Furr

To me this song is about the speaker looking for something, answers, an new life, and when he meets this "pack" he leaves his old ways and adopts the lifestyle of a wolf, relying on instinct, chasing desires, and traveling with them from place to place. it isn't until he meets a girl that he then lets go of his wild lifestyle and settles down. He still dreams of his days as a wolf and while he knows he can't go back, he's still glad that it happened and isn't "afraid of what [he] learned" at least that's how I interpreted it. It also has a 'being one with nature' kind of feel to it which is really cool imo, great song.

I think thenor got it right. Being a wolf and sporting fur, seems to be symbolic of an instinctual, hedonistic almost childlike lifestyle. One where he was just looking out for himself not thinking about other because "I lost the taste for judging right from wrong." He seems to connect "my mother shouting through the fog" with temptation. When he sees the girl presented with temptation he "rescues" her and settles down with her. This settling down, and change of lifestyle causes him to lose his metaphorical fur. What he's learned is that you cannot solely devote your life to hedonistic pursuits, but you can still dream about them, and occasional sport the "fur." Hedonistic seems a little harsh because the fur could also be a sign of childhood, and childhood memories ("But I still dream of running careless through the snow"), so this song could just be about growing up.

This song is about the experience of growing up. He starts out the song as a seventeen-year-old, the last year of childhood. He has a vague sense of a calling, but it's not clear yet - "I could hear the angels whispering." So he "wandered aimlessly" in search of it. At first he's aware of his mother's direction - "I heard my mother shouting through the fog" (with the fog being his own fuzzy perception of his place in the world) - and then in his impressionable youth he starts to be aware of other influences. I think these are his peers, at first represented by a "howling dog" (not family, but still faithful human companions), then depicted as something much wilder, "a wolf to be exact." At first he is uncomfortable with this crowd - "the sound sent shivers down my back" - but peer pressure creeps over him and he is finally "drawn into the pack." Running around like a pack of wolves represents a group of teens stirring up trouble, especially as he notes that he "lost the taste for judging right from wrong."

When he's a bit older (twenty-three, so possibly after college) he meets a girl who is also seeking her calling in life ("listening to the angels just like me"), but he realizes that she is not interested in him as he is: "She didn't seem to see [me]." So he reconsiders his lifestyle - "brushed the leaves off of my snout" - and suddenly hears the pleas of his mother again. I think "that girl go[es] shaky at the knees" when he proposes, because after that he "took her by the arm" [down the aisle?] and "settled down" and "raised our children."

He speaks of his transition into family life ("my fur has turned to skin") and confesses that he's "been quickly ushered in to a world that ... I do not know." I think that's how every new parent feels: suddenly thrown headlong into a routine that is totally unexpected. Though enamored with their new families, most still reminisce about their carefree days: "I still dream of running careless through the snow."

I have no idea what the chorus means. Don't be afraid to try new things? It is out of character for a person to wear fur, or for a river to be on fire, so maybe "making God a liar" means being something you aren't supposed to be. And perhaps he is saying to embrace it head-on, like "fuel on fire." Both the rattlesnake (chorus) and howling wolf (first verse) could represent music, and he mentions embodying them in his wild days of "join[ing] in and sing[ing] their song."

I fell in love immediately with this song when I heard it on the radio. To me it talks about leaving mainstream society and living simply, (I cringe typing the next part cause I don't want it to take on a sappy Save The World feeling, though I'm afraid it will) getting back to nature, as in, like they say, going by instinct and obedience to god (nature). Living saturated in nature and nature only, being part of the balance, no phones no lights no motor cars, not worrying about what comes next, doing what makes you feel good, not worrying about what the next guy thinks of you. Then he meets the girl and for her he allows himself to partially be dragged back into regular society, where he's not quite comfortable.

I've been there, heck imo I am there. I went from living (by choice) in my tent and a very rustic cabin in northern MN last summer and winter where my companions and coworkers were 100 sled dogs (hence my handle) to now where I'm living 2 miles from downtown St Paul and trying to fit in to a world where people judge you by your car and your clothes and think you're strange if you'd rather be camping than at the club on the weekends.

Wanderlove, I caught an interview of Blitzen Trapper on our awesome public radio station 89.3 The Current here in Minnesota. They explain that they spell Furr with the extra 'r' just because "it's like the sound of growling, 'rrrrrrrr,' y'know, like 'furrrrrr.'" And it's also how some of the trappers used to spell the word in letters they wrote.

Here's the link to the interview, if interested: minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/08/blitzen_trapper/ The song Furr starts at about 7:30 into the interview and they talk a little about it afterward.

This song reminds me of a poem by one of my favorite poets, Saul Williams.

I have faith in who you are becoming

in who you are

you are the wolf having run through a stream (or a storm) to stand on a mountain peak dripping wet

Furr is a song about the adventures of a rebellious teenager developing into a man. Starting off with a boy who is 17 and curious about the world, the main character starts to wander into the "woods". The "woods" can easily be a metaphor for dark and unexplored territory such as sex or drugs. While diving into this new world head first, the boy finds companions: his "wolf pact". These wolves could be a new group of edgy teenagers who center their lives around drugs and mischief. Being excepted into this group, the teenager finds himself "singing" with his wolf pact, or committing to this new life style. Spending years in this mischievousness group the boy started to lose his capability to relate to the real world and make "good" decisions. Joining this wolf pact made him start to question his relationship with God and his own capability to make meaningful decisions. Noticing that his skin had turned to "fur" is a metaphor for how he had completely lost control of his life.

The chorus is a powerful statement that is commenting on the boy's life decisions. It is saying that you have every right to center your life around drugs and mischief, but these things will effect your judgement. The "river on fire" is referring to painful decisions that will ultimately effect your life in a bad way. By not doing the right thing, you start to question the reality of God and his power over your life. But through everything you do, mainly the bad choices one makes, you learn and grow to understand the world around you in a broader and more experienced way; so, you should never regret the things that you do.

The second verse is when the boy who turned into a "wolf" metaphorically sheds his fur in order to start a new life with a girl he loves. Entering this life "that he honestly doesn't know" is showing his inexperience because of his vacancy during his teenage years due to the drugs and mischief he did with his wolf pact. He never learned how to take care of a family or run a farm, so he is pushed into another new world, which fortunately, has more value in today's society. Nostalgic for the days when he ran free with his wolf pact, the boy (now man) looks into his past when he hadn't a care in the world except to experience life. Knowing that he now had responsibility to take care of his wife, kids, and farm, the man discovers that he made the right decision even though his previous life was more fun.

Ultimately, Furr is a song about growth and understanding, while coming to agree with your past. The "fur" resembles the capability that everyone has to make mistakes. And just like fur, your life can get dirty, but fur sheds and life goes on. This song is about understanding that every decision in one's life might not be the best decision, but it will always give you new experience that allows you to understand the world around you, and most importantly, the soul within.

story of religious conversion?

Pretty obvious what the story IS Jovet, but what it MEANS is entirely different. I suspect SarenceCourbe is close with the religious conversion, but it could be any drastic life-changing event...

Then again, it could just be a story.....

Excellent song. I agree with most of you to some extent. Around 17, like most kids, he left his mothers watchful eye, got caught up in a wild lifestyle for some time while he grew up, met a girl that reeled him back in, and settled down. He knows it's best for him, but sometimes he still responds to the call of the wild. I think it's a rite of passage (especially for guys) these days.

This song is about myself, and about 90% of my married/involved or aging friends that still miss the "good ole' days" sometimes.

this song is about the change from the innocence of childhood into adulthood. the fur can be made to represent youthful freedom, running though the fields. eventually, it must turn back into skin so that one can find themself. it has a very catcher in the rye-esque feel to it. i would wager that holden caufield's angst had a very strong impact on the creator of this song.