Scarlet Fields

you know, most of it is wrong. the whole thing goes:

As the summer fades away you'll lead me to the garden. Passing the lovers swooning in the autumn.

See yourself your image in the eyes of someone else. See yourself your fears at they appear to someone else.

As summer fades away Laugh at my reflection. Passed to a lover Seeking your affections.

See yourself your image in the eyes of someone else. See yourself your fears at they appear to someone else.

When the sun sets on dark silhouettes. collapse into a dream collapse into a dream collapse into a dream

Though I know you won't be here for long for long (x7)

Hmm this song makes me think of someone looking at someone and seeing all their fears 'your fears as they appear to someone else' and thinking of what it is like to be in their shoes, or vice versa, having your fears and wondering what someone thinks of you.

my interpretation of this amazing songg.

I put way too much thought into this nonsense. :D

I have a bunch of theories on this song.

"As the summer fades away you'll lead me to the garden."

makes it sound like the two are falling in love, things are starting, but then

"Passing the lovers swooning in the autumn."

Autumn not being very far from summer, haha, you see it doesn't last very long at all. And that fact that your passing 'the lovers', not 'others' or anyone else, but 'lovers'! suggests that the subjects of the song are NOT 'the lovers', at least not by autumn.

If you consider this garden to be an allusion to the Garden of Eden (and why not?) then that is probably a garden of break-ups and bad things, than of a garden of new love; especially if she, Eve, is leading Adam; it's a disaster waiting to happen.

"See yourself your image in the eyes of someone else. See yourself your fears at they appear to someone else."

Makes me thinking this is about the relationship as a whole, and not just another song about "herp-derp we're in love, let's sing about our love"; this is him being accepted or rejected, being criticized during the relationship, and ultimately them breaking up, because of his fears, and his image; or at least because of how she sees him.

I always assume he's talking to himself in these lines. But with the later use of 'reflections', I think it's him talking about just anyone; the way everyone looks to everyone (else).

Now, the thing that really throws me is

"When the sun sets on dark silhouettes. Collapse into a dream."

Because it makes me think that MAYBE he has been imagining the whole thing; he could have been afraid of what she would think of his IMAGE, been to weak to overcome his FEARS; there might be nothing to this, it could all be a dream.

And then, 'autumn' 'summer' 'sun sets', makes me think that this was all just a simple fantasy he had one day in a scarlet field. Perhaps he saw her in a distance (silhoutted), which made him think of how much he loved her, making him think of how she would see him and his shortcomings, making him rue the other lovers.

"As summer fades away Laugh at my reflection."

As the summer fades away, close to autumn and the real lovers, he stops fantasizing. He laughs at himself; his reflection being the only way he can see himself, the only way he can catch a glimpse of what others see of him.

"Passed to a lover Seeking your affections."

This one mixes me up. Maybe he isn't just a suitor/wooer, maybe he already is with the woman, already her lover. He just misses the summer when she loved more freely, instead of this autumn where love has withered.

That reinforces my idea of "As the summer fades away, you'll lead me to the garden"; summer being the golden days of thier love, and the garden being their downfall and eventual falling out. It also places some blame on the woman ("you'll lead me"), further suggesting that Eve business.

"When the sun sets on dark silhouettes. Collapse into a dream. ... Though I know you won't be here for long"

"When the sun sets", when he stops fantasizing, he'll have to come back to the reality of his situation. "Dark silhouettes" perhaps being all he sees in himself, in her, in their reflections; things are not what they were, he can't see everything so clearly, or in the same wonderful light. "Collapse into a dream" the romance is not living up to what he hoped.

"Thought I know you won't be here for long" this line makes me so sad. It sounds so helpless, like all the guy can do is lie in the field and dream, and she will walk away from him not matter what. So much suggests that she has all this power and mobility, and all he can do is wait and hope.

Anyways, let me try to summarize.

1. He is having a fantasy about someone he wants. He sees himself as too pitiful, etc. to have her. Eventually, he stops fantasizing ("Collapse into a dream."), or even in his fantasies, he is not enough ("Though I know you won't be here for long").
2. He is in a relationship, and it is falling apart. This is him musing on the reasons, what he misses, and her eventually leaving him.

That's what I think of the lyrics.

I think the song as a whole is sublime; I enjoy listening to it on repeat for a long time, occasionally. I love how sometimes it gets to loud, or, (what is the word?), too cluttered for my ears to sort out, and I love all the little melodies layering over each other. The singer's voice sounds almost wretched at points (and dull or dead at others), which is wonderful in a heart-wrenching way.

this song is gorgeous. and very cool. it seems like the person who wrote the lyrics is very aware of how passion is ephemeral and is basically using great metaphors to tell his lover how skeptical he is about love.

In the booklet it isn't "now i'll sign my fate away laugh at my reflection pass to a lover seeking your affection"

it's: "as summer fades away laugh at my reflection passed to a lover seeking your affections"

Comments above on passing of time and love are all good.

They miss perhaps a crucial double meaning that's there in the title. Fields are scarlet or red as they are full of poppies. You get heroin from poppies...

So like Golden Brown, this song works on more than one level.

Was going to add - but hit send too fast - that another track on the Primary Colours LP makes the connection more explicitly, I Can't Control Myself. There's a couplet:

I pray for scarlet fields to save me Whole and white and pure

...seems pretty clear.