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This is as good a place to fall as any
We'll build our alter here
Make me your Maria
I'm already on my knees
You had Jesus on your breath
And I caught him in mine
Sweating our confessions
The undone and the divine
This is his body
This is his blood
Such selfish prayers
And I can't get enough
Oh, whoa, whoa, yeah
Spilled milk tears,
I did this for you
Spilling over the idol
The black and the blue
The sweetest submission
Drinking it in
The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns
'Cause this is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers and I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
This is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers, I can't get enough
This is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers, I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
We'll build our alter here
Make me your Maria
I'm already on my knees
You had Jesus on your breath
And I caught him in mine
Sweating our confessions
The undone and the divine
This is his body
This is his blood
Such selfish prayers
And I can't get enough
Oh, whoa, whoa, yeah
Spilled milk tears,
I did this for you
Spilling over the idol
The black and the blue
The sweetest submission
Drinking it in
The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns
'Cause this is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers and I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
This is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers, I can't get enough
This is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers, I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
I can't get enough
Whoa, whoa, yeah
Lyrics submitted by KatherineKissMe, edited by Lizzilola
Track duration: 03:01
"Bedroom Hymns" as written by Florence Leontine Mary Welch, Amanda Ghost, Ian Alec Harvey Dench, Dave Mccracken
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I can't help but laugh a bit when I read comments saying this is about religion and Christianity. This song is chock full of sex (probably before marriage), lust and idolatry.
Florence is using ritual and spirituality to liken to the feeling during sex. Some people consider sex and orgasms to becoming closer or one with their god. Some people even achieve a higher state of being during sex magic and ritualistic sex.
This is as good a place to fall as any
We'll build our alter here
--"Fall" can be interpreted as fallen angels similar to the ones who fell from Heaven to bed the daughters of men in the Bible or simply to be a fallen angel and lured into "sin" aka lust and sex. Altar is in reference to worship and how they will "build" a place to worship each other here--
Make me your Maria
I'm already on my knees --obvious reference to her giving oral sex but also a submission to him. There are multiple positions for a woman to give oral sex to a man and some can be arguably more comfortable than being on her knees in front of him. The image of her on her knees is specifically a submission to him and her desire for him, also a reference to her worship of him and their love--
You had Jesus on your breath
And I caught him in mine
--both saying "Oh God, oh God, Jesus!" during sex--
Sweating our confessions
--this can be inferred as the physical exertions of sex or outpouring of emotion during sex such as the confession of love between them--
The undone and the divine
--the term "undone" has been used in multiple works and forms of media as reference to an orgasm and divine is as I mentioned earlier the way they feel during sex but also as a way of achieving spiritual awakening
This is his body
--idolatry here--
This is his love
--love both emotional and physical, this is how he shows his emotional love by loving her body so completely--
Such selfish prayers
And I can't get enough
--they are both selfish and greedy for one another, unable to stop or think or do anything but exist in this spiritual place created by their emotional and physical love, selfish also in the way they use each other for their own physical pleasure (which although sounds bad isn't when you're with someone you have immense feelings for. Even as you're clinging to them and racing to your own finishing line you still care for them--
Spilled milk tears
--definitely his ejaculation not necessarily on her face
I did this for you
Spilling over the idol
The black and the blue --can be interpreted as bruises but not necessarily a negative byproduct of sex. It doesn't even have to be particularly rough sex to leave bruises. Maybe he's holding her wrists and grips her too tightly (another popular submissive position, maybe he's digging his nails into her hips or she's clawing into his back and leaving marks. Black and blue can also mean they're marking each other and staking their claim on the other.
The sweetest submission
--giving into each other's desires not necessarily a physical position (her on her knees or him in submissive position) but submitting to each other, submitting to their overpowering lust and hunger for each other--
Drinking it in
--the power of being so desired and wanting someone so completely that it consumes her can be a heady thing as well as how wonderfully sinful and hedonistic the act can be but she enjoys it further referenced in the lyrics--
The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns
--the title Bedroom Hymns is in itself a reference to sex. Hymns are songs of worship. Whether they're in the bedroom shouting "Oh God, oh God, yes, Jesus!" or gasping and crying out (singing) during orgasm, these are the hymns she's talking about--
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
--there's no need to ask for forgiveness because how could such a pure, powerful wanting and display of love and worship for someone be wrong? Why should she apologize for her enjoyment of her lover and her sexuality? This is also a tie-in to the previous statement of drinking it in and how overwhelmingly powerful the energy is between them.
I think this quote from Alan Watts fits this song and the idea behind it very well.
"When you are in love with someone, you do indeed see them as a divine being...through a tremendous outpouring of psychic energy in total devotion and worship for this other person."
If anyone thinks this is far-fetched or an impossible description that could never happen between two people, think again. Love and sex may not be all its cracked up to be in most movies, tv shows, books and other songs but this particular song I have to say has gotten it completely right and I know from experience.
My favorite line is "This is his body, This is his love". It ties into the Eucharist, or the "Sacrament of the Altar" (which also ties back into the first line). Before receiving your bread, the Priest says "This is his body." Then, moving over to the wine, he will say "This is his BLOOD." I just love how she twisted one word (blood to love) to make it into a whole different concept. Florence is a genius.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This is as good a place to fall as any
We'll build our alter here
Make me your Maria
I'm already on my knees
You had Jesus on your breath
And I caught him in mine
Sweating our confessions
The undone and the divine
This is his body
This is his love
Such selfish prayers
And I can't get enough
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
She and her "lover" have found a place to fall. Things are starting to heat up. To properly express how much passion and lust she is feeling, she gets on her knees in front of him and ... gets to work, if you will. "Jesus," they both breathe out, as it gets more intense. The pleasure is all received by the man, hence the "selfishness", but she doesn't mind. She can't get enough, pleasing him. Adoring him. Worshiping him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Spilled milk tears,
I did this for you
Spilling over the idol
The black and the blue
The sweetest submission
Drinking it in
The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Spilled milk tears" is the ejaculation. It could possibly be on her face, hence the "tears". And "spilling over the idol" ... I don't think I need to mention what the "idol" is by this point. The man was in a position of submission as she drank him all up.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'm not here looking for absolution
Because I found myself an old solution
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
She isn't doing this for any sort of forgiveness. By embracing her sexuality, something she probably put aside for a long time, she gets these emotions of acceptance.
Anyway, that's my interpretation!
Along with the context of the rest of the lyrics, I don't see how that's necessarily negative. With consent, sex can be really rough around the edges. Slapping, hitting, biting, etc. I wouldn't go out of my way to say this song is "positive" though. Just extremely passionate.
In Christianity the message is about love. The intense love or lust between the two in the song has to feel similar to the delight a Christian or other religious person might feel about their faith. Clearly the bedroom is like the church, it is where the lovers go to worship one another. When I hear this song it makes me think of a woman who is meeting with a new lover. The chemistry between them is undeniable and has meaning they feel that is higher than them.
At the end when she says the absolution/solution lines, I think that it's commenting on how everyone is looking for the Truth and what happiness and purpose is, and in the end, she found her answer in having beautiful, spiritual love making and that connection with another human being. It is the greatest and most powerful love she knows, thus, it is akin to Christ's love. A lot of philosophers have discussed this intimate love as being extreme holy, so maybe this is her take on saying "eros" (romantic love) over "agape" (unconditional love).
All in all, searching for Christ/holiness/etc is not something that you have to go necessarily soul-searching for; instead, beautiful intimacy with another person can find you that truth.
Here are my literal interpretations of some of the lyrics (excuse my dirty mind and lack of eloquence):
This is as good a place to fall as any (We can die here and enter heaven)
We'll build our altar here (we'll build a religious structure where religious rites and acts are performed; comparing sex to a sacred act)
Make me your Maria (this sounds incredibly kinky to me... reference to Virgin Mary. I'd look into this further but I'm lazy atm.)
I'm already on my knees (she's on her knees in prayer and/or possibly giving or anticipating fellatio)
You had Jesus on your breath (Jesus = a divine pleasure)
And I caught him in mine (shared breaths meaning that they're being intimate; catching Jesus in her breath = the feeling of very divine, euphoric, and otherworldly (pleasure and/or orgasm?) is mutual)
Sweating out confessions (sweating out confessions, worries, and sins through lovemaking; they are not focused on their problems)
The undone and the divine (the act is flawed and divine at the same time)
This is his body (comparing his body to Jesus)
This is his love (comparing his love to Jesus)
Such selfish prayers and I can't get enough, oh (prayer's = wishes and desires; can't get enough of his lovin')