Up on the toe
There is a view
Up on the toe
And the spine

Straight and erect
Hungry and curious
Up on the toe
Looking forward to

The air is thinner here

She came here
To lose face
Got down on her knees
The beast is back

On four legs
Set her clock to the moon
Raises her spine

Vertebrae by vertebrae
Up on the toe
Looking

I have been filled with steam for months, for years
Same old cloud, claustrophobic me
Let it burst like old train sounds
Make them leave me nature

Vertebrae by vertebrae by vertebrae

My arms ooze out of my shoulders

And the arms ooze out of my shoulders
I curl my tail inwards, inwards
I set my clock on the moon
Vertebrae by vertebrae

Please release this pressure of me
Please release this pressure of me
Please release this pressure of me
Please
Let off some steam


Lyrics submitted by Nitrofurantoina

Vertebrae By Vertebrae Lyrics as written by Bjork Gudmundsdottir

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Vertebrae By Vertebrae song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

20 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    I am a firm believer that the best songs are the ones that you don't always like at first. Once I got to listening to this one though, the intensity with which she sings it made me love it.

    It seems to me like an emotional cataclysm leading to the revelations in "pneumonia." I think it's about a woman (possibly autobiographical) who, filled with emotions and turmoil, has gone to a place where she can be alone (to me, it seems to suggest some kind of mountain or cliff) and try to release these feelings which have snowballed inside her and built up like steam in a tea pot. Perhaps the "beast" alluded to is her inner chaos which is trying to get out. "vertebrae by vertebrae" seems to make sense with the song because it frequently refers to standing tall to look forward (perhaps metaphorically, attempting to see how there can be a future with all of these feelings exerting so much pressure on her). Notice how the song has no lyrical or musical resolution in the end. I think that that fact, the rain beginning on track 6, and the similar instrumentation insinuates that this song and pneumonia were meant to be taken as a set. Perhaps pneumonia was meant to be advice for the character in "Vertebrae by Vertebrae." That seems plausible, at least to me.

    Karma policemanon March 26, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.