The Bones Of You

This is another one of those songs that sums up life in such a precise and perfect manner, Garvey is nothing short of phenomenal. He manages to take the feelings which you can't desrcibe in a thousand words, and put them into four minutes and forty nine seconds of music. It's obviously about love nowadays. A businessman who is pushed for time all of the time, rushing around, almost on 'autopilot'. Then Garvey makes him human again when the 'tentacles' of a song bring him back to a former lover. I'm sure everyone has a song that reminds them of one particular moment with someone, whenever they hear it. Garvey sums it up so perfectly with the lines 'and the world moves in slow-mo, straight to my head, like the first cigarrette of the day'. He's tried all he can to remove her from his mind, as is said in the fourth verse. It's like he's kidding himself, but he want's her and all of those times back. The last verse 'and i can't move my arm through the fear that you will wake' is so true. When you're daydreaming of that person who is so precious to you, that you just cant blink or it will stop. At which point it's gone hence the three thousand miles away. Tragic and beautiful and one of the highlights of this album. x

Guy Garvey is a lyrical genius. The images he creates through his use of language are nothing short of magical!

'But image on image like beads on a rosary pulled through my head as the music takes hold and the sickener hits'

'When out of a doorway the tentacles stretch Of a song that I know'

Only a few but i could go through every Elbow song and pick out stuff like this. Amazing. It's a shame Elbow don't have the status that they deserve.

I have recently discovered this band, and I am disappointed that I had not sooner. Their music is great, but the lyrics are amazing. Guy Garvey is one of the best lyricists I can think of. He creates incredible imagery and mood.

The bones represent the foundation of the former love: the music that reminds him of her. Even though he destroyed all physical evidence of their relationship, the little things remind him of her and he cannot get over this feeling.

No other song wrenches at my guts like this one does. I can have it on repeat for hours. I know exactly what it's like to hear a song and be catapulted into the past. For some reason, the line "And I can't move my arm Through the fear that you will wake" is my absolute favourite here - beautiful. He doesn't want to disturb that moment in time.

I don't think the faint fragment of Gershwin's Summertime we hear at the end means a retreat to alcohol. It might just be said song that stretches its tentacles out of the doorway. It fits, "summertime, and the living is easy"...

i can't believe no one's commented on this yet! this is probably my all-time favorite heartbreaking song. it's probably not easy to relate to specifically for many people, but the message is still there. when someone you love walks out of your life, the distance can feel like three thousand miles and the time can feel like five years. loving the memory of a person can make them seem even farther away.

This song is genius. The lyrics are so florid, the tune is haunting and the distorted basement-low bass is just perfect.

This is definitely the tale of a businessman who's tried to pretty much pry himself from the memory of a lost love. I love this song, and I love this album.

"but I love bones of you that I will never escape."

Yeah, I guess little things (like certain music or a song) keep reminding him of his lost love, no matter how hard he tries to forget.

And the world moves in slow-mo Straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day

i love that.