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Skinny Love Lyrics
Come on skinny love just last the year
Pour a little salt we were never here My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer I tell my love to wreck it all Cut out all the ropes and let me fall My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my Right in the moment this order's tall And I told you to be patient And I told you to be fine And I told you to be balanced And I told you to be kind And in the morning I'll be with you But it will be a different kind And I'll be holding all the tickets And you'll be owning all the fines Come on skinny love, what happened here? Suckle on the hope in light brassieres My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my Sullen load is full, so slow on the split And I told you to be patient And I told you to be fine And I told you to be balanced And I told you to be kind And now all your love is wasted And then who the hell was I? And I'm breaking at the britches And at the end of all your lines Who will love you? Who will fight? Who will fall far behind? |
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10-09-2007
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12-22-2007
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12-22-2007
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12-29-2007
....
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01-03-2008
As for the title "Skinny Love" it could be an affectionate term he gave his petite girlfriend, or maby the fact that their love is wasting away- shrinking to skinny. The latter is probably more likely, due to the reference in the first line ("Come on, skinny love just last the year").
"pour a little salt, we were never here"
Salt has healing properties, when put on open wound they help the process along. Probably metaphorically speaking, he wants this doomed relationship to heal, to even "Just last the year."
I like the vivid imagery to blood and crushed veneer in a sink, as if a vase was broken in a fit of rage. I dunno if that ties into the salt reference, maby indirectly.
he then basically tells her to let him go, to cut off the tethers binding him to her.
the third stanza deals wih a blaming the other for the failure of the relationship. She couldn't meet with his expectations, either that or she treated him poorly, probably both.
stanza four seems like a mixture of memories, stating why have we gone wrong when we once loved each other? and how even though the burden of pain (through separating) is heavy, it's still hard to "split."
The last part gives us a glimse as to WHY it went sour. it seems she kind of led him on, that she wasn't that into him- when he really cared for her.
He then states that its unlikely she'll find anyone worthwhile, no one will be able to love her for all the stuff she puts her partners through.
wonderfully honest and emotional, i love this song.
01-08-2009
I do sense though he gave her fair warning as to how difficult it might be to sustain their love for the myriad of reasons a relationship might fall apart. Especially one with a talented busy musician. Distance, groupies, or even his own complicated personality. I sense he tried to reasssure her that he cared and loved her...but failed.
She may have fallen off the train and was heartbroken as well and he is truly disapointed and heartbroken as well but doing a good job of masking it... She couldn't be reassured and lost faith in what they had and moved on.
I think he accepted all the flaws she had but knew that he had a "tall order" ahead of him by accepting her love. She may have been complicated on some level or he could be referring back to himself...
I sense that she was fragile and he thought of her as his baby bird...but now he is realizing his own fragility. She may have powered up and now he is standing in an endless line to get back to her...
Salt also burns. I think its a reference to the bittersweet nature of what they had or could have had if she had been patient. They never even got to the place he ideally wanted them to be.
I love music so much do to it's subjectivity. I do tend to apply my own situations and thoughts to the poetry. I think this is why I love Bon Iver. There is a quality in his voice and in the musical arrangement that makes me want to weep and rejoice at the same time. I want to dance around a bon fire drunk on wine, crying and laughing and getting all that saddness out... It's tribal and ethereal and most majestic!!!
07-05-2009
07-22-2009
"Skinny Love" is soulfully poetic but could be vague in meaning. It's only after you read posts from shortandsweetem and further analysis from vamul1 that it seems so simple. I agree tho with vamul1 and maheeganyaknow: I had originally interpreted the "pour a little salt" line as burning or pain, almost as if the characters would never intentionally worsen the state of the relationship or stir the waters between them.
09-27-2009
11-22-2009
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01-20-2008
the line "Now all your love is wasted?
Then who the hell was I?" gets me every single time. it's so laid out bare and emotional, i love all of the random pictures that it brings to your head. so incredibly poetic... this guy is a genius.
09-27-2009
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01-24-2008
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver on "Skinny Love"
So Emma seems to be the subject of a lot of these songs? Who is/was she?
Well, it’s not a “she” question as much as it’s a “what” and “when” question. It’s old love. And in this case, old, sore, lost love.
Were these songs written forever ago or are they just about “forever ago”? If the latter, did you ever set out to write this record before?
About forever ago. They were all written at the same time. I was unable to deal with my personal shit within the constraints or boundaries of my other musical projects or personal environment.
There’s this peaceful resignation going on all over For Emma. It suggests there’s been some time and distance between you and the stories you’re telling. Is that the case?
In time, yes. But in earnestness and closeness of feel, they are current, or were when I wrote them. They hadn’t escaped or dissipated yet until I dealt with them, no matter how long ago they existed. It’s kind of like the sores are still open. Just scarred over. So it’s like me sitting and examining these scars. Trying to rip them off. Discard them. Or at least explain them, so I can be at peace with them.
”Skinny Love” seems this one is about the moment you knew things were destined to fail.
Well, this wasn’t about who you think it would be about. Part of the trouble with the old haunting love, is that it fucks with your future loves, and can damn and/or ambush your relationships. That’s who this is about.
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01-29-2008
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03-23-2008
Now the other interpretation. Imagine that Bon Iver has had a terrible, horrible break up years ago and his "skinny love" is a new girl he is beginning to see. and it is also important that in this scenario bon iver's relationship with the skinny love is ruined by his long ago breakup
First, he hopes they can make it a whole year since it is so hard for him to keep a relationship together.
Then he TOLD her that SHE had to be the patient, balanced, etc. partner in the relationship. And in the morning he will be better, no longer haunted by the ghosts of the past that come out at night perhaps, and in this way the morning will be a different "kind" in quotes.
"suckle on the hope in lite brassiere" a wonderful line, combining maternal love (suckle) and conjugal love (lite brassiere) into an expression of how bon iver hopes that with this love he can bury his past.
now i propose that the speaker changes. I would argue that the lines from "now all your love is wasted..." until the end are spoken by ms. skinny love herself who does not understand bon iver's internal struggles.
his love has been wasted on his former love, no one will love him when is stuck in the past, no one can fight his past for him and he will fall far behind
this leaves the speaker of the the second appearance of the "i told you to be..." section interestingly ambiguous, it could be bon iver telling her again and again that he needs her to be the rock, or it could be ms. skinny love telling him that she needs a rock of her own.... who can tell? :)
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03-25-2008
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04-02-2008
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04-05-2008
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04-22-2008
and to tell someone all love was wasted is heartwrenching. because it meant that they were never worth it, love without purpose, spent carelessly.
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05-18-2008
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05-24-2008
Justin Vernon grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I'm not sure where he sequestered himself, but I know he's from Eau Claire. His mom works at my school.
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05-31-2008
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06-03-2008
i feel when the song says "But it will be a different "kind"
I'll be holding all the tickets
And you'll be owning all the fines"
that mabey its about he will be paying for what he did or what happened. ?
great song love it :)
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06-20-2008
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06-20-2008
12-20-2008
Great line, so powerful
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06-24-2008
And you'll be owning all the fines" could possibly mean like parking tickets, thus he'll have all the tickets, but its her fault so she'll be owning all the fines. He's blamed for the ruined relationship, but its really her fault and she should be the one responsible for paying for the lost relationship, not him.
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06-24-2008
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06-27-2008
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06-28-2008
it's an odd feeling, but i love it.
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07-08-2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GHyo33XLP24&feature=related
him singing that part in this performance makes me DIE. absolute musical genuis
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07-09-2008
I almost feel like he's talking to himself. Both people that are living inside of his heart, the broken one and the one that is trying to hard to move on. So often we let the broken one lead our lives and sabatoge future happiness so he's trying to hold onto his small ability to love, skinny love, and get through the hurt that still harbors in his heart.
"pour a little salt, we were never here" is a defense mechanism just trying to erase someone from your mind, the past love still haunting you.
"i tell my love to wreck it all, to cut all the ropes and let me fall" again a self-sabatoging act. So stuck on the fact that the former lover couldn't love you that you push away anyone else that might come close to making you so vulnerable again.
I hear the chorus as a self-mantra, said in the mirror:
I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind
In the morning I'll be with you
But it will be a different "kind"
I'll be holding all the tickets
And you'll be owning all the fines
He is talking to both people inside. Asking himself to be patient, fine, balanced, and kind even though the hurt part usually wins out. He will wake up and be better and he will own up to the past yet leave the hurt or "fines" behind. He wants to be stronger....
The most gripping part of the song is "Now all your love was wasted? Well then who the hell was I?" Almost like a flashback to this past love.....that one thought we have that makes us cringe immediately with hurt.....Bringing him back to that sad vulnerable place
and it ends with him still wounded....hopeless...afraid he'll always be his own worst enemy as he pushes away love because of the past. Because some won't fight too hard for love, after awhile most will just fall far behind:
Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?
Brilliant song, brilliant lyrics, amazing all together
12-11-2008
May I first start my expressing my entire love for this song - truly fantastic in everyway.... I'm afraid that I don't have anything to add to the meaning of the song, simply because I believe all points have been covered.
One small point that I do have to say is this....
Skinny love has received 45 posts from people obviously passionate about Bon Iver's lyrics. Fair shout, the man is clearly incredible.
However, I recently searched Bonnie "Prince" Billie's song, Cursed Sleep, to find a mere 2 posts...
Now I'm from England and I find artists like Bon Iver and Bonnie "Prince" Billie to be clear foundations of what America truly has to present to the world, completely contradicting all the small-minded peasants that happily follow an ignorant fraternity of people that find America to be a threatening country and therefore some sort of enemy.
Bon Iver has a wonderful story surrounding a truly amazing album... However, Bonnie "Prince" Billie has a wonderful album developing into an amazing story....
So my rather drawn out point is this.... PLEASE listen to Cursed Sleep by Bonnie "Prince" Billie and comment on his song.
I'm sure it seems so ridiculous that one man can be so passionate about a seemingly trivial fact, but this man's music has affected me in a big way and I would really like to see the backing from his home country that he truly deserves.
Feel free to comment/shoot me down where I stand.
D.
12-11-2008
Before getting on my soapbox, I really should learn how to spell Bonnie "Prince" BillY...
My apologies, please don't let my lack of attention to detail defer you from the point in hand.
X
04-28-2009
Alot of people have put what they think the song is about, usually about relationship troubles and the term 'skinny love' is refering to the amount of love in the relationship, or it is the nickname for the mans partner.
When i first heard the song i thought it was about suicide, i know a bad thought, but the lyrics 'Sink of blood' gave me that idea, silly really. But i also thought that it might be about a fathers daughter who is suffering from an eating disorder, maybe, and it could have been about their parents being woried about them. just an idea.
09-01-2009
The chorus is so sad because he is showing how he has led this other person on a wild goose chase, telling her (presumably) that if she is patient, if she fixes this or that about herself, things will work out. But the brilliant line "I'll be holding all the tickets/ You'll be owing all the fines" shows that he knows that he is the one who will screw up, and she is the one who will pay. Startlingly honest, but I think that is the quality that makes these songs so great.
10-27-2009
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