Speak to Me Bones

I think there are two parts to the song. The initial verse is about men, how they're 'predatory by design' and how they're inclined toward 'ownership' of women.

'So much skin, so little time' is a comment on a 'typical' male view of women, that one should sleep with as many women as possible.

The chorus begins with an ironic line "We are just bags of blood", or perhaps a statement that many men see women purely as objects.

Stop hitting on girls you love / stop spitting on girls you love

is a comment on the way men treat women, first by hitting on them and being charming, followed by 'spitting' on them, or treating them like shit.

At this point the second part of the song comes into play.

This verse talks about the self-image problems women have:

light hits breaks your face apart i love anyone but me tried sipping subtly it's all in who you see endless sea

How the subject's face is 'broken' apart by the light, and how she can love everyone but cannot love herself,

Sipping subtly may refer to something like 'sipping from the fountain of life' as if she's unable to immerse herself in life because of these image/confidence problems.

The final line of the verse 'It's all in who you see' tells us that our success and indeed the subject's success is all about how we see ourselves.

Followed by another chorus, followed by the final verse, which states that nothing really changes, that men (the letch) will still be men, and that women will still be fawns, wide-eyed and innocent.

It looks to cleverly tie in with Roman mythology, using the letch to tie into Satyr, who is identified with fauns.

'Stoney eyes never stopped bleeding / If they saw what we saw'

could mean that men, as represented by stoney eyes, would behave differently if they 'saw what we saw', with 'we' representing women. That is, that behaviour in men would be vastly different if they could see the world and their own behaviour, through the eyes of a woman.

'Snakes out / sex stealing'

could simply be the use of phallic imagery in describing the sexual relations of dominating men with women.

'what about the law? / Not every girl is a nail / you're not a hammer'

means simply that these men may simply ignore the laws of consent etc. That not every girl should be 'nailed', and that it's not the right attitude to simply view women as notches on one's bedpost.

Howeverrrrrr, the final line, which may be delivered ironically...could be seen as a woman saying:

"what about right now?"

As if she's asking to be treated poorly by these men.

That's my initial impression of it. The song, though short, is quite complex.

awesome song, love elizabeth's voice.

I think of it as a criticism of a man's perception and treatment of women or something. anyone got any ideas?

I believe it's just about that, Glyphis. Anyway, Land of Talk's songs aren't too easy to understand. I mean, if they mean anything at all.

To me, this song is describing a chauvinist male who treats women like dirt and trys to hit on everyone regardless of the emotional swath he cuts. The repeated lines "hold aloft/crystal glass/light hits/breaks a face apart" "endless sea" I think is describing a club or bar, crystal glass, bright lights, the breaks a face apart could be describing how strobe lights distort faces and just gives the frame by frame impressions of everyone. Endless sea is the crowds and how the guy views his supply of women to be endless, a faceless sea of bodies. " i love anyone but me/tried sipping subtly" Is the crushed girl who has had her self confidence shattered by this guy who treated her like a piece of meat and threw her away, so now shes just reserved to herself quietly sipping her drink.

When she says "Snakes out, stealing sex/What about the law/Not every girl is a nail/You're not a hammer"

To me, this screams rape. This guy goes around raping women, and making them out to be "Bags of bloods" and making them feels as if they have no other use.

Are these the official lyrics? I think I hear some differences.

breaks your face apart

endless sea [not sure about this line]

all in all it's still repeating [not sure about first part, sounds like it could be "on and on" or "oh no"]

snakes out, sex stealing [not sure about this line either]

what about the [jaws]

In the second verse, the lyrics are pretty clearly:

"Light hits, breaks MY face apart..." and "I love anyone but me, SO I TIP IT SUBTLY, AND it's all in who you see, endless sea..."

and at the end it's: "stoney eyes never stop bleeding, if YOU saw what we saw, snakes out sex stealing, what about the DRAW..."

I believe the "So I tip it subtly" part is referring, as others have said, to how women tend to adore another woman's looks but subtly tip the scales by which they judge another when judging themselves. I.e. a woman looks at another woman and thinks "she's beautiful," but then looka in the mirror, sees the same characteristics she just appreciated and thinks negatively about herself.

This song, to me, is about the darker side of attraction--how men and women both are routinely fostering a predatory sexual mindset, with men and women both constantly objectifying women.

Elizabeth has said as much in this interview: qromag.com/interviews/interviews/elizabeth_powell_of_land_oftalk:_q&a,_part_ii/