I'm kind of surprised no one has thought of this yet. That's probably because it's too obvious. I could be wrong, seeing as how Fleet Foxes' songs usually mean more than what they do on first listen, but I think this is sung from the POV of a prisoner.
Just think about it.
"If to borrow is to take and not return
I have borrowed all my lonesome life."
He was a thief.
"And I can't, no I can't get through
The borrower's debt is the only regret of my youth."
Now he's paying the price. He's imprisoned, "can't get through," meaning he can't get out. In retrospect he regrets his actions.
"And believe me it's not easy when I look back
Everything I took I'd soon return,"
I imagine him alone, sitting his cell, remembering over and over again what put him in there. Wishing he could change the past.
"Just to be at Innisfree again
All of the sirens are driving me over the stern."
Innisfree is a metaphor for freedom here. In the Yeats poem, Innisfree symbolizes peaceful, natural, out-doorsy (for lack of a better word lol) surroundings. So obviously he wants to breath fresh air and get out. The sirens can mean two things: police car sirens which is kind of too literal, and temptation. I like the temptation one. He's looking back at the what made him steal. Maybe he's a kleptomaniac ;)
"One day at Innisfree, that's mine there."
Fantasizing about freedom and a normal life. From the poem: "While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray/I hear it in the deep heart's core." Just like the character in the song, he can cling to the image of Innisfree to feel at peace in the least peaceful of times.
"In the street one day I saw you among the crowd
In a geometric pattern dress
Gleaming white just as I recall
Old as I get I will never forget it at all."
This is especially sad because I think it's him reminiscing about the love of his life. Or, she could have been someone he barely knew, but always admired. Either way, she represents the potential for love and happiness that he squandered. Now he can't forget that day, maybe the last day of freedom he had, even if he spends the rest of his life getting "old" in jail.
It's really such a perfect story that even if this interpretation is wrong, I don't give a shit because it's how I'll always hear it.
I'm kind of surprised no one has thought of this yet. That's probably because it's too obvious. I could be wrong, seeing as how Fleet Foxes' songs usually mean more than what they do on first listen, but I think this is sung from the POV of a prisoner.
Just think about it.
"If to borrow is to take and not return I have borrowed all my lonesome life."
He was a thief.
"And I can't, no I can't get through The borrower's debt is the only regret of my youth."
Now he's paying the price. He's imprisoned, "can't get through," meaning he can't get out. In retrospect he regrets his actions.
"And believe me it's not easy when I look back Everything I took I'd soon return,"
I imagine him alone, sitting his cell, remembering over and over again what put him in there. Wishing he could change the past.
"Just to be at Innisfree again All of the sirens are driving me over the stern."
Innisfree is a metaphor for freedom here. In the Yeats poem, Innisfree symbolizes peaceful, natural, out-doorsy (for lack of a better word lol) surroundings. So obviously he wants to breath fresh air and get out. The sirens can mean two things: police car sirens which is kind of too literal, and temptation. I like the temptation one. He's looking back at the what made him steal. Maybe he's a kleptomaniac ;)
"One day at Innisfree, that's mine there."
Fantasizing about freedom and a normal life. From the poem: "While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray/I hear it in the deep heart's core." Just like the character in the song, he can cling to the image of Innisfree to feel at peace in the least peaceful of times.
"In the street one day I saw you among the crowd In a geometric pattern dress Gleaming white just as I recall Old as I get I will never forget it at all."
This is especially sad because I think it's him reminiscing about the love of his life. Or, she could have been someone he barely knew, but always admired. Either way, she represents the potential for love and happiness that he squandered. Now he can't forget that day, maybe the last day of freedom he had, even if he spends the rest of his life getting "old" in jail.
It's really such a perfect story that even if this interpretation is wrong, I don't give a shit because it's how I'll always hear it.