Limbs

Agalloch

The texture of the soul is a liquid that casts a vermillion flood
From a wound carved as an oath; it fills the river bank a sanguine fog
These arms were meant to be lost! Hacked, severed and forgotten
The texture of time is a whisper that echoes across the flood
It's hymn resonates from tree to tree, through every sullen bough it sings
These boughs were said to be lost! Torn, unearthed and broken
Earth to flesh, flesh to wood, cast these limbs into the water
Flesh to wood, wood to stone, cast this stone into the water...


Lyrics submitted by Bloodmouth

Limbs song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

8 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +4
    My InterpretationI've listened to this song for years, and the first time I heard it, I came to this page and was fascinated by the gorgeous lyrics. After having heard it for so long, I've convinced myself that he's basically saying that all life came from the same single-celled ancestor, and that we are no different from the life around us. The parallel of arms and tree boughs strikes me with this idea especially.

    TL;DR version: All life is connected.
    2006200720082009on October 24, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI think it's about the cycle of life and death within nature and how the body decomposes and returns to the earth after death, "Earth to flesh, flesh to wood, cast these limbs into the water
    Flesh to wood, wood to stone, cast this stone into the water..."

    but I could be dead wrong.
    thedeathofmanon December 06, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThe lyrics sort of remind me of the middle part from In the Shadow of our Pale Companion, the "an offering of crimson..." part. "..A vermillion flood", vermillion is a shade of reddish orange, which I am assuming is the be interperated as blood. "It fills the river bank a sanguine fog" again, "I walked down to a river..." as for the sanguine fog part, I'm going to assume it may have something to do with satisfaction or perhaps relief. So yeah, I'm guessing maybe it has to do with suicide, sacrifice or something of the sort.
    diamondnooseon November 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Commentthis is such an amazing song, it just builds. i dont know what the lyrics mean though
    this-username-suckson May 07, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis song makes me feel all... floaty if you know what i mean?
    The lyrics have such a deep meaning.
    I just found this band today and i think they are one of the best bands i've ever heard in a very long time.
    jabxon November 23, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General CommentMaybe it's an interpretation of the neverending cycle of life, observed as from an immortal, or a mortal's perspective. I'm really not sure.
    Helvygon March 26, 2010   Link
  • -1
    My InterpretationI think it could mean that Creation is all around us or that someone or something chose 'to be'. It filled up all the things, became the people the trees the air the fog, all to prove a point. The souls counterpart is the 'body'. Both the body and the soul can bleed. The texture of time is like Creation and the flood is the injustice and inhumaneness. How no one thought that it would survive. the stone is like his soul the water is like the universe. The hymn resonating is like the vibrating of the source of Creation
    die2be1on September 30, 2011   Link
  • -2
    My InterpretationA killer, a dismembered body, and a dump site. He repeatedly visits the site to find the bones always re-emerge from the ground like roots of a tree. The bones and the trees are a silent witness that torment him because the body cannot be disappeared. The fact the limbs cannot be destroyed serve a sense of justice in a way that even if the body is never found, it cannot be disappeared completely. In a desperate attempt to conceal it further, the limbs are cast into the water where now they become like stones, and the cycle will likely continue
    y66dra6ilon July 23, 2012   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top