Written by Justin Vernon and DeYarmond Edison...
Climb
Is all we know
When thaw
Is not below us
No, can't grow up
In that iron ground
Claire, all too sore for sound
Bet
Is hardly shown
Scraped
Across the foam
Like they stole it
And oh, how they hold it
Claire, we nearly forfeit
I' I'm growing like the quickening hues
I' I'm telling darkness from lines on you
Over havens fora full and swollen morass, young habitat!
All been living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known
Home
We're savage high
Come
We finally cry
Oh and we don it
Because it's right
Claire, I was too sore for sight
I' we're sewing up through the latchet greens
I' un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean
Same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed us at
All been living alone, where the cracks at in the low part of the stoning
Is all we know
When thaw
Is not below us
No, can't grow up
In that iron ground
Claire, all too sore for sound
Bet
Is hardly shown
Scraped
Across the foam
Like they stole it
And oh, how they hold it
Claire, we nearly forfeit
I' I'm growing like the quickening hues
I' I'm telling darkness from lines on you
Over havens fora full and swollen morass, young habitat!
All been living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known
Home
We're savage high
Come
We finally cry
Oh and we don it
Because it's right
Claire, I was too sore for sight
I' we're sewing up through the latchet greens
I' un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean
Same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed us at
All been living alone, where the cracks at in the low part of the stoning
Lyrics submitted by iquitmyscene, edited by Mellow_Harsher, NicoAdams
Track duration: 04:58
"Wash." as written by Justin Vernon
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Bon Iver's songs are best served on a good winter day! They have really lived up to their name. :)
"Enough of this!
Give us the ground!
Give us the ground!"
Which fits thatdanghill's interpretation perfectly. It's my favorite part of the song.
Eau Claire was the town Justin Vernon grew up in, so it seems appropriate.
"Climb is all we know" (All youth starts out at the very beginning)
"When thaw is not below us" (Thawing, like settling out)
"No can't grow up in that iron ground" (Young opinions can't take root in a place where everybody already has their own strong opinions)
"Bet is hardly shown" (Differences in thinking are not apparent)
"...like they stole it, and oh how they hold it" (Elders keep differences locked up)
"I'm growing like the quickening hues" (As he discovers the world around him, hues light up)
"I'm telling darkness from lines on you" (He's realizing parts of his identity that had not been apparent before)
"over havens fora full and swollen morass, young habitat!
all been living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known" (Life is growing where everything else is static)
"home
we're savage high
come
we finally cry
oh and we don it
because it's right
Claire, I was too sore for sight" (When he finally finds himself, he is at the end of a long hard journey)
"I... we're sewing up through the latchet greens
I... un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean" (He's rebuilding what he knows about basic morality)
"same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed us at
all been living alone, where the cracks at in the low part of the stoning"(He's discovering the society has a fatal flaw at its roots)
"climb
is all we know
when thaw
is not below us
no, can't grow up
in that iron ground
Claire, all too sore for sound"
I think this part of the song is about people trying to rise up out of home and never quite making it. From my experience, the people who never moved past their town, were never really able to leave their comfort zones and do anything with themselves. Sometimes I wonder what my friends would be like in a different setting. There is a certain sadness that moves in after to many winters in freezing flatlands.
What I hear:
Claire
is all we know
when [thought/thaw]
is not below us
no, can't grow up
in that iron ground
Claire, all too sore for sound
bed
is hardly shown
scraped
across the foam
like they stole it
and, oh, how they hold it
Claire, we nearly forfeit
I'm grown like the quickening hues
I'm telling darkness from lines on you
over havens for a full and swollen morass, your habitat!
I'll be living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known
home
we're savage high
come
we finally cry
oh and we done it
because it's right
Claire, eyes too sore for sight
We're sown up through latchet greens
Un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean
same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed a sack
I'll be living alone, where the [crack sat/crack's at] in the low part of the stone
Unreal.