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Lyrics Discussion Thread

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Akeboshi:
So, I hadn't seen a lyrics discussion thread, and I wanted to bounce around some ideas on some lyrics.  Seeing as how I am currently ADDICTED to "White Winter Hymnal" by Fleet Foxes, let's start with them.  keep in mind these lyrics must be experienced with the music and the harmonies because it is incredibly gorgeous.  The lyrics are as follows:

I was following the pack
all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads
from fallin’ in the snow
And I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime


I see a couple different images here.  The most vibrant is a pack of fleeing individuals being pursued.  You have the singer talking about the pack, and they are each wrapped up warmly to survive the winter environment around them.  "with scarves of red tied ’round their throats, to keep their little heads, from fallin’ in the snow"  To me the scarves are around their necks to keep them warm (obviously), but at the same time they are being used to as a symbol to tether the body and the head together.  They're used to forcibly make the image that these people must have the scarves to survive.  And then the last three lines, the singer turns around to see a friend named Michael, most likely having been shot, fall to his death in the snow.  The imagery of blood as strawberries is not one I've heard before, and it's very powerful to me.

How about you guys, any other images or thoughts on the song?

michaelicious:
That song is about me.

Zadorzky:
Hmm...

Well I pretty much agree with you there, but that might just be to the wondrous powers of suggestibility...

Although when I see the pack I don't imagine people, but rather either wolves or dogs, the second being more likely because of the scarves around their throats (collars).  I am somewhat confused as to the sudden shift in subject matter, I fail to see Michael's relevance in this matter.  Are these all the lyrics to the song or an excerpt?

The blood as red as strawberries reminds me of a poem I had to write an essay on as part of the admission to an Advanced Placement Literature class.  I don't recall the title or the author, but it talked about a group of farm hands abandoning their daily chores to go berrypicking and came back with their hands stained red, and I wrote my essay on how that represented them giving in to the Id side of their psyches, placing carnal desire above responsibility, and being decorated with the consequences.  Note: Carnal in this context refers to both violence and sexuality, as does the Id - if I recall Freud's words it's what makes you want to kill and rape everything in sight.

The scarves being crucial to survival makes me think of domesticated dogs in general...most of them would be unable to survive in the wild due to their conditioning against wanton aggression and towards obedience, so perhaps the collars/scarves represent the human hand in keeping them from "falling in the snow", aka dying in the wild?

The only thing I can think of that would involve a pack of dogs and Winter would be perhaps a hunt...could the singer be describing a hunting accident?  Or could the singer be one of the animals being hunted, and is referring to a friend/companion being shot and killed and comparing it to strawberries because that's within the frame of reference for an animal?

pwhodges:
The music presumably sets a mood for the interpretation.  Without it, I read the scarves of red as cut throats, the scene as a massacre, and I couldn't decide between the singer being an observer, a (soon-to-be) victim, or a mass killer.

Hmm; I wonder where that came from...

Zadorzky:

--- Quote from: pwhodges on 09 Aug 2008, 00:15 ---The music presumably sets a mood for the interpretation.  Without it, I read the scarves of red as cut throats, the scene as a massacre, and I couldn't decide between the singer being an observer, a (soon-to-be) victim, or a mass killer.

Hmm; I wonder where that came from...

--- End quote ---

Slight violent tendencies?

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