4 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Those Distant Bells Lyrics
The car crunches gravel
And the wind licks at you
This dark spell you're under
Has you dumbstruck by the gate
And it hurts every muscle
Just to walk back to the house
Now this home that you both made
It looks haunted from the yard
You can hear those distant bells
And you know they'll never leave
It's like your church is crying out
Like the wolf calls to her young
And the dark never enters
But it also never leaves
And this spark that he gave you
Is just an ember all but out
If he'd one eye on the exit
Oh you never would have known
Until he drove off in the darkness
Like some slowly fading song
You can hear those distant bells
And you know they'll never leave
It's like your church is crying out
Like the wolf calls to her young
And the wind licks at you
This dark spell you're under
Has you dumbstruck by the gate
Just to walk back to the house
Now this home that you both made
It looks haunted from the yard
And you know they'll never leave
It's like your church is crying out
Like the wolf calls to her young
But it also never leaves
And this spark that he gave you
Is just an ember all but out
Oh you never would have known
Until he drove off in the darkness
Like some slowly fading song
And you know they'll never leave
It's like your church is crying out
Like the wolf calls to her young
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
“The dark never enters/ But it also never leaves” suggests that the problem does not come from the external, but it exist from within, which is why he cannot solve it. Perhaps the speaker does not love his wife as much or the other way around. “This spark that he gave you/ Is just an ember all but out” suggests that he cannot feel the sparks between them anymore; now the sparks become merely embers, and he is stuck in between, not knowing what to do, to endure the bitter marriage for his children or to let it go? Here's the full interpretation of this song: https://en.lineday.co/snow-patrol-distant-bells-lyrics-meaning/
This is a beautiful song, I can't believe no one has commented on it! Out of the entire album, this one stuck out the most. The imagery is fantastic.
It's obviously about a relationship that's slowly degenerated -"like an ember all but out". She (or they both) were oblivious or in denial about the relationship being over - "this dark spell you're under has you dumbstruck" and "if he had one eye on the exit, oh, you'd never known until he drove off". The house is a painful place for her to be now, alone - "this home that you both made looks haunted from the yard".
The most interesting part that drew me to this song was the chorus. "You can hear those distant bells, it's like your church is crying out" and "you know they'll never leave" refers to marriage - vows and commitment are supposed to be for a lifetime. "Like a wolf cries to her young" - if a mother wolf is separated from her young, she howls and cries so they will return to her, where they belong. Just like the wolf's cries, the literal or metaphorical "church bells" (commitment/vows) also call out for him to return home, where he belongs.
Great song, very subtle as all SP stuff
Great song, very subtle as all SP stuff
I love it specially the melody and composition of the song i would call them masterpiece ! its my fav and is one of the best songs on the album for sure :)
Yeah, Pageturned99 pretty much hit the nail on the head.
That is what this song feels for me. Pretty much all Snow Patrol songs are a piece of my life in one way or another matter of fact.
My first marriage pretty much ended this way.
Yeah, the end of a first marriage sure leaves questioning the whole concept of love and marriage.
LOVE SNOW PATROL!!!
Saw them in concert. They are great live as well!