I think the first open space is...

"Inside the broken ovals of your olive eyes."

and the last line is maybe...

"the arch-line on the hillside and the market in the hay"

Great song though! one of my favorites.

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I think the last line is the arc light on the hillside...

Arc lights were used in the 19th century to light up public spaces. I think it brings to mind a bunch of market stalls in an an Appalachian town in maybe 1901. Just the image I see. Beautiful, mournful song.

Is this song from a flower's or plant's perspective?

songyone I think you're right. It's a great image and it's just like the Foxes to have a reference like that.

songyone I think you're right. It's a great image and it's just like the Foxes to have a reference like that.

i see a boy at a school hard who is kind of an outcast, so his only friend is his humming bird. he has a crush on a girl and hes making her presents, she dosent like it and he runs away from home.

After "hummingbird, just let me" I believe it's either "die" or "dive". I'm leaning more towards "die".

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I love this song! Its so beautiful and it has a sort of simplicity to it. I also think that this song would have been a good song to play at the prom scene in Twilight! (Just my opinion.) Fleet Foxes is a great band and i would love to see them in concert. :)

It is actually "Oh hummingbird let me die." not "down".

This song gets to me a lot sometimes it makes
me want to cry, can't explain why, but it does.

Great song. <3

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Based on live recordings, "A meadowlark" and "A hummingbird" should be "My meadowlark", "My hummingbird".

I'm hesitant as to the first one though. On record, it does sound like "A" but more like "Ah!", as one would sigh in desperation. However, in every live recording, he clearly sings "My".
I'd say the singer is aware of this and plays on the ambiguity of the sound, as in the down/dive/die that ends the first sentence of the second verse.

When you tweak it so, the song reveals itself much more.

The way I read this song, then, is a lament. This person is overwhelmed with feelings for someone. Unrequited love? Like a bird that you can only observe, this creature of elegance and beauty that you can only admire and never join in company.

So, first verse: try to get the girl, second verse: it didn't work, I wish I would just die. Hey, you gave it your best try. Third verse: errr.. I'm not sure but there's a pretty dramatic change in tone there.

I'm just amazed at how the last two verses and the "ooooh" convey the impression of flying away like a bird. Perfect end to a sad moment in someone's life, that I'm sure everyone's lived at least once.

Oh yeah. It's definitely "The arc light".

"Meadowlark, fly your way down"
On a surface level, I think the persona is literally watching a bird and wishing it to fly closer. But on a connotative level, they are thinking about someone else; perhaps a girl?

"I hold a cornucopia and a golden crown"
A "cornucopia" is a symbol of food. Again, with the literal bird, he [the persona] merely wants to feed the bird. But on a deeper meaning, he is offering his symbol of food to the girl he likes [sorry that I’m assuming the persona is a guy, and that he loves a girl, it’s just easier to talk about].
"Cornucopia" also links to a story of Zeus, which could be him saying he will protect her and give her whatever she wants. In the story, Zeus accidently broke one of the horn's off a goat whom he was friends with. He felt bad that he'd damaged her, and so gave her the horn back which then had supernatural powers.
I think the golden crown just symbolises his feelings for her; she is a lot better than him, or out of his reach. Again, going back to the bird, he cannot reach the meadowlark but he is desperate to do so.

"For you to wear upon your fleecy gown"
I’m sure it says "gown" rather than "down".
A bird’s feathers/a girl’s clothes/a queen’s robes? (Going back to the crown and Zeus idea)

"A meadowlark sing to me"
He wants to hear the bird sing.
He’s desperate for the girl he likes.

"Hummingbird, just let me dive"
I think here, he is directly addressing the girl. I think that the meadowlark was literal, whereas the hummingbird is metaphorical for the girl.

"Inside the broken ovals of your olive eyes"
Pretty self explanatory... He wants to delve into the girl’s eyes.

"I do believe you gave it your best try"
Here, I think it’s a bit subjective. This part’s probably too personal to get exactly right, but my own opinion is that these two were together, but for some reason it’s ended.
Also, as hummingbird’s are more wild, rare and special than meadowlarks, it seems as though he isn’t blaming the girl for things not working out. Maybe she's just not the type of girl who can be tied down as she'd feel trapped? Birds are meant to be free and wild etc.

"My hummingbird sing to me"
I’m sure it says "my" rather than "a", which again backs up the previous point about them being together at some point.

"Mmmmmmm...
My hummingbird sing to me"

"Don't believe a word that I haven't heard"
This is a pure guess, and to be honest it’s probably wrong, but maybe there are rumours going around about the boy? He’s telling the girl that she shouldn’t believe anything that he hasn’t heard, because if he hasn’t heard it then it isn’t true. As I said, it’s probably wrong, but that’s how I interpreted it.

"Little children laughing at the boys and girl"
I think it’s important that there are many boys, but only one girl. But I’m not really sure what it means. The girl could be wanted by a lot of people? That fits with the hummingbird thing that they are a pretty rare species. Not really sure about that though. Anyone wanna help?

"The meadowlark singing to you each and every day"
I think this goes back to the literal meaning of "meadowlark", and that this bird is singing to his "hummingbird" (the girl he likes). Perhaps he has gone to near where she lives and is seeing/hearing the bird that she sees/hears?

"The arc-line on the hillside and the market in the hay"
As before, I think he might just be looking around near where the girl lives.

"Ooooh..."

Sorry this is so long!
I know I kind of analysed it a bit too much, but I really love the song and just wanted to understand it more. Agree/disagree with me because I’m really not certain of any of that and other interpretations are always helpful :)
Whatever it means, it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

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