I went on the search for something true.
I was almost there when I found you.
Sooner then my fate was wrote
Perfectly it slit my throat
And beads of lust released into the air.
When I awoke you were standing there.

I was on the mend when I fell through.
The sky around was anything but blue.
I found as I regained my feet
A wound across my memory
That no amount of stitches would repair.
But I awoke and you were standing there.

There's no fortune at the end of the road that has no end.
There's no returning to the spoils
Once you've spoiled the thought of them.
There's no falling back asleep
Once you've wakened from the dream
Now I'm rested and I'm ready,
I'm rested and I'm ready to begin.
I'm ready to begin.

I went on the search for something real.
Traded what I know for how I feel.
But the ceiling and the walls collapsed
Upon the darkness I was trapped
And as the last of breath was drawn from me
The light broke in and brought me to my feet.

There's no fortune at the end of the road that has no end.
There's no returning to the spoils
Once you've spoiled the thought of them.
There's no falling back to sleep
Once you've wakened from the dream.
Now I'm rested and I'm ready
I'm rested and I'm ready
Yeah I'm rested and I'm ready
I'm rested and I'm ready
Yeah I'm rested and I'm ready
I'm rested and I'm ready
To begin.
I'm ready to begin.


Lyrics submitted by zliibbe, edited by timcook123

February Seven Lyrics as written by Scott Avett Robert Crawford

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

February Seven song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    This is not a song about addiction or adultery. It's a about a much more common road we all travel down, thinking there is something "perfect" and attainable out there. Those ideals lead to disappointments in life. He wakes up out of this false dream world and its futile pursuits and sees something wonderful waiting for him,(personified by his wife). He realizes the folly of chasing after these unattainable perfections and at the same time realizes how truly precious of a life he already has. He is awake and ready to begin looking at things this way. Sad, sweet, and very romantic....how a good life really is!

    MattInAustinon September 21, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    There's a theme of sleeping, dreaming, and waking throughout this one:

    "When I awoke, you were standing there." "There's no falling back to sleep once you've wakened from the dream." "Now, I'm rested and I'm ready to begin."

    I don't think specifics (such as addiction or adultery, as others have suggested) are relevant unless the songwriter actually mentions or implies them in the song. The writer (which is Scott, in this case, as the Spotify commentary would tell us) includes the details that matter.

    I think this song is about maturing, and transitioning from the bad habits of youth and becoming an adult. Once you realize the truths that dawn on you as you grow older, you can't go back to thinking the way you used to. ("There's no falling back to sleep once you've wakened from the dream.") At the same time, the last line of each verse emphasizes that someone has been loyal to him throughout his emotional relapses and shortcomings (the variations of "I awoke and you were standing there"). So I think it is also about being grateful for someone who has loved you at your worst as well as your best, and the importance of loving someone that faithfully.

    My favorite line in this song is "the light broke in and brought me to my feet". Seth's harmony on that line is absolutely heartrending. I kind of wish it were "YOUR light broke in and brought me to my feet" :)

    prettybirdon October 30, 2013   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    In a YouTube video, Scott Avett said this song is about a lesson he learned on February seventh and wouldn't explain further.

    With that said, I believe this song is about Scott possibly being unfaithful to his wife or at least thinking about having an affair. He has all of these thoughts and fantasies of lust but eventually, sort of, wakes up from this "dream" and realizes that exactly what he wants and needs is right in front of him (his wife).

    "I'm rested and I'm ready to begin" could either be Scott telling himself or his wife (maybe she found out about his infidelity) that he's now ready to spend his life with her. He strayed off track for a little but he's back and he's "ready to begin" again.

    yeee_sonon October 16, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    The beautiful thing about music is that it can mean different things to different people. Whatever you're feeling, whatever you're going through in that moment, some songs really speak to you. As this one did to me. For me, every word of this song speaks of someone struggling with addiction. It talks of his journey. Every up and every down. Getting clean and then falling off the wagon. Hurting the people he loves, lying, doing things he regrets. Yet everytime he wakes up, she is there to help him and love him and make him better. And in the end, she is the light that brings him to his feet. And once again, he is rested and ready to begin again. Whether or not Scott Avett was dealing with an affair or an addiction when he wrote this song, we may never know. It's a beautiful song and that's all that really matters. Some music can really move you and this song definitely moved me. The Avett Brothers always seem to be able to do that to me. They are amazing.

    littlewing7on March 13, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Well, hey! Look what day it is. Obviously I'm going to listen to this repeatedly today.

    As the previous comment states, Scott Avett did a little commentary on this song, saying that it was pretty straightforward. The narrator "went on the search for something true", meaning he didn't feel completely satisfied with his current situation so he decided to try some new things (The lines "A perfect blade it slit my throat/And beads of lust released into the air" do make it seem like it could've been an affair of some sort). After a while, though, he realizes what he had before was pretty great.

    These lines make it pretty clear, "There's no falling back asleep Once you've wakened from the dream Now I'm rested and I'm ready, I'm rested and I'm ready to begin."

    Just a really beautiful song.

    wordsaslighton February 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Everyone's thought seems to be that this song is about infidelity. I don't know what else it could be about. Just some thoughts on specific lyrics:
    " I was on the mend when I fell through. The sky around was anything but blue. I found as I regained my feet A wound across my memory That no amount of stitches would repair"

    He was on the path to forgiving himself when he realized how shameful his actions were. He had believed all was forgiven because she stayed. But then he realized he could not forgive himself- "A wound across my memory" He will always be haunted by the thought of what he did. And he knows he ruined the relationship with her even though she had forgiven him. For as long as they are together, he will never be able to think of the good times they had, and how he ruined it permanently. The relationship is irreparably damaged and he knows that going fowrard, It will always be something that is in the relationship and will never go away - "There's no returning to the spoils Once you've spoiled the thought of them. There's no falling back asleep Once you've wakened from the dream" He knows he has lost what he had and can never go back and erase it. This memory will always haunt him and things will never be the same. Ever. "I went on the search for something real. Traded what I know for how I feel." The relationship was something that he knew but He (THOUGHT)was not satisfied with. He traded what he knew ( the relationship) for what he feels (implies literal physical attraction to someone else, lust.) "Upon the darkness I was trapped And as the last of breath was drawn from me The light broke in and brought me to my feet." He realized the gravity of the mistake he made, and the thought of it caused him to hit rock bottom. Depression. But he had to reach that point of maybe shame or self loathing that was his penance. Once he was able to fully realize there was no way he could fully repair the damage, he was able to forgive himself "I'm rested and I'm ready. Rested might imply that he finally was able to forgive himself and move on with the relationship. I forgot to comment on "I went on the search for something true. I was almost there when I found you. Sooner then my fate was wrote A perfect blade it slit my throat And beads of lust released into the air. When I awoke you were standing there" He had finally fallen in love for the first time and everything was coming together perfectly. He threw away the chance to have a fairytale romance (sooner than my fate was wrote) as it would have been and should have been perfect if he hadn't messed up. "And beads of lust released into the air. When I awoke you were standing there." Beads of lust was the actual physical aspect of the affair." When I awoke, you were standing there. I think this means this is when she found out about the affair. Similar to a child doing something wrong only to turn and see his mother standing there and knew he had been caught.
    This makes the "you were standing there" in the first verse as a totally different meaning than "But you were standing there" in the second verse. "You were standing there" He gets caught "But you were standing there" She has decided to give him a second chance. Like, you should have left me for what I did, BUT you chose not to and you are still here.

    Just my interpretation. We will never know what really happened as he will never address the issue publicly. And rightfully so. Something like this isn't something you are going to chit chat to the press about.

    heathercoon February 22, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    You can lust after anything, it doesn't just apply to sexual desires. You can lust for fame and fortune, and I think maybe that's what Scott was talking about. Realizing his real treasure is his family, even amongst the pleasures that the world of the road can bring.

    Undignified00on March 11, 2014   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I see three possibilities for this song:

    1. The obvious. Infidelity, as others have commented.

    2. The end, and acceptance of that end, of the "honeymoon" period of the singer's marriage. The awakening from lust and idealization of his spouse into the reality of marriage. "When I awoke, you were standing there"...

    The first verse is the initial attraction to the person, when desire comes first. Second and perhaps third verse is the cruel blow of reality that time and intimacy brings, learning who she "really" is, and the mourning that goes along with that. However, "light breaks in" and brings him to the understanding that she's standing there, waiting for him to wake up and to begin their real life together. Which he's now ready to do...

    1. Probably not what the song's about, but another fond idea of mine (and a theme I've seen running through other Avett Brothers songs)... The nature of desire (for anything) and illusion... The hall of mirrors effect. You think you're awake now, you understand where you've been and determined to go in a different direction, ("there's no fortune at the end of the road that has no end...") but you're endlessly caught in this cycle that will trap you into thinking you're done with it and awake now, even while you travel the same dream road endlessly, with nothing to be gained....
    42 stepson February 26, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    littlewing7: that is my favorite thing about music is the personal meaning that the songs take on for different people...if i have a song that means a lot to me i purposely remain ignorant to the meaning because i don't want it to be ruined for me

    i view everything through the lens of my faith so looking at this song i can't help but see redemption/salvation echoed throughout and while this song is probably not about that, it certainly will remain that way for me...i found my faith with help from my then girlfriend, now my wife and the first verses of this song remind me of my earlier days when i was searching for some meaning to life in my early 20's and here comes this girl unexpectedly and turns everything on its head...

    "i was on the mend when i fell through"...my salvation being worked out for me when i fell through the lies of the world...falling because it reflects the helplessness of my situation...i had no control, the path being laid out for me

    "the sky around was anything but blue"...my reality setting in...seeing the world for what it really is...

    "i found as i regained my feet...a wound across my memory"...realized that i was being sought by something bigger than me and the wound being my denial of this reality; my sin...

    "that no amount of stitches would repair...i awoke and you were standing there"...nothing of this world could repair my relationship with God, certainly nothing i could do so in awaking from that revelation here is my Savior standing before me...

    then in the chorus that talks about "there is no fortune at the end of the road that has no end" means for me that eternity is already here...we are all immortal in a sense because there is a world beyond this one where we will be in existence...the spoils of the world, falling back to sleep---i can no longer return to my previous reality or look at material wealth as anything but means to another end or purpose...

    "i'm rested and i'm ready to begin"...i've been ransomed and i'm ready to go forth living out my faith...

    "I went on the search for something real I traded what I know for how I feel But the ceiling and the walls collapsed Upon the darkness I was trapped And as the last of breath was drawn from me The light broke in and brought me to my feet"...even though i have salvation i'm still a sorry sad sack of crap wanting to live for me and i keep looking for something else despite being shown the truth...but even my best efforts are in vain and when my plans fail and the "walls collapse" and the darkness sets in my Savior "the light" comes in and reminds me who i belong to...

    i'm sure someone is going to write, or think, something scathing about what i've written but i'll leave you with these verses from Jeff Tweedy from Wilco's song, "What Light"...

    'And if the whole world's singing your songs And all of your paintings have been hung Just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on

    And that's not wrong or right But you can struggle with it all you like You'll only get uptight'

    Read more: Avett Brothers - February Seven Lyrics | MetroLyrics

    rooster0223on February 02, 2014   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    This song is so positive! The first verse is a metaphor for not knowing what to do or where to go. But then, "you were standing there". Second verse, he's thinking about a specific person. He's hurting, and whatever was there before is lost; but "you were standing there". In the chorus, he has decided that there is no point in being depressed or bummed out about anything. Why hang on to the past when you're awesome being you. Shit happens, but life goes on. "Rested and I'm ready" refers to literally being tired of the everyday shite. Ready to begin a more positive outlook on everything. Second verse: "Traded what I know for how I feel". That's the attitude of being yourself amongst society that thinks as a group. At the end of the verse, he's been into the thoughts of the majority, but "the light broke in, and brought me to my feet". He's decided; screw the majority. I will live as I see fit; like it or not. Very positive song; basically saying why dwell on the past when the future holds so much! Cheers!

    Stewy28on February 09, 2014   Link

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