I Felt Your Shape

Yikes! Most of the interpretations/meanings on here don't do the song justice. I know I won't either but I wan't clarify somethings! Phil is pretty open about the context of most of his songs from this period, specifically this album. Perhaps its unjust to call this a breakup album since it undermines a lot of the themes, but this song is very much about a breakup.

I thought I felt your shape but I was wrong Really all I felt was falsely strong I held on tight and closed my eyes It was dumb I had no sense of your size

Phil thought he understood the person he was in love with, but he didn't. Trite, but there's more.

Going off of other songs he wrote around this time, he really wanted to make it work in his head. He wanted so badly to believe his own idealizations and keep romanticizing despite being aware of the relationship not working. He kept his eyes shut and held onto her tightly.

It was dumb to hold so tight But last night On the birthday in the kitchen My grip was loose my eyes were open

He realizes now that holding onto the toxic relationship with eyes shut was not to best choice...it was dumb in retrospect. But one night he did open his eyes and he stopped gripping onto her to see her for what she really was.

I felt your shape and heard you breathing I felt the rise and fall of your chest I felt your fall Your winter snows Your gusty blow Your lava flow I felt it all Your starry night Your lack of light With limp arms I can feel most of you

With his eyes open, and a loose grip, he saw her for her actual shape. Here he uses beautifully romantic, and heartbreaking imagery to describe what he saw. In the end he saw a lack of light in her. With his lose, limp arms he can actually see what's in front of him.

I hung around your neck independently And my loss was overwhelmed By this new depth I don’t think I ever felt

He held onto her still. Independently implies that maybe at this point she might have left him, but he's still attached...even if it's only loosely. He's realizing now that he lost someone he loves and also this beautiful idea of them.

But I don’t know The nights are cold And I remember warmth I could have sworn I wasn’t alone

But now, was he wrong about her? He doesn't know, and can't tell, but what he does know is that nights are cold without her. In the end, he still swears to having known her and been with her, and not just alone with an idealized version of her.

The other longer versions of this song just add the heartbreak even more because they intensify how painful it is to part ways with someone physically and emotionally.

There's no more hugging in the kitchen, No more pats on the back in the hall. No more chest on breasty chest behind the curtain. No more lip on nape of neck in shower stall. No more cosy gardens or craving curvy hips on my belly. I'm giving up so I can be free from you. I'm paying fees so I can sever ties from you. Let craving call and beg and bawl, and face it tall. Let my soft skin have more sweet soft air on me. Let boulders drown.

This song is about a guy who was in love with his best friend. She wouldn't like him back despite that he knew everything about her (the gusty blows, lava flows, all references to events that may have happened, like her getting angry or hard times).

He thought he felt her with him, but it was all one-sided. "I hung around your neck independently" reinforcing the one-sidedness of the situation, and he does realize that she never has liked him and sees how awful it is. He never before realized it, and thus "And I remember warmth I could have sworn I wasn’t alone".

sld potato: that's a cool way to interpret it. BUT, after looking into it some more i found another version of the song, with an extra verse at the end. it goes:

There's no more hugging in the kitchen, No more pats on the back in the hall. No more chest on breasty chest behind the curtain. No more lip on nape of neck in shower stall. No more cosy gardens or craving curvy hips on my belly. I'm giving up so I can be free from you. I'm paying fees so I can sever ties from you. Let craving call and beg and bawl, and face it tall. Let my soft skin have more sweet soft air on me. Let boulders drown.

so i think it's safe to say that this song is not about the earth, rather, in accordance with several of the other opinions, it is about letting go of a difficult relationship.

It was dumb to hold so tight But last night On the birthday in the kitchen My grip was loose my eyes were open

This is really hitting home with me right now. I take it to mean he has regret about clinging so tightly to this girl, probably driving her away-- and now of course, now that it's over, he has a lot more clarity and is kind of saying "Look, I've changed, I won't rely on you so much anymore"

mmm.. so pretty. i think it's about wanting to be with someone who you thought that you knew so well, and was so perfect for you..but finding out that it won't work.

I think you're kind of right alliebee ... I think he's saying I thought I knew who you were, but really I only knew what you let me know. It seems as though he has been deceived, that she if different than she has presented herself to be. And a result he feels alone again.

brings me to tears.

i think this song is about a necklace. it may sound silly, but i'm sticking to my ridiculous hypothesis. does anyone know ?

sex, and it's quite lovely.

this was the meaning of my first relationship