Did you really carry me when I was asleep.
Did you try to defend me when I was weak.
Did you pick me up that lonely night
when the lights died out
and it turned to the gray side
Did you carry me when I was asleep
Now you're out on the bottomless sea
so it's time for you to lean on me
lean on Me
Now you're out on the bottomless sea
so it's time for you to lean on me
Did you lie for me
to keep me safe
Did you bare with me
when I misbehaved
Far from here could you feel my fear
when the lights died out
and it turned to the gray side
Did you lie for me
to keep me safe
Now you're out on the bottomless sea
so it's time for you to lean on me (x2)
what's that falling down
frozen on the ground
I'm trying to stop the light
Now you're out on the bottomless sea
so it's time for you to lean on me (x2)
Lean on me (x4)
Did you try to defend me when I was weak.
Did you pick me up that lonely night
when the lights died out
and it turned to the gray side
Now you're out on the bottomless sea
so it's time for you to lean on me
lean on Me
so it's time for you to lean on me
to keep me safe
Did you bare with me
when I misbehaved
when the lights died out
and it turned to the gray side
to keep me safe
so it's time for you to lean on me (x2)
frozen on the ground
I'm trying to stop the light
so it's time for you to lean on me (x2)
Lean on me (x4)
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This is my personal interpretation of this amazing song...
The singer has had someone in her life who has always been supporting her and worried for her well-being, but in a silent manner, unknown to her, during times when she was asleep/unconscious/mentally or physically unwell/in another faraway place. When other people talked/asked about her he lied to keep her safe, he bore with her misbehaviour/bad attitude for a long time and still protected her. The singer has gone through a traumatic event in her life ("..that lonely night when the lights died out and I turned to the grey side") and it is only now, years later, that she wonders if this person had been helping her through this bad time.
It's quite clear from the chorus that this person who has helped the singer is now in some kind of trouble ("out on the bottomless sea") and the singer realises it's time to offer this person her help and support.
I suspect this person is the singer's father, since (and I'm not 100% sure on this) someone who could be Oh Land's (Nonna Oland Fabricius') father, Bendt Fabricius, has collaborated on the strings composition of the song (see end credits of the video). The kind of things this person has done for the singer sounds a lot like something a father would do for his daughter, in my opinion. It could also apply to a friend, other family member or lover, but in this case I think the singer has discovered that as her father is getting older, the roles are reversed and it is time for her to be the one supporting him.
Totally. I think, though, that "Did you lie for me to keep me safe" could refer to the way parents often keep heavy, hard-to-understand things from their children to protect them from growing up too fast.
Totally. I think, though, that "Did you lie for me to keep me safe" could refer to the way parents often keep heavy, hard-to-understand things from their children to protect them from growing up too fast.
@roland44 I think yours is a great interpretation. It seems to me that the singer is trying to persuade a reluctant person who helped her in the past to accept her help now because s/he needs it. I can easily imagine that the song might be addressed to a father, as fathers tend to have a lot of pride when it comes to something like this. Beautiful song by the way.