Broken Crown

My interpretation of the song is based on the writer struggling with sexual temptation, falling to it, and struggling with forgiveness and God’s grace. While not a Christian band, grace is a prevalent theme in Mumford and Son’s lyrics.

Touch my mouth and hold my tongue I'll never be your chosen one I'll be home, safe and tucked away You can't tempt me if I don't see the day

Here the writer is speaking about the physical temptations, saying that the tempter can plan what they wish, while he’ll be avoiding her in order not to succumb. He is obviously fighting with desire, as he is going to extreme measures.

The pull on my flesh was just too strong It stifles the choice and the air in my lungs Better not to breathe than to breathe a lie 'Cause when I open my body I breathe a lie

The bible often calls our physical bodies our flesh. He feels as though his body is betraying him, because our flesh has natural sexual desires. He is justifying his sinful acts by saying that he has no choice. Right after he justifies his actions though, he feels like betraying his own body, saying it would be better not to live, then to keep on sinning. He is realizing the sinful nature of humanity and its consequences.

I will not speak of your sin There was a way out for him The mirror shows not (You look fine on the outside) Your values are all shot (But you didn’t stick to your values)

He knows he did something bad, but he doesn’t want to speak about it. He keeps it trapped inside. Reflections in mirrors show someone who is perfectly normal, but his “values are all shot” on the inside. The rest of the world doesn’t see his internal struggle.

But oh, my heart was flawed I knew my weakness So hold my hand Consign me not to darkness

The writer now appears to be talking to God. He might be praying, telling God about the sinful act, asking God to forgive him and not to abandon him, to consign him not to darkness.

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down I'll never wear your broken crown I took the road and I fucked it all away Now in this twilight how dare you speak of grace

Here he appears to be getting angry. The biblical mage of the snake is mentioned, comparing himself to the worst of the worst. He doesn’t’ believe he is worthy of forgiveness. The broken crown is a reference to the crown of thorns Jesus was made to wear during his crucifixion. Jesus’ crucifixion was the price to pay for our sins. The broken crown is a symbol of forgiveness, which the writer says he is not worthy of. Line three is him describing the choice he made, saying that he went all the way down that road, messing up his life beyond repair. The last line is where I believe he speaks of the unfair nature of grace. He’s getting mad at the injustice of it. How is it even fair that he could mess up that badly, but still be forgiven? His anger comes through while he wallows in self pity, not wanting to accept grace.

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down I'll never wear your broken crown I can take the road and I can fuck it all away But in this twilight our choices seal our fate

The last line of the song he reminisces about his actions. He says that he has realized that his act doesn’t seal his fate, but rather the fact the he is struggling is what determines his fate. His actions don’t seal his fate, his heart does. We all sin and fall short of God’s expectations, but if we do not struggle with or try to fight our urges, we are unrepentant sinners. Unrepentant sinners are not Christians. What makes us Christians is struggling with sin, asking God for forgiveness and accepting it. It appears as though the writer has realized this, and has finally decided to accept grace.

this song has a lot of biblical imagery. the temptation lyric and the broken crown make me think of the temptation of Christ in the desert when Satan offered him the kingdoms of the world. the ropes reference reminds me of Judas hanging himself. i think the song is about the desire to not be condemned for the wrongs one has done.

I understand the Christian aspect of the song, but to me I can relate to is on a relationship level.

Touch my mouth and hold my tongue I'll never be your chosen one I'll be home, safe and tucked away You can't tempt me if I don't see the day

To me this mean, i'll never be your first choice. Just because things are ruined between the person that you choice over me, that you can just come easily back to me, after treating me like shit. I'll be home safe and in my bed, but you won't be able me to get me to be a bad person like you are.

The pull on my flesh was just too strong It stifles the choice and the air in my lungs Better not to breathe than to breathe a lie 'Cause when I open my body I breathe a lie

I refused to give in to you, because this time i wasn't going to breath your toxic soul, i was stronger than that. I would rather die than get back with a liar and a scum bag like you.....but, in reality i want you, but im going to be strong to resist you because you're a horrible person.

But oh, my heart was flawed I knew my weakness So hold my hand Consign me not to darkness

It was hard for him to do the right thing, he knew his weakness..and it was you. He is asking for someone to not let him go back over to that horrible person.

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down I'll never wear your broken crown I took the road and I fucked it all away Now in this twilight how dare you speak of grace

The evil person who he was in a relationship, has a cracked crown, not literally, but figurative, meaning she had cracked, and she was a bad person. Perhaps, it involved her cheating on him. He is appauled that could even pray after the horrible things she did to him.

I guess, I heard the song in a less biblical/religious light--oh, there's a lot of biblical imagery, but I hear it as more metaphorical than actually religious. In poetry, quite often, philosophy and religion get personified as women, so I think you could hear it as talking about his frustration with either (or both) religion and a particular person, who, maybe, represents the ideas of sin and morality to the singer.

I guess, I heard a more defiant tone to this song--in the beginning he's singing about struggling with sin (i.e. desires that he doesn't want to give into), but in the third verse, it sounds like he's talking to the person who is tempting him:

I will not speak of your sin There was a way out for him The mirror shows not Your values are all shot

I think, he's saying that the person (or institution) he's talking to has done something awful to him, and maybe you can't see it, but that person doesn't care about the singer.

And then, in the refrain, I think, he's saying that, even if he has to "crawl on [his] belly, til the sun goes down" he'll never come back to the person who hurt him. And I heard the "I took the road and I fucked it all away" more as a "fuck you" than a "I fucked up"--which I think is reinforced by the dramatic shift in the music and singing. "I'll fuck all of life, before I wear your broken crown."

Also, I think, at the "Now in this twilight how dare you speak of grace" is him saying, "how dare you talk about forgiveness--I'm never coming back to you".

So the last line "But in this twilight our choices seal our fate" is addressed at the person who, maybe, wants him back, and he's saying "you made your choice, and you have to live with it".

Touch my mouth and hold my tongue-(see Isaiah 6:7)- He understands how powerful words are. I'll never be your chosen one-( He's not Jesus) I'll be home, safe and tucked away- ( He's hidden in Christ) You can't tempt me if I don't see the day-( Eph.5:16, the days are evil)

The pull on my flesh was just too strong -(battle between the spirit and flesh) It stifled the choice and the air in my lungs- (being pressed spiritually can take your breath away sometimes, 2Cor.4:8-12) Better not to breathe than to breathe a lie- ( let your ya be ya & na be na) 'Cause when I open my body I breathe a lie -( anything more then this is of the evil one, Matthew 5:37)

I will not speak of your sin- (God never accuses us) There was a way out for him- (Don't feel bad for Lucifer, he can bow to Jesus, who represents mankind to God, just as mankind does for there redemption ...but CHOOSES not to) The mirror shows not -(flesh doesn't reveal what's in the heart) Your values are all shot- (your heart is perverse and black from sin, so you judge things by worldly standards...looks, money, etc...you can't see the burning heart of real love & compassion God has for all his creation, not just the wealthy, healthy, & Hip)

But oh, my heart was flawed- (Jeremiah 17:9-mans hearts are wicked) I knew my weakness-( He knew it very well) So hold my hand- ( For your spirit will cry out ABBA father Romans 8:15) Consign me not to darkness- (Matthew 25:30- the unprofitable servant will be cast into outer darkness)

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down-( Lucifer's curse from pride, Math.13:25 "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares (nightmares) among the wheat, and went his way. I'll never wear your broken crown-(Lucifer's pride creates his own self- deception & those who are deceived by him , that Christ will not return or restore the spiritual kingdom over all creation again.. .But God will do it by men who choose to serve with selfless love,grace,mercy, ect.... NOT a law created & enforced by fallen angels, Eph.6:12) I took the road and I fucked it all away- ( I rebelled on purpose, willfully) Now in this twilight how dare you speak of grace- ( I Knew it was leading me to darkness, but God's love & Grace doesn't change, so It can drive you crazy if you run from it, because sometimes trying to run from it, you run right into it...because he is everywhere, and you can't hide from him, or his love....

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down I'll never wear your broken crown I took the road and I fucked it all away Now in this twilight how dare you speak of grace- (Grace is different then mercy, being merciful is withholding judgement or punishment that is deserved....Grace or being graceful, is showing kindness, love, affection, that is completely undeserved...'..Example: you just stole and thousand dollars from you mom wallet and she catches you...but instead of getting mad at you, she takes you out to diner, lets you keep the money, buys you some new clothes, sends you on an all paid vacation to your favorite place, ect., ect....for we have received Grace For Grace...John 1:6)

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down I'll never wear your broken crown I can take the road and I can fuck it all away But in this twilight our choices seal our fate- ( what we do in the dark and alone will be brought to the Light of Jesus one day, and if we don't exspose them willfully to his light while we are alive, we will be judge for them accordingly in the resurrection of the just and unjust- Acts 24:15)...For we will ALL stand before the 2 Corinthians 5:10---Even Lucifer knows this....but also knows his end...for it is written....

the song is clearly about sin and justice. The religious context is imminent due to the reference to Christ's crown of thorns.

The lyrics work in two temporal dimensions: the present and the thought about the past.

Verse One describes his thoughts in the present. Him trying to hide from sin, to prevent him from sinning, which implicates he has sinned before, probably recently. The intensity of his countermeasures indicate a big transgression.

Verse two holds his thoughts about the past. There's justification ("the pull on the flesh was just too strong") on the one and confession ("I breathe a lie") on the other side which entails action (stop breathing). lying plays a big part in that verse, but he is willing to sacrifice a lot for honesty.

verse three grants him grace (not speaking of the sins he committed) but also charging him with guilt (there was a way out) this verse and the following may work in two different ways: as a dialogue with god, who forgives him due to his sins, bcs he knows he couldn't known (mirror) or as self-reproach, in which he argues with his conscience. Both approaches would make sens and it's just a matter of how religious you want to read it.

Verse five harks back to verse one: as he won't be the chosen one, he won't wear the broken crown. Again this can be read in a religious context, as a statements towards a mythical tempter like a devil-figure and the broken crown as an inverted Jesus-metaphor. But it may also be read as a statement to a concrete physical person, may it be a tempter or a consoler. Again it can also be read as an inner struggle with his conscience and his mind. He knows that whatever he did, the road he went down, the path he chose, was wrong and that he failed big time. Feeling doubtful and not worth deserving anything but pain, he can't accept grace, because it's just not that easy for him. The different ending to the reprise of the verse at end leads not to acceptance but to realization: he can't change what happened. he can't forgive himself. but he will keep in mind to choose the right road next time, because now, when there's no pull on his flash, he CAN choose and he knows about the consequences of his choices.

I think its about a guy who essentially has the weight of the world on his shoulders and he's just like BLEEP this, i'm not your chosen one, i'm not wearing this crown forced upon me. basically telling the world to go BLEEP itself, and fight for themselves.

I think this song digs deeper into the lyrics of Roll Away Your Stone. Notice the references to "darkness" and "grace" as were in Roll Away Your Stone. Roll away your stone talks about the journey of self realization and getting out of getting out of a controlling relationship where one's identity is lost. Broken Crown goes into the specific feelings that one had during that time and and it brings the anger and frustration to light. This is a very deep and powerful song...

To me, this is about someone who feels very very bad about himself and who condemns himself for his (real or imagined) sinfulness.

The first two verses are all about feeling a great temptation, a physically tangible urge to sin, and taking drastic measures in order to resist. He locks himself away to avoid making a bad choice, or any choice at all. He is incredibly fearful, anxious, and physically tense, and maybe he relieves that tension in sex, as is later suggested: "I took the road and I fucked it all away".

The third verse actually makes a lot of sense when thinking of the song's story as trying to stay away from a toxic partner after the relationship is over, possibly through cheating. And I believe that he did something bad, either to her or to the person she was cheating with, because in verse four, he initially speaks in the past tense, indicating that he did something bad while knowing full well that he might and still risking it. Now he doesn't want to repeat the same mistake, so he tries hard to steer clear of sin.

He begs for someone to help him, to "Hold [his] hand /consign [him] not to darkness", but he won't accept the "grace" or forgiveness this person - be it Jesus or simply a friend - offers because he believes himself to be a sinner at heart ("crawl on my belly" -> biblical snake) precisely because resisting takes such a huge effort.

Only in the last line is he beginning to see hope, cluthing at a straw: "But in this twilight our choices seal our fate". He's finally realizing that by choosing not to sin, he has already proven himself, that it's not his animal urges that count but his decisions.

My interpretation of the song is based on the writer struggling with sexual temptation, falling to it, and struggling with forgiveness and God’s grace. While not a Christian band, grace is a prevalent theme in Mumford