A Violent Yet Flammable Word

It's a fantastic, haunting, beautiful song. A masterpiece. However, given that they're fans of Richard Dawkins, I highly doubt that it would at all be about a Christian's journey. I think we too often interpret songs subjectively. But then, that's what makes songs so wonderful, isn't it? Still, it surely was not their intention to have it be anything about Christianity at all.

The last o/‘ hold / hold / hold on o/‘ bit reminds me of Emma Pollack (and The Delgadoes)... The final o/‘ I don’t want to lose myself o/‘ duet sounds like the best of early Lush... I say this to pay the highest compliment to a truly wonderful song :)

i love this song..the melodies and everything are beautiful. but i have no idea what the lyrics mean. it just seems like a bunch of pretty words and phrases thrown together into a song.

I really love this song. The melody is just haunting.

i think it should be "World" in the title, not "Word"

Wowwowwow. I am good as floored.

I don't think the lyrics mean anything concretely, I personally believe they are supposed to convey a feeling or an image (or series of images) instead. I adore when artists do that!

personally I adore the perspective on Christianity, what a thought. I think it's about inner turmoil, how you can divide yourself into two or more pieces, even though (technically) you are one.

I really love this song. For me personally its about the struggle to reconcile my idealism with reality. However, for the writers, my best guess is that it illustrates the transition from their old life to a more "celebrity" lifestyle of becoming a music star. The first few lines (Oceans shape the sides Touching down in the spaces Soaking from a warm goodbye An early rise offers kindly) Seem to suggest that a vacation is taking place. The writer is on an airplane. This idea come back a few lines later. Then my personal favorite part (Tonight I sleep to dream Of a place that's calling me It is always just a dream Still I cannot forget what I have seen) Is talking about the collision between dreams and reality and one influences the other. (The crowd's hard to believe At their faces I'm looking But your feet I'm following In soft steps on a path the way you lead) This is probably about putting on a performance. After traveling to this new place, the band is up on stage thinking about how their dream of being musical stars is coming true, the nervousness, excitement, and community that stems from sharing ones music. The Next lines (I don't want to lose myself It's a whisper It's a funny thing We fold like icicles on paper shelves It's a pity to appear this way) Talk more about the transition into this new lifestyle. They want to stay true to what makes them a unique, genuine indie band and continue to pour their personal experiences into their music to make it meaningful. However, I haven't found an impressive interpretation of foling like icicles on paper shelves yet. The line: You're flying when your foreign eyes Trace the heights of the city Suggests, again, that they are flying to a new city and see the skyline with "foreign eyes" The only sense I can make of the following lines is that they are expressions of giving a live show. Otherwise, I am not really sure: Steaming With rocks and clouds we breathe Violent skies A shock to my own body Speech is wild Alive sacred and sounding Wild From across and beyond, oh far beyond The rest is rather repetitive of what is written above. I don't know, I think the song has a lot more meaning when taking subjectively. While my interpretation of the writer's intent recognizes the beauty in articulating the transition from a "normal" life to that of a celebrity, it does really have the philosophical substance of a more individual approach. I think that the Christian interpretation is beautiful, and it kind of reminds me of something someone noted on "To Be Alone With You" by Sufjan Stevens. For me personally, these Au Revoir Simone lyrics are about the contrast between idealism and reality and the adventures, fears, and comparisons evident in my life. The beautiful thing about this song, is that no interpretation is incorrect. The ambiguity of the lyrics leave room for the listeners themselves to grasp its individual significance.

I think this song is referring to a Christian’s journey and conflicting emotions with following their own instincts or following Christ’s. As a Christian you have to die to self and live a life for Christ. If you do you go to heaven. In revelation there is constant reference to "oceans of people" in the last days watching as Jesus comes back. Another key thing is that those who are in Christ get to ascend to heaven "early rise" while the earth burns "warm goodbyes" Oceans shape the sides (the people left behind) Touching down in the spaces Soaking (tears) from a warm goodbye (fire from hell) An early rise offers kindly (the option to go to heaven is a pretty kind offer) Tonight I sleep to dream Of a place that's calling me It is always just a dream Still I cannot forget what I have seen The crowd's hard to believe At their faces I'm looking But your feet I'm following In soft steps on a path the way you lead I think this paragraph is about her going to dream of heaven. Christians feel a calling toward it and she can't help but think about it all the time. Here she focuses on the people again. She's saying there's so many people and she's trying to figure out who they all are. But all the time she's following the feet of Jesus and the path He leads her on. I don't want to lose myself It's a whisper It's a funny thing We fold like icicles on paper shelves It's a pity to appear this way As I mentioned before, a Christian must die to self. But here, she's hesitating. There is a small part of her (the whisper) that feels as if that dying to self would require her to lose herself. As a Christian it is morbidly funny, because you know that if you give up yourself you win soooo much more but for some reason you hard to shake that little whisper of yourself. This wavering of wills causes us to fall into sin (fold like icicles on paper shelves) and it is a pity when it happens. You're flying when your foreign eyes Trace the heights of the city I think she’s referring to how Jesus would look upon heaven (which is referred to as a city in the bible) and by flying she means extreme joy. Jesus is happy because he’s bringing his followers to heaven. Steaming With rocks and clouds we breathe Violent skies A shock to my own body Speech is wild Alive sacred and sounding Wild From across and beyond, oh far beyond This is two different parts being sung at the same time, probably referring to her conflicting emotions about Christianity. Follow Jesus or follow herself? Steaming, violent skies, speech is wild. Wild. I think this refers to the feeling of being in hell, which would result from her following herself. With rocks and clouds we breath, a shock to my own body, alive sacred and sounding, from across and beyond, oh far beyond. This part is her wanting to follow Jesus which would result in her going to heaven. When we go to heaven our bodies will be transformed which explains “a shock to my own body, alive, sacred and sounding” and then off to heaven “from across and beyond, oh so far beyond”. Then she goes back to how she doesn’t want to lose herself. The way she wrote this shows that she clearly knows she has to “it’s a funny thing” “it’s a pity”. The problem is there’s this tiny part of her that doesn’t want to “it’s a whisper” Hold, hold, hold on I swear I saw it somewhere Waving, wading, one, two, three, above the wakes that follow Hold, hold, hold on I swear I saw it somewhere Waving, wading, one, two, three, above the wakes that follow I don’t know what this means… Hmm…. Any ideas? I think she may have seen something that may want to hold her back from following Jesus, but I don’t know what she saw. And it was fleeting. I don't want to lose myself Tonight I sleep to dream of a place that's calling me It's a whisper It is always just a dream It's a funny thing Still I cannot forget what I have seen We fold like icicles on paper shelves With rocks and clouds we breathe, a shock to my own body It's a pity Alive sacred and sounding To appear this way From across and beyond, oh far beyond Once again, it’s two different people singing this at the same time, her conflicting emotions. Person 1: I don’t want to lose myself. It’s a whisper, it’s a funny thing. We fold like icicles on paper shelves, it’s a pity to appear this way. Person 2: Tonight I sleep to dream of a place that’s calling me. It’s always just a dream, still I cannot forget what I have seen. With rocks and clouds we breathe, a shock to my own body. Alive, sacred and sounding. From across and beyond, oh so far beyond. For me, I hear person one more at the beginning but when they reach the part “with rocks and clouds…” I hear person 2 more for the rest of the song. I take that as while she is scared of losing herself, in the end the payoff is well worth it. And I think the way the song suddenly ends just adds more emphasis to the final choice to follow Christ. Eh, I might be really far off but as a Christian this makes perfect sense to me. :)