I live between concrete walls
When I took her up she was so warm
I live between concrete walls
In my arms she was so warm

Eyes are open the mouth cries
Haven't slept since summer
Eyes are open the mouth cries
Haven't slept since summer

I live between concrete walls
When I took her up she was so warm
I live between concrete walls
In my arms she was so warm

Oh, how I try
I leave the TV on and the radio
Oh, how I try
I leave the TV on and the radio

I live between concrete walls
When I took her up she was so warm
I live between concrete walls
In my arms she was so warm


Lyrics submitted by emerge

Concrete Walls Lyrics as written by Karin Dreijer Andersson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Concrete Walls song meanings
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  • +3
    General Comment

    It's obviously about the trials and tribulations of a mother trying to be all she can be for her child. The concrete walls are a metaphor of her feelings of love and obligation to stay near to her child for years and years, and eventually, until death.

    This song is dark, yet still has warmth and hope to it, which really embodies early motherhood: it's tough, but you know you love your child with all your heart, and you have a relentless determination to provide all you can.

    tyakon October 20, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Again I am Native American so this may have a skewed my perception on the song.

    I live between concrete walls When I took her up she was so warm I live between concrete walls In my arms she was so warm

    The singer is going crazy in the city..... All he wants is to get out of the urban setting but if he leaves the city he will starve to death .. the city is like a bad relationship, it's hurting you but you just can not leave it cause in the Hummm Sex is good!...

    Eyes are open the mouth cries Haven't slept since summer Eyes are open the mouth cries Haven't slept since summer

    ... the singer can't sleep well, and the noise of the City is deafening, and so it feels like ages since the singer has slept...

    I live between concrete walls When I took her up she was so warm I live between concrete walls In my arms she was so warm

    Oh, how I try I leave the TV on and the radio Oh, how I try I leave the TV on and the radio

    I live between concrete walls When I took her up she was so warm I live between concrete walls In my arms she was so warm

    An Indian in the city most certainly will become a insomniac

    wa1968on May 01, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    i get the impression that it is about being in prison, and that they killed a girl then held her in their arms, and she is reminiscing about the event and how she kept the radio and tv on, as a reminder of her past freedom. and perhaps, completely unrelated to the meaning but could the symbols of the tv and radio be there to show that she thought she was free, but in reality confined by the limited content of the radio, idk. but idk the first time i heard it it reminded me of the green mile when the guy is holding the dead girl trying to heal her, idk.

    bobolsonon February 25, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    dealing with a newborn? concrete walls being the home shes confined to with the responsiblity as a new mother

    stoggie19on October 14, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I read somewhere that a lot of these songs were inspired by her children and being a mother.

    ModernHereticon June 24, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I took this as a much darker song. I don’t find any warmth in it at all, just disturbing tones and the underlying sense of sadness and insanity. (I still like it though)

    I agree it’s about a newborn, but I saw it as a song about a new mother who cracks under the pressure of having a baby (perhaps was forced into it) and kills the child.

    I live between Concrete Walls to be has a double meaning. The concrete walls of a prison cell (for the crime) and the “prison cell” she lived in when she was forced to have the child, feeling trapped by something that took over her life she didn’t want.

    The lines about “In my arms she was so warm” seem almost as if the singer is surprised in a detached way, as if she is trying to figure out in the moments of death how warm the child still was.

    “Eyes are open the Mouth Cries”- Not “her mouth” but :”the mouth” dehumanizing the crying baby as a thing not a person. Especially in the sense of the negative..like all the baby is a crying mouth, and needy eyes.

    “Oh how I try, I leave the TV on and the radio”- Distractions, maybe even a metaphor for denial of what she’s done. Basically I try to let myself get lost in these distractions rather than think of what I’ve done. “I try” maybe even refers to the fact that in a prison they would not let you have a TV or the Radio all the time. Maybe the “tv” is in her head, imagining things rather than facing them.

    Bookgal1977on November 16, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The neat thing about Fever Ray is that everyone can relate to it, IN THEIR OWN WAY. We are all correct.

    For me:

    • I think this song is about a serial killer that has an obsession with a girl. So he creeps her all the time. And when the day came to actually molest and rape her... he is telling us how she feels so warm. " I live between concrete walls.. when I took her up she was so warm "

    " Eyes are open the mouth cries, haven't slept since summer" (The eyes are open the mouth cries = the girl is so shocked and scared. And she's crying. And, he obviously haven't slept since summer because he was planning everything out)

    "Oh how I try, I leave on the TV and the radio" .. because, he has insomnia. Serial killers are continuously thinking, so it's very hard for them to sleep.

    It's quite a dark song... but very well done written.

    xxdufffxxon October 11, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this song could most definitely be about a newborn, or a young child. i think it's about trying to get the child to sleep, which, if you have children or have ever taken care of very young children, often doesn't work as it should, leaving caretaker and child in a state of exhaustion and sleep-deprived detachment.

    'Oh how I try, I leave the radio on and the TV' would fit this scenario perfectly, as those 'white noise' sounds are supposed to sooth a baby to sleep, mimicking the sounds heard in the womb (this is also why parents and caretakers instinctively say 'shhhh', this is also a white noise mimic to sooth the child).

    'When I took her up she was so warm/In my arms she was so warm', also supports this view, bringing the baby home as a joyous warm thing, or possibly that the baby is sick and has a fever which is why she won't sleep. in the same way, not putting the baby down for fear of her waking up is pretty familiar if you've ever been in that situation.

    jullieon November 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It's clearly about pitbulls in the technology age.

    electriclimitson May 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This particular song seems to be a simple expression about the dichotomy of both loving a child and the oppressive feeling that being a parent can be.

    http://www.accountkiller.com/remon January 29, 2013   Link

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