Ha oh
I was looking for a breath of life
A little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang no
To get a dream of life again
A little vision of the start and the end
But all the choirs in my head sang no

But I only needed one more touch
Another taste of heavenly rush
And I believe, I believe it so
And I only needed one more touch
Another taste of divine rush
And I believe, I believe it so

Whose side am I on, whose side am I?
Whose side am I on, whose side am I?

And the fever began to spread
From my heart down to my legs
But the room was so quiet oh
And although I wasn't losing my mind
It was a chorus so sublime
But the room is too quiet (oh, the fever)

I was looking for a breath of life,
A little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang no (I believe it)
To get a dream of life again
A little vision of the start and the end
But all the choirs in my head sang no

Ha oh
Ha oh
It's a harder way
And it's come to claim her
And I always say
We should be together
And I can't sleep alone
'Cause there's something in here
And if you are gone
I will not belong here

And I started to hear it again
But this time it wasn't the end
And the room was so quiet, oh
And my heart is a hollow plain
For the devil to dance again
And the room was too quiet, oh

I was looking for a breath of life
A little touch of heavenly light
But all the choirs in my head sang no


Lyrics submitted by Elective Amnesia, edited by loyamichelle66

Breath Of Life Lyrics as written by Isabella Janet Florentina Summers Florence Leontine Mary Welch

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Breath of Life song meanings
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  • +3
    Song Meaning

    Florence + the Machine recorded this song for the soundtrack to the Hollywood film Snow White And The Huntsman. After frontwoman Florence Welch was given the opportunity to watch a few scenes from the movie, she drew inspiration from the character of the evil Queen Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron. The song is sung from the perspective of the Queen herself and Welch told MTV News: "The Queen is just this incredible character; so hungry for life but so dead inside. She's sort of eternal, but inside there's nothing. She's kind of like charcoal or something. She has this thirst for youth and for life, but for what kind of life? This darkness, but she's so beautiful, so it's this kind of juxtaposition between beauty and, ultimately, death."

    The orchestra and choir heavy track was recorded at London's Abbey Road studio, under the stewardship of American film composer James Newton Howard. Welch told MTV News that she "almost cried" during the making of the tune. "We went in and demoed the track, these big, clattering drums, huge bass sounds and everything was very intense and then we sent that to the guys in LA who composed it. And it was amazing to see the music we played being turned into this amazing orchestral thing," she said. Welch continued: "You feel in a bit of a way like you're kind of making it up as you go along, and then when you see it done, laid out before you in such a beautiful, orchestral fashion, it's really incredible... I love choirs and I love choral music, and there was a 60-piece choir singing the vocal parts that I had written. When the baritones came in, I nearly wept, it was so emotional."

    bma560on May 31, 2013   Link
  • +2
    Lyric Correction

    I was looking for a breath of life For a little touch of heavenly light But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh To get a dream of life again A little vision of the sun in the end But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh

    But I needed one more touch Another taste of heavenly rush And I believe, I believe it so, oh oh oh

    And I needed one more touch Another taste of divine rush And I believe, I believe it so, oh oh oh

    Whose side am I on? Whose side am I? Whose side am I on? Whose side am I? And the fever began to spread From my heart down to my legs But the room is so quiet, oh oh oh

    And although I was losing my mind It was a call that was so sublime But the room is too quiet, oh oh oh

    I'm leaving I was looking for a breath of life A little touch of heavenly light But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh I'm leaving To get a dream of life again A little vision of the sun in the end But all the choirs in my head sang, no, oh oh

    [CHOIR] [And although I was losing my mind It was a call that was so sublime But the room is too quiet, oh oh oh]

    It's a long way and it's come from paper And I always say, we should be together I can see the look, because this song has ended And if you are gone, I will not be long (Be long, be long, be long)

    And I started to hear it again but this time it wasn't the end And the room is so quiet, oh oh oh

    And my heart is a hollow place For the devil to dance again But the room is too quiet

    I was looking for the breath of a life A little touch of a heavenly life But all the choirs in my head sang no, oh oh

    The lyrics might be 'But all the choirs in my head saying no', but I hear it as 'sang'.

    zmxncbv19on April 28, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I can't get this song out of my head. The only way it could get any better is if the choir consisted of 100 Florences! I'm glad she chose to write a song about the Queen, who is such a fascinating character - by writing about the Queen's unquenchable thirst for a 'breath of life', Flo has actually done a beautiful job in bringing this character to life.

    ladyfrommarson May 07, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Here are some lyric changes:

    I was looking for a breath of life; A little touch of heavenly light But all the choirs in my head sang "no" To get a dream of life again A little of vision of the START and the end But all the choirs in my head sang "no".

    .................

    AND THE FEVER BEGAN TO SPREAD From my heart down to my legs But the room was so quiet oh... And although I wasn't losing my mind It was a chorus so sublime But the room is too quiet

    ........

    IT'S A HARDER WAY AND IT'S COME TO CLAIM HER And I always say We should be together I CAN SEE BELOW 'CAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING IN THERE And if you are gone I will not BELONG here

    And I started to hear it again But this time it wasn't the end And the room was so quiet, oh And my heart is a hollow plain For the devil to dance again And the room was too quiet, oh

    I was looking for a breath of life; A little touch of heavenly light But all the choirs in my head sang "no"...

    snasheron May 15, 2012   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    im pretty sure she is singing about her getting so close to god but then, the voices start talking to her changing her mind although she knows god exists, she starts to think that she is going crazy and questions which side she is on, good or evil and in the end her heart is not filled with light or darkness its empty waiting for someone to fill it, either God or the Devil.

    still amazing song and lyrics im new to Florence and she is number one in my libary right now <3

    maestro11of11geniuson June 07, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    WoW just wow since the first minute the song was released I could not stop hearing it I just love it because its has a heroic feel like at around 1 minute and 30 seconds in you here heroic trumpits and florece's beautiful voice and the wonderful orchestra and choir backing florence and the lyrics just wow its like all I have to do is put on my headphones close my eyes and she takes me on the greatest adventure ever and what I also like is that it is inspired by the evil queen like I love fairy tales I love how dark they are and snow white is my favorite fairy tale and the evil queen my favorite character and this song is just perfect and one more thing where is says "this song has ended" I think she said "and there's no happy ending" just makes more sense

    antkingjron April 28, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Just when you thought F M couldn't top themselves, they do. Amazing band.

    CharMarRuleson July 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction

    I think these are the correct lyrics to the end. Love this song.

    It's a long way and it's come from paper And I always say, we should be together I can see below 'Cause there's something in here And if you are gone, I will not be long

    And I started to hear it again but this time it wasn't the end And the room is so quiet,

    And my heart is a hollow plain For the devil to dance again But the room is too quiet

    LaurieStrodeon May 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is so great and these are some possible lyric corrections.

    "And the fever began to spread" instead of: "And the feel of it rushes through me"

    also, towards the end:

    "It's a harder way and it's come to claim her and I always say, we should be together, I can see below 'cause there's something in here and if you are gone I will not belong (not belong here)"

    scubahatchon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    honestly, this song created on me a mixture of feelings so big that i even cried without knowing why. all feelings good and bad, and i just love it sooo much

    Edea001on August 25, 2012   Link

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