"Flume" as written by and Justin Deyarmond Edison Vernon....
I am my mother's only one
It's enough
I wear my garment so it shows
Now you know
Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon
I am my mother on the wall, with us all
I move in water, shore to shore;
Nothing's more
Only love is all maroon
Lapping lakes like leary loons
Leaving rope burns
Reddish rouge
Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon
It's enough
I wear my garment so it shows
Now you know
Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon
I am my mother on the wall, with us all
I move in water, shore to shore;
Nothing's more
Only love is all maroon
Lapping lakes like leary loons
Leaving rope burns
Reddish rouge
Only love is all maroon
Gluey feathers on a flume
Sky is womb and she's the moon
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honestly. best discovery ever. his songs make me just want to lie in the grass and watch clouds.
this one seems like it might be about an unborn baby, as in "i wear my garment so it shows" and the refernces to womb. the whole feel of the song is that he's simulating being in the womb, surrounded by maroon and "lapping lakes" also "rope burns" could be the umbilical cord.
it's almost kind of gross but it's still SO SO beautiful!
i thank god for justin vernon.
It's enough
- he's saying this because he was abandoned/betrayed by people close to him
I wear my garment so it shows
Now you know
- he's naked and vulnerable. now you know what it looks like to see him without his masks.
Only love is all maroon
- maroon is the color of dried blood. not only does love hurt, but it doesn't quite look as glorious after it's done with you.
Gluey feathers on a flume
- pieces of himself left behind as he parted ways...
Sky is womb and she's the moon
- womb is new birth. he's journeying down the flume. moon- could be guidance. he's still attached to whatever he left behind.
I am my mother on the wall, with us all
'
- mother on the wall is a photograph of someone who passed away. she is not "with us all". neither is he.
I move in water, shore to shore;
Nothing's more
- again, he is wandering down the river/stream..
Lapping lakes like leary loons
- feeling so alone it's driving him mad. same idea implied with the moon.
Leaving rope burns
Reddish rouge
- rope burns don't happen unless he tried to hold on... he did. it hurt. he had to let go. now he's wounded reddish rouge.
that's how I understand it. - Stefan
I did more research on "loons", which some people think is a reference to some kind of crazy, as in looney but I disagree. I think it refers to the bird, the loon. The loon is an aquatic bird, that often dives underwater. Also, I don't believe that the line "Leary loons" has any connection to Timothy Leary, as someone else stated. It's probably a misspelling. I think it's supposed to say "lapping lakes like LEERY loons." Leery (not Leary) means cautious or distrustful. This wary bird must be symbolic of something. The bird explanation makes more sense to me, especially when you refer to the part that says "only love is all maroon, gluey feathers on the flume." What would make the feathers "gluey"? Blood. The bird has been shot or hurt in some way. It's not a literal bird he's singing about, of course, I think he's just meaning that there's an intense pain or suffering of some sort going on here. Maroon could represent the color of the blood, and the consequent pain brought on. The rope burns could support that also. I'm trying to see how the womb and the mother reference could tie into all of this but I just can't seem to put it together. I do not think it's about a literal pregnancy of any sort though. Help, someone:P
having become overwhelmed he went into the cabin to get away from having to start something new, just concentrate on day to day living. the record is him putting everything that happened up until then into perspective.
As for meaning... Well, the whole album's about the breakup with his girlfriend, hence For Emma... But I can't quite see how it fits in here...
BUT that's just what I think. I'm such an amateur. ;D
:)
THAT IS AXIOM!
THAT IS AXIOM!
he is playing an Icarus figure (Icarus who flew too close to the sun and his wings melted and he fell to his death). Icarus fell from the sky and left his dad, Daedalus, in the air. Bon Iver fell from his mother's womb and left his mother, the moon, at home.
Icarus fell into the sea, this could help explain the "i move in water, shore to shore" but i'm not sure how
so basically, I see that he fells like he's got no home, he fell from his mother when he did not want to and he survives (rather than living and thriving) at best warily ("leery").
I get the feeling it's about the narrator's mother dying during her first child's birth.
"I am my mother on the wall, with us all" -Portrait of mom, indicates she is still with them in thought.
"I am my mother's only one"-No brothers or sisters.
Also to add to Icarus: "Gluey feathers on the flume"..feathers from his wings still stick to this "flume", almost as if the impact of his mother's death is still on him..the feathers are "stuck", scars.
In return, making him feel lonely and sad. Being hopeful in finding someone to bridge that gap, wearing his heart on his sleeve "I wear my garment so it shows"
"I am my mother's only one", rarely twins.
His "Sky is womb, and she is the moon".
Redness abounds, "Only love is all maroon", "Reddish ruse".
Amniotic fluid, "I move in water, shore to shore", "Lapping lakes like leary loons".
That umbilical cord, "Leaving rope burns".
All I will say is that a Flume is a narrow water channel.