| alt-J – Tessellate Lyrics | 12 years ago |
|
"Search the graves while the camera spins. Chunks of you will sink down to seals, Blubber rich in mourning. They'll nosh you up, yes they'll nosh the love away, but it's fair to say, You will still haunt me." Actually I'd like to correct this half-stanza. The partner leaves the cheater for being unfaithful, and so she sleeps around with other 'seals,' which help her get over both the straggler and her ex-partner. However, she doesn't forget how the straggler ruined her stable life. Sorry about that. |
|
| alt-J – Tessellate Lyrics | 12 years ago |
|
So as most people said, this song involves a love triangle, sung from the perspective of the 'other' person, the straggler, the one not in the official relationship. "Bite chunks out of me, You're a shark and I'm swimming, My heart still thumps as I bleed, And all your friends come sniffing." The other guy is egging on the woman (or man, I don't care about his preferences but for reference I'll just use a straight relationship), or the shark, to come after him. Consequently, this leads to other people in their monogamous relationships to come after the straggler as well, setting his reputation as the one who sleeps around. "Triangles are my favorite shape, Three points where two lines meet. Toe to toe, back to back, let's go, My love it's very late. 'Til morning comes, let's tessellate." The straggler has no problem being boyfriend #2; in fact, he loves being the other guy because he gets to witness how in a love triangle, each player has a relationship with the other players. He sleeps with all these people, and each person he has an affair with adds on to the tessellation of triangles he creates. "Go alone my flower, And keep my whole lovely you. Wild green stones alone my lover, And keep us on my heart." Now, the night's over and the straggler tells the cheater to go back to her own usual relationship, but to keep him in mind. The stones, since they're green, symbolize the envy of the man she's cheating on, and the straggler assures her that it's no big deal, and to let the straggler maintain the relationship they have. "Three guns and one goes off, one's empty, one's not quick enough, One burn, one red, one grin, Search the graves while the camera spins. Chunks of you will sink down to seals, Blubber rich in mourning. They'll nosh you up, yes they'll nosh the love away, but it's fair to say, You will still haunt me." Each person in the triangle has a gun: the man cheated on has the gun that went off on his partner; the straggler has the empty gun because it's no concern to him; and the cheating woman has the gun that's not quick enough to defend herself. The woman "burns" and dies, her partner is "red" with fury at her fling, and the straggler "grins" because he's rather enjoying his role as a manipulator. Her remains get eaten by seals because they're fatter in the morning (not 'mourning'), and her death ultimately ends their affair, but she'll still haunt the straggler for ruining her life and indirectly causing her death. And yet, the last stanza repeated shows that the straggler still continues his ways routinely, almost like he's used to this pattern that occurs due to the love triangles he forms. And he thoroughly enjoys being a homewrecker. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.