| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I immediately thought of sled dogs as well... all the descriptive elements fit perfectly. Your interpretation is uniquely optimistic, though, I like that. =) | |
| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I disagree that the red in the snow could be a scarf or an article of clothing; the phrase 'turn the snow red' suggests otherwise... If a solid object hits the snow, it doesn't alter the color of the snow. While it could be argued that it's an abstract phrasing and could be poetically interpreted as a synonym for 'splaying across', the fact that 'red as strawberries in the summertime' is the only descriptive phrase in this otherwise simple song suggests that the alteration of the snow is very deliberate and meant to be visualized in a particular way- namely, as blood. The notion of blood staining the snow is disturbing amid such a beautifully sweet song, but I think it's very much meant to be so. As far as whose blood it is and what the whole song means, I've always visualized this as the Iditarod in Alaska: there's a team of sled dogs racing along, with their musher 'following' them in his sled. Sled dogs' coats tend to be extremely thick as they need protection against the bitter cold, and each dog wears a collar and a harness- which all lead back to the musher- and allow the musher to physically direct the dogs and 'keep them from falling in the snow'. In fact, sled dog collars have a specific 'neck line' that connects to the rest of the ropes. These races are extremely dangerous- it often happens that the entire team doesn't make it through, because the dogs often suffer serious health issues and injuries along the course of the race- some can even die along the journey. 'Michael' could be one such unfortunate dog; maybe one careless instance of the musher looking away or being off his guard resulted in the dog being injured, and this turned an otherwise idyllic adventure into a tragedy. Looking back, the man first recalls the journey as a pleasant and distant memory, but when he gets to the part where Michael is injured, it's almost as though he has to relive the moments before it happened- the tense is 'would fall' instead of 'did fall', as though Michael is forever doomed to keep falling over and over and there's nothing he can do about it because he was negligent the first time. This could definitely be a metaphor for the protective feelings an adult has toward a child- the fear that something will happen to them under your watch, and the sense of remorse and powerlessness when something bad does happen. |
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| The Burned – Make Believe Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Totally sublime and perfectly bittersweet. One of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. | |
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