| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Ok. So I agree with some people, but no one has really put forward my interpretation so here it is. Most of all, I think this song is meant to have many different layers that all combine to evoke a general atmosphere of emotions. Key themes being love, anger, distrust, bitterness, revenge, spite, nostalgia, regret, obsession, pride, fear and paranoia. I think there's lots of valid possibilities for the backstory, but some things I'm certain of are: It's told entirely from a male perspective; It's about his relationship with a girl; She hurt him in some way that caused him to become defensive and get back at her. Aside from that I think it's most likely that he was heavily into drugs, and he introduced her to his crazy lifestyle. He was very quickly taken by her and could even imagine slowing things down and settling down. But she unknowingly turned him into a monster when she didn't return his affections straight away. Maybe she was still figuring him out, maybe she just wanted some light fun and free gear, or maybe something else that basically burned him, and made him regret changing his attitudes for this girl. So he put up his walls and the mindgames began. After a while she did fall in love with him (or maybe just became dependant on his lifestyle) but it was too late, he was determined not to let himself be vulnerable again. The more games they played, the more insecure they became, and the more reason and ammunition the guy had to hurt her the way he had been hurt. They needed each other more and more, they despised each other more and more, they hated themselves and their egos more and more, and the drug addictions only furthered their paranoia (perhaps the girl's addiction was the main cause of her demise). Eventually the girl was unrecognisable as her charming former self. She probably managed to rip herself away and escape after numerous attempts, but she was scarred for life and could never see the world the same way again. Anyway, that's the general idea. As far as the specific lyrics go, one of my first visuals was that another reason she slept with one eye open (aside from the obvious wariness/paranoia figure of speech) was because the big gaping hole/scar was like a gory wide open eye LOL (still metaphorically speaking of course, I dont think this is about a literal dismemberment). For the line about not slipping her "a smile", I'm not sure. It mightn't mean anything. But it could mean that she's lucky he didn't get her into heroin as well as crack or whatev (the smack happy smile). Or might just be an in joke. As for the "get your fingers out of my pie", I think it's most likely just referring to the way he was taken by surprise at how she'd gotten into his heart (he was probably a womaniser before she came along, and maybe went on to have affairs to try and get back to his roots, get back under his armour and/or get revenge), messed with his feelings and "made him cry". I think the cutting of her eye is generally referring to her loss of innocence/loss of sanity/paradigm shift/addiction/personality morph etc, basically the change her soul undergoes, the mindset that she lost and can't get back - The cutting wasnt necessarily deliberate, it's more like his reflection of how things went. And it was probably the cause of... The cutting of her heart. Which is referring to.. her heart. And it was purposeful, anger-driven revenge. Oh and for this part: I said don't worry, it's not gonna hurt Oh, my reputation's kinda clouded with dirt I suspect that the second line is a melancholy reflection on the first line. Like when she was being tentative in the beginning about hard drugs (or perhaps other criminal behaviour: stealing, transporting etc) and he reassured her that he had things under control and would take care of her - Now he looks back and knows that all the shit theyve gone through has tarnished his reputation (his previous promise). Made him unreliable & untrustworthy, and revealed him to be possessive, jealous, proud, spiteful and manipulative. I think the rest of these lyrics are pretty easy to guess after that. |
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| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Spot on. That was my first thought too. | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| ..doesn't really make sense... | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I agree with the general idea, but I find it unlikely that he got his revenge by raping her. It's too superficial for such a poetic song. "Pie" speaks to me as referring to his heart, and the way he snapped it closed after being hurt. But it probably has multiple references that could include his personal business, his drugs, his attitudes, and/or just his lifestyle in general. | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Definitely agree that it's about a guy getting back at a girl. | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I agree that it's from a male perspective, but my reading is not as literal as yours. And it seems unlikely that that the girl has any dialogue here. It sounds like the girl was getting in the guy's "pie" and made him cry. | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Can't say I agree, but it's interesting. | |
| Florence + the Machine – Girl with One Eye Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| It's unlikely that it's about lesbians or boyfriend stealing because it was written by a man. | |
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