Weatherphors: A look into the lyrics of Sister Hazel

For me, Sister Hazel encompasses the music of the 90's. Many would probably think more along the lines of Matchbox Twenty, Pearl Jam, or another mega-hit group, but I prefer the upbeat alternative sounds that mimic the feel of 1990's popular culture. However, it is not just Sister Hazel's sound that reels me in. It is their offbeat, almost crafty, lyrics that have taken hold of my iPod and my soul. Every Sister Hazel song is stacked with metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, and the like. For today, I've chosen to focus on a metaphor common to several Sister Hazel tunes. Let's call it the weatherphor.

Sister Hazel uses weather to describe all kinds of relationships. Take Swan Dive, for example: The lyrics say, “Would you think you could meditate in the middle of the eye of a hurricane; Would you now but somehow we were tethered here together; We can weather our the weather here.” In this example, they are making reference to weather with the hurricane and creating, out of this reference, an opportunity to use weather as a reference for the struggles in life that may affect a relationship.

In Champagne High, they say, “Spring turned to summer; But then winter turned to mean; The distance seemed right; At the time it was best – to leave.” In this case, they use the seasons to describe the transformations in a relationship. The seasons and the weather we associate with those particular seasons are a metaphor for the good and the bad that came with the relationship described in this song.

And of course, there is Your Winter. The song title in itself is a metaphor. They use “your winter” as a metaphor for that slump you’re in when a relationship ends. In this song, he is saying he does not want to be his ex’s winter. He will not be that someone clouding her days.

Sister Hazel does an incredible job of embedding these and many other metaphors into their lyrics. Relationships can only be described the same way a certain number of times, and Sister Hazel makes that break with the common lyric language to engage listeners with a brand new perspective.