| Björk – Pagan Poetry Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I think this song is about falling in love with someone who is ultimately toxic/harming/killing you. The protagonist is someone who is self-destructive, almost reminiscent of someone with severe borderline personality or a masochist; she passionately falls in love with some she has such a strong attachment to yet this person is also her demise.Its a dark love story. The title of this song conjures up imagery of beauty and darkness. Paganism is mysterious and at time dark; a direct antithesis to poetry, a light and delicate art form. In the beginning she is pedaling through the dark currents and finds an accurate copy, a "blueprint" of herself. This is her saying that through this dark current, a euphemism for her self-destructive activities and behaviors (ex. a drug addict at a party, prostitution, etc) she finds her soulmate, someone just as dark, twisted, and broken as her. "Swirling black lilies totally ripe A secret code carved" Yet again, the imagery of darkness (black) is matched with something as delicate and soft as love (lilies). The secret cove carved is their instant connection that only the two soulmates can understand. "He offers a handshake ,crooked five fingers. They form a pattern, yet to be matched" Reinforces the idea that she has met her twin flame, the love of her life. She has never met somebody like this, he/she is yet to be matched. "On the surface simplicity, but the darkest pit in me.It's pagan poetry, pagan poetry" On the surface their love, her identity, who she is...it is all kept simple. People only see the surface, they don't know the darkness that lies within her. Her self-destructiveness, their toxic relationship.Its a beautiful darkness like pagan poetry. "Morsecoding signals (signals),they pulsate (wake me up) and wake me up (pulsate) from my hibernating" The illusion is beginning to deteriorate. She can no longer keep the facade she has let out on the surface. She is battling a side of her that is trying to convince her that he is good for her, that their caustic relationship isn't engulfing them into a dark abyss. It is as if she had been asleep and hibernating this entire time Then we get to the cathartic finale, "...I love him, I love him, I love him...", its important to note the tone of her voice as well as the eerie harp music in the background. Does she love him?...of course she does right? This is a guy who has amplified this darkness, self-destructiveness with in her. And she has most likely done the same to him. Its conflicting. She is madly in love with a man that any sane person would know, is ultimately destructive for her. "This time,I'm gonna keep me all to myself" This portion in particular, when coupled with the repetitive "..I love him, I love him, I love him..." almost sounds like a woman in a domestic abuse relationship. I mean think about how many women are/were still in love with the very same man that is also verbally humiliating them, feeding/supporting their drug addictions, alienating them, violently abusing them, or even trying to kill them. One can say she suffers from Stockholm Syndrome; she "loves" him and clearly has gotten back with him, hence the "this time...". Other people advised her to stay away from, warned her that he is dangerous, that he is leading her down the wrong path but she didn't take heed to their warnings. Like a moth to a flame, there is an otherworldly bond between her and him and she won't let anyone stop them, she is going to keep it to herself. She won't seek help, she won't tell her friends...she loves him too much. And at last, the final line "And he makes me want to hurt myself again" ....Which is just gutting, she is bound by the forces of love to a man that will ultimately be the end of her, her death. Its a pretty dark and twisted song, but then again that why I love Bjork. |
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