Canvas

I live with someone who paints and she says that she starts all her paintings with a black canvas. However, she always has to paint the canvas black because it starts off as white. In relation to the song, the black canvas is the person starting the project but not knowing what to do after the first step. I agree with cynthiacynthia's interpretation about how being an artist isn't easy. I'm not a painter but a writer, and for me I can start a story, but a lot of times I feel like scrapping an idea because I don't like where it's going or I just can't think of anything else that makes sense to me. It's a metaphor to how we live our lives.

This is one of my absolute favorite Imogen Heap songs, and probably my favorite on Ellipse.

I'm in love with this song and I will probably marry the album.

Hmm. Just gonna pitch in with the interpretations. I see it as someone who has grown weary holding someone up, and they feel like they're losing/has lost some of their self amidst this struggle. So they're breaking away, going for that chance to live again and be who they want to be, while also wanting the other person to become independent, to gain their own resilience. I guess I'll break it down, just to back up what I'm saying a bit.

Slow heart Dark weight Down love Black canvas Revolve within, you understand -Negative emotion from the other person (I'd relate it most to a significant other) and their effect, dark weight being his/her baggage, down love being the dwindling love between the two as things get worse, black canvas being his/her self tainted and darkened by the relationship.

Fragile earthware Cracks in the temperature Keep it cool to give, you understand -The other person is fragile and sensitive to everything around him/her, and to give his/her all, they'd have to be able to preserve themselves, otherwise the love they give is broken.

-I think the chorus is pretty self-explanatory (relative to my interpretation, that is)

Hijacked Lost track Light fades Another day lapsed Long shadows lure you in -The person's life being taken from them, their time wasted by this dilemma that they feel they can't solve, they start to fall into the same shadow as the other person.

The more you look The less you see So close your eyes And start to breathe Oh, you said yourself "this wasn't easy" Mmm, you said yourself "this wasn't easy" -The other person complicates their life and thinks too much about everything, straining and blinding his/herself with their self-inflicted problems, "this wasn't easy" describes the relationship and since they said exactly that then they should accept parting ways/breaking up.

Just my view on it. Of course it's all subjective to me and my experiences, and I surely have the experiences to project onto this song, hence my interpretation, I guess. Either way, one of the most amazing songs I've ever heard.

this song is just so beautiful...no words can describe it's euphoria

Truly a groundbreaking song!My favorite from her besides Speeding Cars.

i feel like this song is maybe about meditation and enlightenment. the lyrics are kind of obscure, but if you've meditated at length at all, they make some kind of sense. "black canvas" makes me think of that place of still nothingness that you can find in meditation. good stuff overall.

To me this song is about the difficulties of being an artist. Struggling to keep the canvas taut is a metaphor for all of the difficulties (e.g., self-doubt, exhaustion, stress, writer's block, etc.) that she may encounter when she is trying to write music. The artist in the video is putting up with a lot of adversity (traipsing through the cold snow alone and carrying a heavy canvas) just so that he can create something. The message to me is that being an artist isn't easy.

The lyrics are incorrect. It should be:

Slow heart Dark way Down Love Black Canvas revolve within, You understand

Fragile, Earth-way Cracks in the temperature, Keep it cool to give

The more you look, the less you see, so close your eyes and start to breathe, you said yourself, this wasn't easy

Love this song.............love immi...... i cannot sit still when this track is on...need to tap my feet or sway or something!!

although the album isnt out til next week her website is streaming the album now... heres a link

imogenheap.com/ellipse/

really like this song, thanks for the lyrics!!