"What the Water Gave Me" as written by and Florence Leontine Mary Welch Francis Eg White....
Time it took us
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
Oh, my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
And oh, poor Atlas
The world's a beast of a burden
You've been holding on a long time
And all this longing
And the ships are left to rust
That's what the water gave us
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
'Cause they took your loved ones
But returned them in exchange for you
But would you have it any other way?
Would you have it any other way?
You could have it any other way
'Cause she's a cruel mistress
And the bargain must be made
But oh, my love, don't forget me
When I let the water take me
So, lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the over flow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
Oh, my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
And oh, poor Atlas
The world's a beast of a burden
You've been holding on a long time
And all this longing
And the ships are left to rust
That's what the water gave us
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
'Cause they took your loved ones
But returned them in exchange for you
But would you have it any other way?
Would you have it any other way?
You could have it any other way
'Cause she's a cruel mistress
And the bargain must be made
But oh, my love, don't forget me
When I let the water take me
So, lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the over flow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lyrics submitted by KatherineKissMe, edited by Mellow_Harsher
"What the Water Gave Me" as written by Florence Welch Francis Eg White
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
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The death of Virginia with pockets full of stones and the name of the Frida's painting "O Que La Agua Me Dio" (What The Water Gave Me).
Simplicity is perfection.
'Time it took us
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me'
Thinking of the future and fearing death means you don't enjoy life when it happens.
Florence clearly accepts death in this song, and even welcomes it.
Accepting that death does happen and living in the present moment gives you the ability to appreciate the full beauty of life as it happens.
I feel 'water' is used because it's both bringer of life and a bringer of death. Maybe it gave Florence the realisation!
"And don't _____
The world's a beast of a burden"
is actually
"And oh, poor Atlas
The world's a beast of a burden"
The reference to witches is rather interesting but for saying, "that's how it was back then." Yeah, back in the 17th century perhaps, during the Salem Witch Trials. Perhaps centuries before in rural Europe. These superstitions quickly faded away as the industrial revolution clouded the skies with black smog and littered the streets with poverty stricken families(forced out of rural lifestyles by land owners and the agricultural revolution) and trash. Again, interesting, but I find it to be irrelevant as Woolf lived during the turn of the century and died during WWII.
Additionally, the overflow of water, in my honest opinion, is simply referring to the water displaced by the person drowning with pockets full of stones. Volume is the measure of how much an object displaces when placed into a fluid object, be it a liquid or gas.
I would prefer to not repeat anything that has been said thus far but I would view this as the ever ironic death by water. To die by that which has kept us alive for so long.
I also find that drowning oneself with a pocket full of stones to be tragic yet eerily romantic, reminiscent of a lover's suicide.
Ignoring the fact of death, I draw that emphasis of the fact that life is overwhelming like aspects of nature. Everything seems to cause stress and leads us into crippling depression and uncomfortable insanity. Her, the character embraces water, a liquid commonly associated with calmness and destructiveness. In the sense of the former, she engulfs herself in the soothing and restorative powers of water and becomes one with nature. She lets the water take her; take her to the dark and frightening path of death.
A path with no known end or destination, a path where angels fear to tread.
also when she says and time goes quicker...every day you live is a day less in your life so you're closer to death and the closer you get, the faster time will go by (it's like when you're in a holiday and the first days go by slowly but the last couple of days just fly away).
lay me down, let the only sound be the overflow:- the sweet surrender to death, its no use fightin it
pockets full of stones:- its a clear reference to virginia woolf. she suffered from bipolar depression, she kept fighting the voices in her head until she gave up, filled her pockets with stones and jumped in a river, its a bitter sweet end. She just surrendered to death.
then there is the reference to atlas, the titan who was punished by zeus by having to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders for eternity. its a metaphor obviously. it means how long do I have to hold the weight of the world on my back, i am tired i just want it to be over, i just want to die, i'm giving up on life.
and the shields are left to rust:- another metaphor, the water has a corroding effect on metal. we are born innocent yet life corrupts us, it bends us and it breaks us- that's what the water gave me
cause they took your loved ones:- again people you love die or go away and you're left behind missing them and you're aching.
but returned them in exchange for you:- now this is a bit enigmatic. maybe it means when you die you'll see them again or maybe it means that you need to make sacrifices for the people you love to see them happy even if then you're the one who will be suffering.
in fact it says would you have it any other way:- even if you're miserable its a small price to pay for the ones you love cause you know you'd do anything to see them happy.
she's a crueller mistress and the bargain must be made:- you're giving up on life, its too cruel. you're making the bargain, you're letting death take you because you want to be freed from life
my love, don't forget me, remember. remember that i have lived, that i have loved you, i just lost the fight and gave up, i'm letting the water take me...i'm letting death take me away
digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a336706/…
The world's a beast of a burden
You've been holding on a long time"
I'm pretty sure is
"And oh, poor Atlas
was a beast of burden
You've been holding up a long time"
Atlas is the beast of burden, not the world.
The world is a burden, yes, but it's a rather LARGE burden at that. You might even say it's a BEAST of one.
Just as I might call Bruce Lee a "beast of a man"
In other words, "beast of" in this context just means "formidable".
Florence, herself, on the meaning, "It’s a song for the water, because in music and art, what I’m really interested in are the things that are overwhelming. The ocean seem to be natures great overwhelmer. When I was writing this song I was thinking a lot about all those people who've lost their lives in vain attempts to save their loved ones from drowning. It's about water in all forms and all bodies. It's about a lot of things; Virginia Woolf creeps into it, and of course Frieda Kahlo, whose painfully beautiful painting gave me the title."