My Interpretation judging from everything I know about the first album and Justin Vernon's life:
I was unafraid, I was a boy, I was a tender age
melic in the naked, knew a lake and drew the lofts for page
(He fell in love at a young age. The second line conveys images of skinny dipping, youthful fun)
hurdle all the waitings up, know it wasn’t wedded love
4 long minutes end and it was over it’d all be back
(He was waiting to fall in love, or waiting for sex. It happened and it happened quickly. He fell in love fast and it appears that the relationship ended just as quickly. "it'd all be back" I'm assuming that this part is the difficulty Justin had/has of lettting this short but momentous occurrence in his life go. He keeps replaying it in his head (something I've had trouble with throughout the years).
and the frost took up the eyes
(It's cold here in Wisconsin. When it's frigid and blustery, your eyes start to water and this distorts your vision, the cold blurs your sight. This short relationship will influence his vision of the future and other relationships he will have in his life, as we will see later on in the lyrics).
pressed against the pane could see the veins and there was poison out
(Conveys images of someone pressed against glass while looking out at something beyond their control. This definitely seems restrictive. He's watching something bad, but doesn't really have the power to influence a change. Pane obviously rhymes with Pain; I don't this is a coicidence as we see further on).
resting in a raze the inner claims I hadn’t breadth to shake
(A raze is an area that has been destroyed. The inner claims that he's making are ghosts/demons. He's second guessing himself, replaying the relationship again and again, wondering if he were a different person, if circumstances were different, what he could have done, etc...) "I hadn't the breadth to shake" He didnt have the strength to battle these spookey ghosts).
searching for an inner clout, may not take another bout
(He's still searching for the strength from within and is contemplating not starting another relationship as he's not ready and may never be)
honey in the hale could fill the pales of loving less with vain
(He's hoping for a little sweetness during this difficult time which might fill the semi loveless pale which, at this stage, is all he can offer to his current relationship since he's still shaking from this one in his past)
hon, it wasn’t yet the spring
(It seems to me that it was just the start of the new relationship and already this early on, he's having difficulty during the time when relationships are generally the most exciting, when they're new)
aiming and it sunk and we were drunk and we had fleshed it out
nose up in the globes, you never know if you are passing out
(He tried, but it failed anyway so he turned to alcohol or other substances and they battled - fleshed it out. nose up in the globes indicates, to me, that his head is not where it should be, it's out there somewhere in the cosmos and he's no good to anyone, especially himself)
no it wasn’t maiden-up, the falling or the faded luck
(Maiden-up has the sound of made up. The past relationship wasn't merely made up in his imagination/dreams, it was real and he's having difficulty dealing with it. The fall from grace wasn't made up, nor the faded luck of the relationship. Maiden is the woman from his past and, no, he didn't make her up. She existed in the past and with all of these thoughts flying through his head, he's having trouble keeping his feet on the ground. She's very real in his memory and imagination, so real that he cannot focus on the 2 inches in front of his face, the future or any other relationship)
hung up in the ivory, both were climbing for a finer cause
(The ivory tower is symbol of the disconnect from practical concerns or your every day life. I think all relationships start like this. They are idyllic, almost dreamy and we climb for the stars. When we're brought back down to realty, it's often not gradually, but a fearsome fall "the falling or the faded luck")
love can hardly leave the room
with your heart
(He still is incapable of allowing love to take hold of him; it cannot yet claim his heart)
This song hearkens back to "Skinny Love" from For Emma Forever Ago. That song was also about relationships after the fall from grace of a relationship one really wanted to workout, but ended up in shambles.
I could be wrong, but I've been through something very similar as this and I think my interpretation is correct. In order to adequately understand, you must have gone through it yourself. But, the song means whatever it means to you; that's art. However, this doesn't mean that the artist didn't have a very specific purpose for writing this song.
My Interpretation judging from everything I know about the first album and Justin Vernon's life:
I was unafraid, I was a boy, I was a tender age melic in the naked, knew a lake and drew the lofts for page
(He fell in love at a young age. The second line conveys images of skinny dipping, youthful fun)
hurdle all the waitings up, know it wasn’t wedded love 4 long minutes end and it was over it’d all be back
(He was waiting to fall in love, or waiting for sex. It happened and it happened quickly. He fell in love fast and it appears that the relationship ended just as quickly. "it'd all be back" I'm assuming that this part is the difficulty Justin had/has of lettting this short but momentous occurrence in his life go. He keeps replaying it in his head (something I've had trouble with throughout the years).
and the frost took up the eyes
(It's cold here in Wisconsin. When it's frigid and blustery, your eyes start to water and this distorts your vision, the cold blurs your sight. This short relationship will influence his vision of the future and other relationships he will have in his life, as we will see later on in the lyrics).
pressed against the pane could see the veins and there was poison out
(Conveys images of someone pressed against glass while looking out at something beyond their control. This definitely seems restrictive. He's watching something bad, but doesn't really have the power to influence a change. Pane obviously rhymes with Pain; I don't this is a coicidence as we see further on).
resting in a raze the inner claims I hadn’t breadth to shake
(A raze is an area that has been destroyed. The inner claims that he's making are ghosts/demons. He's second guessing himself, replaying the relationship again and again, wondering if he were a different person, if circumstances were different, what he could have done, etc...) "I hadn't the breadth to shake" He didnt have the strength to battle these spookey ghosts).
searching for an inner clout, may not take another bout
(He's still searching for the strength from within and is contemplating not starting another relationship as he's not ready and may never be)
honey in the hale could fill the pales of loving less with vain
(He's hoping for a little sweetness during this difficult time which might fill the semi loveless pale which, at this stage, is all he can offer to his current relationship since he's still shaking from this one in his past)
hon, it wasn’t yet the spring
(It seems to me that it was just the start of the new relationship and already this early on, he's having difficulty during the time when relationships are generally the most exciting, when they're new)
aiming and it sunk and we were drunk and we had fleshed it out nose up in the globes, you never know if you are passing out
(He tried, but it failed anyway so he turned to alcohol or other substances and they battled - fleshed it out. nose up in the globes indicates, to me, that his head is not where it should be, it's out there somewhere in the cosmos and he's no good to anyone, especially himself)
no it wasn’t maiden-up, the falling or the faded luck
(Maiden-up has the sound of made up. The past relationship wasn't merely made up in his imagination/dreams, it was real and he's having difficulty dealing with it. The fall from grace wasn't made up, nor the faded luck of the relationship. Maiden is the woman from his past and, no, he didn't make her up. She existed in the past and with all of these thoughts flying through his head, he's having trouble keeping his feet on the ground. She's very real in his memory and imagination, so real that he cannot focus on the 2 inches in front of his face, the future or any other relationship)
hung up in the ivory, both were climbing for a finer cause
(The ivory tower is symbol of the disconnect from practical concerns or your every day life. I think all relationships start like this. They are idyllic, almost dreamy and we climb for the stars. When we're brought back down to realty, it's often not gradually, but a fearsome fall "the falling or the faded luck")
love can hardly leave the room with your heart
(He still is incapable of allowing love to take hold of him; it cannot yet claim his heart)
This song hearkens back to "Skinny Love" from For Emma Forever Ago. That song was also about relationships after the fall from grace of a relationship one really wanted to workout, but ended up in shambles.
I could be wrong, but I've been through something very similar as this and I think my interpretation is correct. In order to adequately understand, you must have gone through it yourself. But, the song means whatever it means to you; that's art. However, this doesn't mean that the artist didn't have a very specific purpose for writing this song.