for the emotional baggage we all carry. The broken gadgets that “mean nothing now” represent the old worries, the outdated parts of ourselves we cling to. But notice what she chooses to keep: the letters and the photographs. She’s letting go of the clutter but holding onto the love and the connections. It’s a quiet, mature decision about what truly matters as we move through life.
The mention of her upcoming 33rd birthday feels so personal and honest. She acknowledges that it “doesn’t really matter next to eternity,” but finds a simple, human joy in the numbers. It’s this blend of cosmic perspective and small, personal delight that makes the song so relatable. She’s not trying to be a profound sage; she’s just a person noticing the world and her place in it, realizing that “everything I see from now on will be something new.”
Wrinkling Like a River: Redefining Beauty and Aging
This is where the song truly blossoms into its core message. “I’m afraid of getting older, that’s what I’ve learned to say.” Boom. She calls it out directly. It’s not an innate fear, but a fear that society has given us the words for. The constant messaging to fight aging—”don’t get saggy, don’t get gray”—is something we all absorb.
But then, she completely flips the script. Instead of fighting it, she finds beauty in it. The gray hairs become “soft and lovely silvers.” She sees the wrinkles of her mother and grandmothers not as decay, but as something natural and beautiful, like a river carving its path. They “sweeten like the dew.” It’s such a gentle, powerful reframing. The ultimate truth bomb is the question: “How can beauty that is living be anything but true?” It suggests that any beauty standard that denies the process of life—of changing, aging, and evolving—is a false one. True beauty is found in the living, breathing, wrinkling, silvering process itself.
This leads to the final, liberating verses. It’s a prayer for freedom. “Let gravity be my sculptor, let the wind do my hair.” She’s asking to be shaped by nature and experience, not by societal pressure. The desire to “dance in front of people without a care” and be comfortable alone with “mismatched socks” is the ultimate goal. It’s about reaching a state where you are so at peace with yourself that you no longer need to perform or present a polished version for others. You can just be. And that’s what it means to be “incomprehensible.” It’s not about being confusing; it’s about being so authentically yourself that you are beyond the simple judgment or understanding of others. You are free.
This song is just packed with these little moments of wisdom that you can carry with you. It’s more than just a story; it’s a collection of gentle reminders on how to live a little more freely. Let’s pull out a few lines that feel especially powerful.
Inspirational Quotes From “Incomprehensible” for Your Own Journey
Sometimes, a single line from a song can stick with you for days, acting as a little mantra. “Incomprehensible” is full of these. Here are a few that stand out as beautiful reminders for life.
On Finding Joy in Life’s Detours
This is such a perfect encapsulation of the “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” idea. A missed flight could be a disaster, a source of stress and anger. But here, it becomes an opportunity. It’s a reminder to stay flexible and look for the silver lining. Sometimes, the most beautiful and memorable experiences are the ones that weren’t on the itinerary at all. It’s about embracing the chaos and turning a mishap into magic.
On Mindfully Curating Your Past
This quote speaks volumes about how to move forward without erasing where you’ve been. We all have baggage, but we get to choose what we carry. This line is a guide for a mental and emotional decluttering. Let go of the broken things, the outdated beliefs, the meaningless attachments. But hold tight to the love, the memories, and the connections that shaped you. It’s not about forgetting the past, but about choosing to carry only the parts that give you strength.
On Discovering the Truth in Living
This is the philosophical heart of the song. It’s a powerful question to ask yourself whenever you feel pressured by artificial beauty standards. A wrinkle is a sign of laughter and worry. Gray hair is a sign of time and experience. Scars are signs of healing. These are marks of a life being lived. This quote challenges us to see beauty not as a static, perfect image, but as a dynamic, evolving, and authentic process. Living things change, and that change is where true beauty resides.
On the Ultimate Freedom of Self-Acceptance
Simple, yet so profound. This is a wish for complete and utter freedom from self-consciousness. It’s about wanting to experience uninhibited joy, to move your body because it feels good, not because you’re worried about how you look. It represents a state of being where the opinions of others simply don’t have power over you anymore. It’s a goal we can all aspire to: to be so comfortable in our own skin that we can just dance.
Ultimately, “Incomprehensible” is a quiet masterpiece about finding peace. It’s about the journey—both on the road and within yourself—of letting go of what society expects and embracing the wonderfully messy, beautiful, and true person you are. But that’s just my take on it. A song this personal can mean something different to everyone. What moments or lines stood out to you? I’d love to hear how “Incomprehensible” speaks to you.
