Sister, Mother

One thing you have to remember: even though a girl is singing it, a dude wrote it. Usually. So things get a little confused about "Kiss Me" -- not sure who is wearing the flowered hat and/or the dress, but I think it's the same person, though the "bearded barley" I'm pretty sure is just barley -- and some other Sixpence tracks. This is something I've come to appreciate about the band; not that the sentiments are necessarily somehow ungendered by virtue of being a male songwriter channelled through a female singer, but that notions of femininity and masculinity and personhood seem rather tied up in each other, like both are needed to fully realize the third.

"Sister, Mother" is one of those tracks where all the genders and family relationships are rather blended up, and (spiritual) (or any kind of) wisdom/love is somehow a picture of relationships rather than an abstract idea. "Hug him like a brother / kiss her like a sister / let it be my mother" -- is that hug him like he is your bother, or like you are his brother? Like she is your sister, or you are hers? And what is "it" and how is "it" your mother? Somewhere Slocum's liner notes for this song explain that the "Sister" here is wisdom -- Sophia -- and my money is on God being the Mother - and the Father.

Or, it could be that wisdom is just an articulate lady with a bottle of cheap blush on the corner. Sounds good, either way.

This live version of the song has a truly tasty guitar solo.