Hope In The Air

I'm pretty sure this is about King Lear, from the view of Cordelia.

Cordelia is his youngest daughter, she has 2 evil elder sisters. Lear asks his 3 daughters to say who loves him most. The elder two give long-winded and false speeches and their undying love, much to Lear's approval. When Cordelia is asked, she replies 'Nothing.'This sends Lear into a rage and he banishes her from the Kingdom. The word 'nothing' appears a lot in the play as a bad omen.

The only people on her side are Kent and the Fool. The fool encourages Kent to leave Lear because he is clearly mad, but Kent refuses.

'No hope in the air No hope in the water Not even for me Your last-serving daughter' -This refers to the recurring belief in the play that they are all doomed and there is no hope. Cordelia is Lear's last-serving daughter in that she is the only one who remains loyal to him.

'From there no more ever I spoke.' -She says 'nothing'

'A friend is a friend forever And a good one will never leave, never,' -Just as Kent never leaves the King

'But you've never been south of what grows off your mouth You will never understand ever' -In his rages Lear uses brutal, monstrous language. He does not understand the effect it has on those he attacks, like he did to Cordelia.

'The angels that dance at your will Will mask your scrambling youth' -His false daughters and courtiers dance around him, sucking up to him and flattering him. Disguising his age.

'I forgave you your shortcomings And ignored your childish behaviour Laid a kiss on your head and before i left said stay away from fleeting favour' -Though he had wronged her, Cordelia forgave him and always loved him. Ignoring his childish tantrums and flaws. Before she left court, her last words were to warn him against the falseness of her sisters.

Cordelia is hung at the end of the play, and Lear dies of broken heart.

I agree with what fibberdyjibber said, partly. But my hypothesis is that it's about her own relationship with her father.

There is a man that I know For seventeen years he never spoke Guess he had nothing to say He opened his mouth on judgment day

Laura Marling was raised in a religious school, and probably in a religious home, and it may have been that her father was quiet, stoic, and emotionally unavailable. Perhaps he presented few words and less emotion to her until he laid down the law when she was 17 (He hopened his mouth on judgment day), probably in response to finding out she had done something against his beliefs - in my mind, probably something to do with a relationship of hers.

I listened with all of my might But was scared by the look in his eyes Like he'd already lost the fight And there was no hope ever in sight

She listened to his words, because the less one says, the more people pay attention when one does speak, but his anger terrified her after years of not seeing any emotion, positive or negative, from him. His look "like he'd already lost the fight" is his anger at losing his daughter to worldly ways, and that "there was no hope ever in sight" - that she'd never be the little girl she once was in his eyes.

No hope in the air, No hope in the water, Not even for me, Your last serving daughter

He felt hopeless after this experience, even toward his last remaining daughter (Laura was the youngest)

Why fear death? Be scared of living Oh, hearts are small and ever thinning There is no hope ever of winning So why fear death? Be scared of living

Laura had a fear of death around this time, and perhaps the first and last line is her teling herself that life is far worse than death could ever be. "Hearts are small and ever-thinning" could be saying to her father that people become more jaded as they get older, so why not forgive her and let her keep her heart young? But alas, "there is no hope ever of winning" this particular argument.

I have seen men provoked I have watched lives revoked And I looked at my life and I choked And from there, no more ever has spoke

She had seen a lot in her few years, but despite that when she looked back on her actions, she was apalled at her own behavior (a feeling brought on more by her father's disapproval than by a breach of her own morals). And after that, she was scared of relationships because of the anger they could cause in her own family.

But I won't give up that quick My life is a candle and a wick You can't put it out but you can't break it down In the end, we are waiting to be lit

Despite her father's rage, she won't give up living her life the way she wants to that easily, viewing life as a "candle and a wick", waiting to be lit by the life she could have.

There's hope in the air There's hope in the water But no hope for me, Your last serving daughter

Her father recovers from his pain, and regains hope, but not in her.

A friend is a friend forever And a good one will never leave, never But you've never been south of what rolls off your mouth You will never understand, ever

Despite her father's emotional unavailability, she still had a friendship with him, and that will not change, but because he's "never been south of what rolls off [his] mouth" - that is to say, he's never experienced the kind of relationships she is experiencing - he will never understand what she's going through, or why she did what she did.

Speak minds handed down to you By the lies handed down by your truth Your angels that dance at your will Will mask your scrambling youth

The first two lines may be a reference to her father's religion, all his life having had his opinions handed down to him by the lies handed down by his Truth (religion). His "angels that dance at his will" may be his other two daughters, who ended up how he wanted them to be, thus "making his scrambling youth" - he lived vicariously through raising them "properly," to fill the void of his lack of passionate relationships.

I forgave you your shortcomings And ignored your childish behavior Laid a kiss on your head And before I left said, "Stay away from fleeting favour"

She forgave him his shortcomings and his childish rejection of her right to make her own decisions. She left the family home (she moved to London at 16 - maybe 17 was poetic license, and the events occured at a previous time), still loving him, but telling him to beware his other daughters' apparent acceptance of his doctrines.

Oh, pick up your rope, Lord, sling it to me If we are to battle, I must not be weak. And give us your strength, World, and your food and your water Oh I am your saviour, your last serving daughter

I think these are the most powerful lines in the song. The first two lines are a challenge to the religion she had been raised with, and her saying "if I have to fight this faith for the rest of my life, I can't do it weakly." She then asks the world of human nature to provide her with sustainence she now lacks after leaving the church, saying that she is now a partisan for her cause and that of those like her, the "last serving daughter" of the carnal world.

This is what this song says to me. Perhaps I relate to it in this way through my own experiences (it's the story of my life o.o), but this is my interpretation of this beautiful, haunting song.

'you speak minds handed down to you by the lies handed down by your children and your angels that dance to your will to mask your scrambling fail

I forgave you, your short comings and ignored your childish behavior let a kiss on your head and before I left said, "stay away from fleeting failure."'

I love those lines so much. Great song...the entire new album is just wonderful.

"why fear death be scared of living oh, hearts are small and ever thinning there is no hope ever of winning oh, why fear death be scared of living"

that's my favourite :) with most Laura songs, i can never say exactly what the song's meaning is, but more the feeling of it. for this one, i would say it's about life and uncertainty and that feeling of insignificantness. also, that hopelessness of how little you can do to change things. it's about being blind and unaware of our world. it's about a lot of things.

obviously, this is probably just what i want to hear :)

I might be way off base here, but there are bits of this that sounds like the narrator is arguing with/berating god

"pick up your rope, Lord sling it to me if we are to battle, I must not be weak and give us your strength, Lord our food and your water oh, I am your savior your last serving daughter"

I think ever song have a specific meaning when the writer wrote it. Also as an audience we give our on interpretation based on our course of life and experience.
When I listen to this song it gave me a meaning about a fight with the God. Yah it may be far fetched!

"There is a man that I know Seventeen years he never spoke Gussed he had nothing to say he opened his mouth on judgement day"

I think this is about the thing that we can't explain like some of us living in confert while others sufferer. And God didn't say any as if every thing was fair and we couldn't explain. And still we are going to be judged.

"Why fear death be scared of living Our heart are small and ever thinning There is know hope ever of wining Oh why fear death be scared of living"

This life could not give us the answer, couldn't explain any. May be our death could.

I may be reflecting what is going through my mind like an echo chamber. Sorry for my bad English.

I love this site but too often than not the lyrics are incorrect. I mean some of these lines for Laura's song don't even make sense.