I think this song is about the narrator rowing out in a lake with his girlfriend and going swimming during a thunderstorm. The lyrics are, I think, more for sound than for their literal meaning- even if "hair old long along/neck onto your shoulderblades/always keep that message taped/cross your breasts you won't erase" doesn't make any literal sense, it feels and sounds like he's admiring her body while she's swimming.
"Propped up by your other one/face way from the sun"- I think he's sitting in the boat, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Then there's a storm, which is symbolized by the increasingly powerful guitars and drums (plus the first line of that bit of the song is "so it's stormy on the lake"). "Little waves our bodies break" - the water is washing over them but they don't mind.
"Your one piece swimmer stuck to you"- they're getting even wetter, obviously.
Then the storm subsides and they row back to shore to dry off and go to sleep. He wakes up the next morning and she's still there ("wake up to your starboard bride")
Also, the incomprehensible voice at the very end of it is a phone message, left by Bon Iver's manager Kyle Frenette. If you listen to the isolated multitracks for the song, you can hear understand it better- it's something like "...ask two people to pay, and that's not really great, in fact I like really don't want to pay two people right now." I don't think it has anything to do with the rest of the song, it was probably just stuck in there as an easter egg.
I think this song is about the narrator rowing out in a lake with his girlfriend and going swimming during a thunderstorm. The lyrics are, I think, more for sound than for their literal meaning- even if "hair old long along/neck onto your shoulderblades/always keep that message taped/cross your breasts you won't erase" doesn't make any literal sense, it feels and sounds like he's admiring her body while she's swimming.
"Propped up by your other one/face way from the sun"- I think he's sitting in the boat, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Then there's a storm, which is symbolized by the increasingly powerful guitars and drums (plus the first line of that bit of the song is "so it's stormy on the lake"). "Little waves our bodies break" - the water is washing over them but they don't mind.
"Your one piece swimmer stuck to you"- they're getting even wetter, obviously.
Then the storm subsides and they row back to shore to dry off and go to sleep. He wakes up the next morning and she's still there ("wake up to your starboard bride")
Also, the incomprehensible voice at the very end of it is a phone message, left by Bon Iver's manager Kyle Frenette. If you listen to the isolated multitracks for the song, you can hear understand it better- it's something like "...ask two people to pay, and that's not really great, in fact I like really don't want to pay two people right now." I don't think it has anything to do with the rest of the song, it was probably just stuck in there as an easter egg.
@Crane42 easter egg?
@Crane42 easter egg?