White As Diamonds

My god, how has no one commented such an incredible and beautiful song? Well, here's my interpretation.

I think it's about realizing all the potential of the past is now gone, that what has happened has happened and what has not has not. "Our lives are buried in snow" is about the stillness and coldness of life and inability to move, now that the snow has fallen. The most important part of the metaphor, I feel, is the temporality of the snow. Life was not always like this, it took time and the coming of winter. This is supported by the third stanza, which talks about winter having stolen the diamonds, leaving gaping holes. I take this to mean the onset of time and age (winter) has taken away the potentials of life and youth (diamonds). The way night and morning work into this is that morning represents the epiphany, the recognition of the state of life. The night is when life is played out, and dawn comes slowly as recognition of what life has been.

The meaning of the phrase "Some hearts are ghosts settling down in dark waters / Just as silt grows heavy and drowns with the stones" seems pretty clear-cut, and I think supports my interpretation (thematically speaking): we find love and someone to "settle down with" as blindly as we go about the rest of our lives; we can't know where we'll be in 30 years and whether committing the rest of our lives to someone is a good idea and what it will bring us. We don't settle down with someone because we know the rest of our lives will be great, because we can't have that knowledge; we "grow heavy" with time, we inevitably slow down our movement and latch onto something in the darkness, even though we can't know what it'll be down the road.

About the phrase "I've known mornings / white as diamonds," assuming my interpretation thus far is correct, the dawn of recognition and epiphany has brought a kind of hope like that in the potential of youth.

Let me know what you think of my interpretation, what you think I got wrong, etc. I'd love to hear it :)

I think you're right on about this, with some addition. I think it's about potential and reduction, loss and cruelty, and not just about our dreams, but our emotions, our ability to love and be open. Our hearts are broken over and over as we go through life; all of us suffer, all of us are "buried in snow." But we react differently. We all feel the cold suffocation of the world, we all are robbed of our treasures, talents, and loves: "the gaping holes where diamonds should be", and we gradually awaken to the magnitude of what we've lost, but not of all us react the same. All of us become victims of horrible betrayal and cruelty to various degrees; some of us try to overcome it and stay compassionate despite the odds, and some of us react to that betrayal by becoming horribly cruel ourselves and inflicting our suffering on others. She says "some hearts" are settling down in dark waters, meaning that presumably not all of us drown -- it's significant that she says "our hearts" up to this point. I'm not sure exactly what the difference means -- buried in snow, vs. drowned in deep water. Maybe the hearts that are buried in snow have the potential, at least, to thaw, while the hearts that are drowned in silt, are dead forever. Then, there seems to be kind of a prayer for peace at the end: "such a stillness, calm as the owl glides," at the end and the beginning. We all start out with the potential for finding peace, and maybe ultimately we can all find it.

Whatever the case, this is one of the saddest and most beautiful songs I've ever heard. I listen to it over and over again. I registered just to comment on it. Thanks for your interpretation.