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Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep Little Lion Man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself,
Take all the courage you have left
Wasted on fixing all the problems
That you made in your own head
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my...
Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else
Spend your days biting your own neck
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear? (x2)
Didn't I, my dear?
Ahhhhh......
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear? (x2)
Didn't I, my dear?
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep Little Lion Man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself,
Take all the courage you have left
Wasted on fixing all the problems
That you made in your own head
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my...
Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else
Spend your days biting your own neck
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear? (x2)
Didn't I, my dear?
Ahhhhh......
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear? (x2)
Didn't I, my dear?
Lyrics submitted by niamhOMFG, edited by zooooomzooom, Mellow_Harsher, reillylyon, Sophovot, sean1023, AntiM4tter
Track duration: 04:05
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...although anyone who is having problems with self-esteem, insecurity, or even shyness in general would likely find meaning in the song as well.
"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep Little Lion Man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
They guy knows he could be better than he is, and that he was better (paying more attention to his partner, putting more effort into the relationships). Over time, things just started to slip, and no matter how much he loves her (or him I guess. The song never does specify), he doesn't show it.
Or for the more general meaning, if he could just work up the courage, he could be so much more than he is, and something great would happen. But he talked himself down.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself,
Take all the courage you have left
Wasted on fixing all the problems
That you made in your own head"
He is looking for flaws in himself to explain why his partner is perhaps straying, or why their relationship is strained. Instead of admitting that he caused the problem, he trys to attribute the failing to how his partner views him. In other words, he takes it superficial, instead of trying to tackle the problem.
In general, being overly self-critical, and coming up with a million reasons why you shouldn't do something, or why the girl would turn you down, or why you wouldn't get hired. Whatever your issue is.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really messed it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my..."
This is self explainatory. He screwed up, and it wasn't his parner's fault. End.
"Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else
Spend your days biting your own neck"
He knows whats happening, but won't admit it to. He's fighting with himself, and in the end, can't win that fight. Becuase of his refusal to admit that the problems go beyond any petty issues that might spark a fight, he insists on trying to fix them on his own, and do better. However, because its not the cause of the problem, nothing is fixed. Hence the lines "Your grace is wasted.... Among the wreck".
In general, its not typically just an isolated incident that you don't jump on opporunity, or psych yourself out. You do it repeatedly, and you recognize that its happening. If you're afraid or nervous, you'll put on a show of false bravado. But it obviously doesn't work that well; "Your boldness stands alone among the wreck"
The "Learn from ..... your own neck" part is actually incredibly clever on part of Mumford and Sons. It actually goes hand in hand with the title of the song. Mother lions carry their cubs by the neck when they are too young to walk and care for themselves, or when she really needs to get them out of somewhere. And so, unless he learns his lessons from his mother (or more realistically, a more experienced female friend), hes going to be helpless.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really messed it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my dear?
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really messed it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my dear?"
Self explainatory.
Simples!
This man is used to chasing women like a "Little Lion Man"; full force and full of pride. But somewhere in the process, he finds true love and he doesn't realize it until it's too late. By not changing his ways or not knowing what to do with it, he screws it up disenchanting the person he's become in love with, and consequently driving her away.
In the song, the man's penis is reprimanding him for the mistakes he's made (the man) by showing him snapshots of truth and advicing him about correcting his ways, as well as admitting guilt (the penis).
Basically, the man's penis scolds him (the man) by telling him that he's wasted his/this one chance for love ("You'll never be what is in your heart") and he doesn't have the guts or the strength he once had to recover what's lost. As a result, he's left with the uncomfortable dilema to face reality ("Take all the courage you have wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head") and deal with the bad choices he's made, followed by his male drive/penis confessing it's fault in the matter (if that was possible), by telling him: "But it was not your fault but mine, and it was your heart on the line, I really fucked it up this time, didn't I, my dear?", "my dear" being the man himself.
Besides,the man is reminded of how this is not the first time this has happened to him ("You know that you have seen this all before...You'll never settle any of your scores"), hence his bitterness and denial ("Your grace is wasted in your face, your boldness stands alone among the wreck"). Meanwhile, he's reminded of his mothers'good advice on the things of love and how he should listen if he is to avoid making the same mistakes in the future ("Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck").The rest of the song is more of the penis admitting guilt and exonerating the man.
If anything, there's a lesson to be learned here. If you let your penis do the thinking for you, be ready for despair, frustration and remorse. After that, just pick up the pieces and move on, reminding yourself not to forget your mother's advice as you go through the pain of the loss and into the unknown.
a man who has broken his relationship before, is now rejected trying to fix his mistakes
the other person won't forgive him, in fear of the same thing happening again
(but it was your heart on the line)
he accepts the fact, but his heart is broken (I really fucked it up this time)
he was no more the "little lion man" that he thought he was, no bravery, no courage, not anything. just a shell of the man he used to be
There are many literary references in other Mumford songs.
-my
It seems like the song's dialogue is the reflections of a man coming out of this failed relationship. Contrary to being solely the man's fault or assuming that he did something wrong, I feel it could instead mean that he simply came out discouraged/devastated after trying his best to be a great guy to his girl. Maybe he didn't do anything wrong, and is rather a case where he's experiencing the effects of placing too much pressure onto himself?
Which leads me to the main chorus, where I sense his sarcasm for his failed effort.
1 But it was not your fault but mine
2 And it was your heart on the line
3 I really fucked it up this time
4 Didn't I, my dear?
What I think he's really saying behind the sarcasm is:
1 "Yeah I'll take all the blame, albeit unfair, you're just being too cautious."
2 "My heart was on the line too, you weren't the only one taking a risk."
3-4 "What were my crimes to you, being a good guy? Well?"
I don't know if anyone else sees what I'm seeing but hopefully it made sense.