Oh My Stars

I'm not exactly sure of the meaning, but I heard this on an "indie" station (whatever that means) and I think it's beautiful and melodic.

i think its about breaking up with your boyfriend/girlfriend. (Sometimes it's hard/ thinking about how the plans we made/won't happen today or tonight). maybe one of them did something to mess up the relationship (I'm trying real hard/to not make you feel/like you've done something wrong) maybe the relationship ended because one of them had things going for them in life and the other was holding the other person down (Can't strangle anyone who has light/ in their life). anyways, thats how i see it, along those lines.

Love how the lyrics seem to be referencing very specific incidences, presumably in the writers own life, without feeling the need to allow listeners access to that story. As if the singer is telling a story that the audience isn’t supposed to understand; we’re simply meant to understand the common emotional experiences that stand behind it (loss of intimacy, the end of a relationship)

Now I know why you're floating away like a white balloon untied today or last night

A “white balloon” isn’t a symbol I’ve seen before, but best guess: it represents the loss of something good or pure (white), but something which must be actively held onto, something that without effort will drift away. “Untied today or last night,” implies that this is the loss of an intimate (sexual) relationship, that something had changed, perhaps in bed, the night before

I like the sounds you when you sleep like you're eating a meal grinding your teeth or just breathing

Intimate, bodily imagery. Fundamental, intimate acts of the body (sleeping, eating, breathing) that could be observed only by close family & partners. “Grinding teeth” is particularly poignant, an action we aren’t even aware of, one that can only be observed by those we trust enough to sleep beside. Evokes not simply sexual intimacy, but the intimacy of skinship and physical closeness. Gives context to the distance/loss of the floating balloon in the first stanza.

Oh my stars Crying, "Oh my stars!" Oh my stars Can't strangle anyone who has light in their life

Put your mouth here on my belly Put your fingers in my hair After mountains there are valleys We can fall asleep there

The intimacy of physical touch. Mouth on belly, fingers in hair, all things that we would associate with a lover, but actions which or nonetheless not sexual so much as deeply intimate on a romantic level. This song highlights the often overlooked physical-but-not-necessarily-sexual components of romantic intimacy. Which makes the loss of the relationship all the more substantial.

“After mountains there are valleys” After the hardship there will be easier times, we can rest once we make it through.

Sometimes it's hard thinking about how the plans we made won't happen today or tonight

I'm trying real hard to not make you feel like you've done something wrong by leaving the chips open

(I won't wake you up) Singing, "Oh my stars" Oh my stars Oh my stars Can't strangle all my friends and their wives and their sons' wives

Put your neck here on your best friend's Hold your mouth up to the phone Use the seatbelt like a bookend We can sleep when we get home

“Put your neck here on your best friend’s” A different type of physical intimacy, platonic. Seeking out comfort from a friend rather than lover, possibly signaling turmoil in the romantic relationship. “Mouth up to the phone” mouth is now being used not for romantic intimacy, as in 4th stanza, but poss. to reach for help/comfort from an outside source.

“Use the seatbelt like a bookend” Use the seatbelt to hold you up, to lean on, the way books are held up by bookends. Echoes “mountains after valleys”: You’re tired and falling asleep in the car, hold on until we make it home.

This song hurts. All these people falling apart from one another and themselves.