I'm listening to this song at ungodly volumes, and it's definitely
"Your mother's gone missing"
"You're just like your father"
"buried deep under the water"
Interpretation:
It's from the perspective of the subject's spouse.
The first stanza sets the stage.
Dear friend, as you know
Your flowers are withering
Your mother's gone insane
Your leaves have drifted away
But the clouds are clearing up
And I've come reveling
Burning incandescently
Like a bastard on the burning sea
The narrator reaffirms that he is a friend, meaning she only wishes to help him and the rest of the song isn't some kind of angry accusation. She says that his luck has gone sour and he's wrong about something. As a result, she is victorious in some kind of argument. She takes pride in the anomaly that is her victory, and "lights on fire" with smugness.
The purpose of "your mother's gone missing" is still lost to me. Maybe it's just another way to state that he isn't in control of his life.
The refrain is the ensuing argument.
(Wife)
You're just like your father
Buried deep under the water
You're resting on your laurels
And stepping on my toes
(Husband)
Whose side are you on?
(Wife)
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground
The wife is pleading with him to calm down and stop acting as if he had authority ("put down your sword and crown"), and join her, romantically, in peace as a common person ("come lay with me on the ground"). She adds that his pride is really starting to make her uncomfortable. "You're just like your father" clues us in that the subject is male and the narrator is his wife.
You're just like your father
Buried deep under the water
These lines are especially symbolic. Water symbolizes baptism and renewal of self. This couplet means that at some point he forgave himself for his faults and decided he wasn't going to be like his father. But his wife knows him well enough to see that under that renewal, he's still like his father.
The succession of traits from father to son also adds to the royalty motif found in this song; the sword, crown, and laurels are all references to this.
The second stanza is very dramatic
You come beating like moth's wings
Spastic and violently
Whipping me into a storm
Shaking me down to the core
But you run away from me
And you left me shimmering
Like diamond wedding rings
Spinning dizzily down on the floor
The subject gets violent in the face of such cutting, true, hurtful words. He batters his wife a little bit and throws his wedding ring on the ground, then runs. "And you left me shimmering" means that the narrator was crying from such a display of violence toward her, the woman he is supposed to love. The specific use of moth's wings (as opposed to butterfly wings or another bug's wings) is unknown to me, but it seems as it would have significance. Maybe if I were a bug expert I could identify the subtle differences between the wings and the way the bugs use them.
Motifs:
Royalty; laurel wreaths were put on the heads of those who won victory, or who were otherwise royalty, in Greek and Roman culture. Imagery of "sword and crown" reinforces this. "You're just like your father" references the succession of kings.
Conflict; "who's side are you on," "you come beating like moth's wings," once again "sword and crown" all give credit to the theory that the subject is violent and likes to start conflicts with others, like some sort of warring king.
I thought at first that moth's wings are a lot less beautiful than their butterfly counterparts perhaps hinting that the way s/he's acting is disgraceful and unbecoming, but when I thought on it I also remembered that moths have markings on their wings that resemble huge eyes to scare away predators. So maybe thats like this person's putting up a front to scare or keep people at a distance, when s/he's actually much more fragile than they appear. Also moth's tend to have wings that blend into the enviornment, so it could be taken the other way that they're trying...
I thought at first that moth's wings are a lot less beautiful than their butterfly counterparts perhaps hinting that the way s/he's acting is disgraceful and unbecoming, but when I thought on it I also remembered that moths have markings on their wings that resemble huge eyes to scare away predators. So maybe thats like this person's putting up a front to scare or keep people at a distance, when s/he's actually much more fragile than they appear. Also moth's tend to have wings that blend into the enviornment, so it could be taken the other way that they're trying to hide or run from something.
And I've come reveling
Burning incandescently
Like a bastard on the burning sea
Since fire (burning) and incandescence are mentioned, maybe
the person who's acting is so angry because they're attracted to this bright and shining person but hates how they bring up his personal problems, might even be mad at themselves for always starting confrontations with said person
Idk, right now its just a jumble of thoughts, but if anyone wants to find some correlations or meaning to the use of Moths there ya go.
I like your interpretation but I'd like to suggest that perhaps the "you come beating like moth's wings, spastic and violently, whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core", particularly the first part of that line, is about female sexuality and orgasm? I don't know that's just what it says to me...hopefully i don't offend anyone here...
I like your interpretation but I'd like to suggest that perhaps the "you come beating like moth's wings, spastic and violently, whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core", particularly the first part of that line, is about female sexuality and orgasm? I don't know that's just what it says to me...hopefully i don't offend anyone here...
I believe throughout the entire song "you" refers to the wife. No change of perspective. The wife being "just like her father" seems odd, but if you couple that with the wife's missing/insane mother, it's understandable.
I believe throughout the entire song "you" refers to the wife. No change of perspective. The wife being "just like her father" seems odd, but if you couple that with the wife's missing/insane mother, it's understandable.
With that understood, I'm pretty sure the intentional mention of "moth's wings" refers back to the first stanza. The narrator describes himself as have an incandescent quality, in a negative aspect of course. The wife, like a moth, is attracted to his light (have you ever seen a clusters of moths around a light source at night?). She feels compelled to confront her husband. After a horrible argument, she leaves him alone with two wedding rings.
I'm listening to this song at ungodly volumes, and it's definitely
"Your mother's gone missing" "You're just like your father" "buried deep under the water"
Interpretation: It's from the perspective of the subject's spouse.
The first stanza sets the stage.
Dear friend, as you know Your flowers are withering Your mother's gone insane Your leaves have drifted away But the clouds are clearing up And I've come reveling Burning incandescently Like a bastard on the burning sea
The narrator reaffirms that he is a friend, meaning she only wishes to help him and the rest of the song isn't some kind of angry accusation. She says that his luck has gone sour and he's wrong about something. As a result, she is victorious in some kind of argument. She takes pride in the anomaly that is her victory, and "lights on fire" with smugness. The purpose of "your mother's gone missing" is still lost to me. Maybe it's just another way to state that he isn't in control of his life.
The refrain is the ensuing argument.
(Wife) You're just like your father Buried deep under the water You're resting on your laurels And stepping on my toes
(Husband) Whose side are you on?
(Wife) What side is this anyway? Put down your sword and crown Come lay with me on the ground
The wife is pleading with him to calm down and stop acting as if he had authority ("put down your sword and crown"), and join her, romantically, in peace as a common person ("come lay with me on the ground"). She adds that his pride is really starting to make her uncomfortable. "You're just like your father" clues us in that the subject is male and the narrator is his wife.
You're just like your father Buried deep under the water These lines are especially symbolic. Water symbolizes baptism and renewal of self. This couplet means that at some point he forgave himself for his faults and decided he wasn't going to be like his father. But his wife knows him well enough to see that under that renewal, he's still like his father. The succession of traits from father to son also adds to the royalty motif found in this song; the sword, crown, and laurels are all references to this.
The second stanza is very dramatic
You come beating like moth's wings Spastic and violently Whipping me into a storm Shaking me down to the core But you run away from me And you left me shimmering Like diamond wedding rings Spinning dizzily down on the floor
The subject gets violent in the face of such cutting, true, hurtful words. He batters his wife a little bit and throws his wedding ring on the ground, then runs. "And you left me shimmering" means that the narrator was crying from such a display of violence toward her, the woman he is supposed to love. The specific use of moth's wings (as opposed to butterfly wings or another bug's wings) is unknown to me, but it seems as it would have significance. Maybe if I were a bug expert I could identify the subtle differences between the wings and the way the bugs use them.
Motifs:
Themes:
I thought at first that moth's wings are a lot less beautiful than their butterfly counterparts perhaps hinting that the way s/he's acting is disgraceful and unbecoming, but when I thought on it I also remembered that moths have markings on their wings that resemble huge eyes to scare away predators. So maybe thats like this person's putting up a front to scare or keep people at a distance, when s/he's actually much more fragile than they appear. Also moth's tend to have wings that blend into the enviornment, so it could be taken the other way that they're trying...
I thought at first that moth's wings are a lot less beautiful than their butterfly counterparts perhaps hinting that the way s/he's acting is disgraceful and unbecoming, but when I thought on it I also remembered that moths have markings on their wings that resemble huge eyes to scare away predators. So maybe thats like this person's putting up a front to scare or keep people at a distance, when s/he's actually much more fragile than they appear. Also moth's tend to have wings that blend into the enviornment, so it could be taken the other way that they're trying to hide or run from something.
And I've come reveling Burning incandescently Like a bastard on the burning sea Since fire (burning) and incandescence are mentioned, maybe the person who's acting is so angry because they're attracted to this bright and shining person but hates how they bring up his personal problems, might even be mad at themselves for always starting confrontations with said person
Idk, right now its just a jumble of thoughts, but if anyone wants to find some correlations or meaning to the use of Moths there ya go.
I like your interpretation but I'd like to suggest that perhaps the "you come beating like moth's wings, spastic and violently, whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core", particularly the first part of that line, is about female sexuality and orgasm? I don't know that's just what it says to me...hopefully i don't offend anyone here...
I like your interpretation but I'd like to suggest that perhaps the "you come beating like moth's wings, spastic and violently, whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core", particularly the first part of that line, is about female sexuality and orgasm? I don't know that's just what it says to me...hopefully i don't offend anyone here...
I believe throughout the entire song "you" refers to the wife. No change of perspective. The wife being "just like her father" seems odd, but if you couple that with the wife's missing/insane mother, it's understandable.
I believe throughout the entire song "you" refers to the wife. No change of perspective. The wife being "just like her father" seems odd, but if you couple that with the wife's missing/insane mother, it's understandable.
With that understood, I'm pretty sure the intentional mention of "moth's wings" refers back to the first stanza. The narrator describes himself as have an incandescent quality, in a negative aspect of course. The wife, like a moth, is attracted to his light (have you ever seen a clusters of moths around a light source at night?). She feels compelled to confront her husband. After a horrible argument, she leaves him alone with two wedding rings.