Up with your turret
Aren't we just terrified?

Shale, screen your worry
From what you won't ever find

Don't let it fool you
Don't let it fool you down

Dancing around
Folds in her gown

Sea and the rock below
Cocked to the undertow

Bones, blood and teeth erode
They will be crashing low

Wings wouldn't help you
Wings wouldn't help you down

Down towards the ground
Gravity smiled

You barely are blinking
Wagging your face around

When'd this just become a mortal home?

Won't, won't, won't, won't, won't let you talk me . . .
Won't let you talk me down

We'll pull it taut
Nothing let out



Lyrics submitted by feverrdreamss


Roslyn song meanings
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39 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:I mostly agree with hellomynameisfay, but it think everyone is missing something. I think this song is talking about a romantic relationship that is failing because the girl in it wont open up her heart and let him in. If you look at the lyrics, this makes sense.

    "Up with your turret, Arent we just terrified"
    A turret is a small tower armed with guns and weaponry. this is metaphorical, saying that she has walls built up against him, and Shes terrified of letting him in.

    "Shale,...."
    Shale is a type of rock that is formed from mud that can easily be split into pieces. this is also metaphorical, saying that shes fragile and hes trying to break down her walls
    "... screen your your worry, from what you wont ever find"
    the man is trying to get the women to open up and he is trying to hide his worry that the she wont ever let him in, and that he wont ever find why she is so guarded.

    "Dont let it fool you, Dont let it fool you, Down"
    All this is saying is that he is trying not to be fooled by the walls put up by his lover.

    "Down sitting round, folds in her gown"
    He is sitting beside her, and she is crying, hence "folds in her gown"(side note, this is where i inferred that the girl is the one who is guarded)

    "Sea and the rock below,..."
    This is where i agree with hellomynameisfay. shes looking at the rocks below questioning if she should jump. "...cocked to the undertow" whether this is morbid or not, this actually indicates that she jumped. Cocked means to be bent or twisted , and undertow is the current in the ocean that lies under the surface, so this is saying she jumped and is being bent and thrashed around by the current.

    "Bones blood and teeth erode, with every crashing node"
    A node is a point of intersectiong wiht another, so this is saying she would get mad at him every time her approached her.

    "Wings wouldnt hep you Wings wouldnt help you, Dowm"
    Hes saying she was a plight and nobody could have saved her.

    "Down towards the ground, gravity smiled"
    Once again, a reference to the suicide.

    "You barely are blinking, wagging your face around"
    I think this is either talking about Her shaking her head no to him, Maybe at a suggestion of getting help for her mental ilness. Or, this may be talking about a peaceful evening he had with her, where you do the kind of dancing where you are sitting and just wagging your head back and forth.

    "When'd this just become a mortal home?"
    Home is refering to their relationship, and he always thought that it would last forever, that they were immortal. But now hes realizing that this might end soon(her commiting suicide.
    "Won't, Wont, Won't, Won't, Won't let you talk me, Won't let you talk me, Down.
    I think this part of the song is her answering back to him, saying that he cant talk her out of killing herself.

    "We'll pull it taut, Nothing let out"

    This part is kind of confusing. Taut means to pull and stretch something tight. Maybe hessaying that they will be watching her closely to mke sure nothing is let out of their sight?
    Flag RemyCielon May 28, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When I read this, and I am certainly not an expert of any kind, I thought he was talking about falling from being somewhere high in his life, to one day looking at it and realizing how far he fell. He didn't know that when he jumped he would end up hitting rock bottom.
    He so beautifully put this song together, and I'd like to know what he thought while writing it.
    Personally, I think he realized that the only way you can see what's on the bottom is to jump. "screen your worry
    From what you won't ever find"
    He also realized the fall is not graceful or easy. "Wings wouldn't help you down."
    He realized when he hit the ground that he lost himself in the fall.
    He forgot why he jumped. "When'd this just become a model home?"
    He realized now he hit rock bottom. He felt like this feeling was to familiar to him, and he realized it became home to him.
    Well folks, I gave it a shot.
    Whether that makes no sense whatsoever, or it spoke right to your heart, I don't know.
    But that's what I love about music.
    It speaks to everyone,
    but not always in the same way..
    It's something we can all share, yet hold deeply something from it in our hearts.
    Flag lbmccollamon February 06, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Roslyn seems like it is about the reality of the how we perceive love in a isolated and terrified way and saying there is other ways to look at love in a beautiful way, but only one will know when they realize that love is stronger than most of our emotions which is why we are terrified of it. I mean look at our society and how people deal with the hurt that love brings through sucicide, isolation, and physical pain.
    Flag freakintheearon December 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I really think this is a beautiful song, so to the point that you get lost in it, and with the lyrics that Im allowing to enter my soul via hearing depression can seep in if I allow it.. nontheless, its a beautiful song.
    Flag dawniepooon July 24, 2011   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:This is a great song:)whenever, where ever Bon iver is always great :D
    X
    Flag Applesareniceon July 07, 2011   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:When i saw new moon, i heard this song and fell in love with it but i couldn;t find the name of it anywhere. Anyway today i was searching for a song with my name as the title(my name is Roslynn) because i was bored and up omes this song! so i click on it and there is my song! sorry to bore you its just no one ever writes a song that is even close to my name(:
    Flag SeptemberHazeon June 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When i saw new moon, i heard this song and fell in love with it but i couldn;t find the name of it anywhere. Anyway today i was searching for a song with my name as the title(my name is Roslynn) because i was bored and up omes this song! so i click on it and there is my song! sorry to bore you its just no one ever writes a song that is even close to my name(:
    Flag SeptemberHazeon June 01, 2011   Link
  • +5
    My Interpretation:I think it's about a scared girl commiting suicide by jumping off a cliff into the sea.

    'sea and the rock below' that's a give a way that she's standing on top of a cliff.

    'bones, blood and teeth erode' Eroding basially means breaking down so I'm guessing this is her falling and on the way down, knocking onto the side of the cliff

    'down towards the ground gravity smiled' Gravity is winning because she falls

    'Won't let you talk me down' She's probably planned this suicide and knows that she definately wants to die.

    Plus, everytime 'down' is sung, it's emphasizing the fall.

    That's what I thought when I looked up the lyrics for the first time but that's just my opinion :)







    Flag hellomynameisfayon May 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think these lyrics are more correct. I am basing this off of close listening to the actual recording as well as these two live performances:

    youtube.com/…
    youtube.com/…

    Off with your torrent
    Aren't we just terrified?
    Shale screen your worry
    From what you won't ever find

    Don't let it fool you
    Don't let it fool you
    Down
    Down, sitting round
    Folds in the gown

    Sea and the rock below
    Cocked to the undertow
    Bones, blood, and teeth erode
    With every crashing node

    Wings wouldn't help you
    Wings wouldn't help you
    Down
    Down fills the ground
    Gravity's prow

    You barely are blinking
    Wagging your face around
    When'd this just become a model home
    Ooh..

    Won't, won't, won't, won't
    Won't let you talk me
    Won't let you talk me
    Down
    We'll pull it taut
    Nothing let out
    Flag Shoegazer88on May 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this is a masterpiece
    Flag crow_hearton December 31, 2010   Link

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