So Hi So Lo

Album: Light (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Dancehall synth track is from the American Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu's third studio album, Light. The song also appeared on Matisyahu's 2008 EP Shattered. Matisyahu was Hasidic at the time living as an orthodox Jew. In 2011, he shaved his beard, forcing editors everywhere to omit the word "Hasidic" from their descriptions.
  • Matisyahu told Star Pulse that one of the main inspirations for the Shattered EP had been a story called The Seven Beggars written by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who lived in the 1800's. He explained: "It's okay not to be familiar with the story since, despite it being a big inspiration, it's only subtly mentioned in the song. The story is of these two children who escape the sacking of their kingdom. They end up spending seven days and nights in the forest. Each night a different beggar comes to them with bread and water, but they won't take them out of the forest. Each beggar has an apparent deficiency that turns out to actually be their advantage in their services to God. There are all these stories within the story. One of the beggars is a hunchback, who is little but carries a lot. And this beggar knows of a tree that's on the side of a road to nowhere. It casts a shade that has a place for every creature in the world. For every bird a spot on its branch. At the end of that song, it says like, 'I am searching for the shade of the tree, I heard about it in the breeze, they say it exists at the side of the road, which road nobody was told.' That's one aspect of the song, but it's multi dimensional. There's also the idea of extremities and going from a high to low place, or of being in the process of high being low."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Bible Lyrics

Bible LyricsMusic Quiz

Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.

Jon Anderson

Jon AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.