Smother

I can't relate to this song SO much.

Although I agree with blue_bathtub that it can be read in an end-of-a-relationship context, I also think that the song is really more general.

Sometimes, you think you are worth nothing. That you cannot be loved, that you don't really deserve life. You want "all that is not [yours]," that is, a standard and a happy life, with a good job and a family and someone who truly and tenderly loves you. You don't think you are good enough to have it - and when it comes to love, when you sincerely fall in love with someone, you are quite sure that he does not want you, that "[you're] not right."

In a way, you perceive yourself as a "suffocator," mainly for the ones surrounding you. But the one you are really smothering actually is you. That second verse really makes me think of suicide: it's like she does not want to live anymore, because she thinks she useless. Therefore, by committing suicide, she thinks she will not only help the ones she knows (she won't be a burden for them anymore). In a more down-to-earth interpretation, it's also like her body, by disintegrating itself, will help vegetation to grow (and so turn her into a useful "thing"). Following the same idea, but more poetically, it reminds me of a description of death found in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials," where it is said that dead bodies liberate, in a way, their molecules, which will expand into nature and form rivers and trees and the sky...

The last verse eventually describes more accurately that feeling that she does not do anything except wasting her friends and acquaintances' time. The emphasis laid on the fact she would rather stay "inside her mother" is overwhelming, in my sense.

I love Daughter and the way they embody all sorts of feelings in their songs. They are indeed all linked to sadness and even sometimes despair, but they are so true...

"I am wasted, losing time "

This could mean wasting away or even wasted drinking alcohol to forget the pain, and in essence, losing time by being drunk through hours of time

"I’m a foolish, fragile spine I want all that is not mine I want him but we’re not right"

These three lines really signify some sort of regret to me, but also a sense of "how could I be so sensitive and stupid". And now I want him so bad, even though I know I regret having been with him. He made me feel so vulnerable and now I want him still. I can't stop being vulnerable.

"In the darkness I will meet my creators And they will all agree, that I’m a suffocator"

This part is really upsetting because she is imposing a lot of self blame. I know I was smothering, I know that even my creators would say so. They are disappointed in me too. Really feeling alone and at fault. That point in the break up where you start to miss them and feel like "please, let us just forget everything and just be lying beside each other. I miss your touch so much"

"I should go now quietly For my bones have found a place to lie down and sleep Where all my layers can become reeds All my limbs can become trees All my children can become me What a mess I leave To follow"

She is really expressing a deep sadness and hopelessness. I am such a mess, and I am leaving such a mess of me behind. A mess of someone who only smothers and suffocates others. She is really regretful, as if she feels like she is the worst person in the world.

"Oh no I’m sorry if I smothered you I sometimes wish I’d stayed inside My mother Never to come out"

Again, it is that coming to terms with oh my god, I am so sorry. I am sorry if I smothered you and drove you away. I feel so worthless and I just wish I didn't exist.

Overall this song is so sad, Elena must have been in a really dark place writing this one. There is such desperation of not wanting to be alone, this really hit home.

"I'm wasted, losing time I'm a foolish, fragile spine I want all that is not mine I want him but we're not right" -To me this is talking about "inner demons". In my case-Depression, anxiety, bipolar, anorexia. Also feelings of guilt, shame, regret, jealousy, lust, etc.

"In the darkness I will meet my creators And they will all agree, that I'm a suffocator" -To me this describes laying in bed at night wishing to die. You're depressed and are contemplating what happens after death, how you die, etc. You feel like a burden on everyone; you're suffocating yourself, and those around you.

"I should go now quietly For my bones have found a place To lie down and sleep Where all my layers can become reeds All my limbs can become trees All my children can become me What a mess I leave To follow" -I also feel this describes contemplating suicide. It seems almost peaceful, with mention of trees/children, and I would agree with the person wanting to be "useful". They don't want to hurt anyone around them anymore, but their feelings are such a mess.

"Suffocator Oh no I'm sorry if I smothered you I sometimes wish I'd stayed inside My mother Never' to come out" -They feel so sorry for all the trouble/harm/hurt they've caused. They sometimes wish they never existed, because then they wouldn't have been a burden.

Wow, I have a totally different view of this song from everyone else that has posted. I find that really interesting. :-) But I know that music is always up for interpretation so I thought that I would share my point of view.

To me, it sounds like a mother who is dying or has died during childbirth and the repercussions after that and the guilt that the daughter feels because of the loss.

"I'm wasted, losing time" - is the mother communicating her knowledge of her final moments before passing

"I'm a foolish, fragile spine" - is perhaps the daughter communicating to her mother that she's just a small being coming into the world; she feels like she's disposable.

"I want all that is not mine. I want him but we're not right " - I feel like this might be the mother communicating her fear of losing out on the life that she wishes she could lead if she had just one more day.

"In the darkness I will meet my creators. And they will all agree, that I'm a suffocator" - This I also feel like could be taken from either ones perspective. The mother has left her physical body and is ready to meet her maker. And she feels like she had suffocated the ones she loved by loving them and wanting them so strongly. And transversely the daughter is being born to meet her creator, and the people that birthed her into the world. And at the same time she feels the shame of everyone knowing that she is the reason why her mother died.

"I should go now quietly For my bones have found a place To lie down and sleep Where all my layers can become reeds All my limbs can become trees All my children can become me What a' mess I leave To follow..." - I feel like this is the mother saying her final goodbyes and coming to terms with the fact that there will be life after her passing. "For my bones have found a place to lie down and sleep" I interpret as her being buried and becoming one with the earth. Which is mirrored in the following lyrics about her limbs becoming trees. And her children will grow up and also mirror her in appearance etc. When she says "What a mess I leave to follow" I feel like she's remorseful about the pain she's caused and the difficulty her children will have being motherless.

"I'm sorry if I smothered you" - I feel like this is the daughter telling her mother that she's sorry that she was the reason she died.

"I sometimes wish I'd stayed inside My mother Never' to come out" - I feel like this is the daughter communicating to us, the listeners, that she wishes that things had turned out differently. Sometimes she wishes that she wasn't born.

All in all, I think that this is a beautiful song. I cried while listening to it the first time without even knowing the lyrics. And perhaps my interpretation may be a bit off in comparison to other people's opinions but I feel like songs like this deserve credit where its due. And I absolutely love this song!

I feel she's talking about someone she loves but the feelings are not reciprocated. Her "creators" are her parents. In the darkness of depression and rejection, she meets with them and her parents are telling her she is giving too much of herself to someone who doesn't even appreciate her--that she needs to give this guy some space.

I love this song so much and the most powerful part of it is in the end: She yearns to go back into her mother's womb where she was safe from the sting rejection and sorrows in life. Hence the name "Daughter."

I agree with what everyone else has already posted, but i have a few things i'd like to interject.

"I am wasted losing time. I'm a foolish fragile spine. I want all that is not mine. I want him, but we're not right." -The singer is expressing her discontent with how she has handled her relationship that has failed. she is saying she is a waste of being if she is not with him, and that she is running out of time to get him back. She was foolish not to take better care of their relationship, and to give him some space. and now she wants him but he doesn't want her.

"In the darkness I will meet my creators. They will all agree that I'm a suffocator" -ch3rryx did a really good job at explaining this, so you should go look at his/hers. She is expressing how guilty and alone she feels about how this has all turned out, and that she accepts full blame for being a 'smotherer'.

"I should go now quietly. For my bones have found a place to lie down and sleep."

• At this part, she is saying that she should just go away without anybody noticing her parting, so as not to hurt any more people. She says she just wants to go away and rest, recover.

"So all my layers can become reeds. All my limbs can become trees." -She wants to leave so that she can eventually become a better, more beautiful person.

"All my children can become me. What a mess I leave. To follow." -She is saying that her whole life has been a torturous mess, and her children will likely follow in this destructive path.

The chorus repeats again.

"Oh love. I'm sorry if I smothered you. I'm sorry if I smothered you. I sometimes wish I stayed inside my mother. Never to come out." This I believe is the focus of the song (Obviously because it has the title in it). This verse is full of regret and sorrow at coming to the understanding that she drove him away, by relying too much on him and smothering him. She then comes to some borderline suicidal thoughts saying she wishes she had never been born.

I honestly didn't think this song had anything to do with personal relationships but relationships in general. Like with those of family and friends. Or maybe even someone she did like. Personally to me, the song just made me think about how people who are depressed and dealing with a lot of self hate or guilt tend to push people out or "suffocate" them and just want to die. That this person is just one big burden to everyone and the creators are her parents who she thinks are disappointed in her life. She's apologising for smothering people, meaning she's sorry for shoving all her problems or causing problems for people cause of her issues whether it be loneliness, depression, anxiety or whatever.

I believe it is more of self hating feeling. The song is saying that they believe they are dreaming too high, or for something they know that they don't deserve.

"I want all that is not mine", saying that what you want and long for, is completely out of your reach, and you feel like an idiot for wanting it because you know for a fact you just can't have it.

"In the darkness I will meet my creator and they will all agree that I'm a suffocator." I take this more religiously, interpreting that you've prayed thousands of times, asking and wondering if you are suffocating someone by any means, but longing for the answer that you aren't. Not in literal terms, but saying that you are too clingy, and attached to something you can not have.

"I should've stayed inside." Saying that their true self only comes out when the person is longing for something, and is in too much of a daze to realize how they could be jeopardizing their relationship. So, in response, the person is saying that they should have put on a mask, or acted differently, to hide the real way they feel, so that they don't lose the thing that isn't theirs. But it was too late. The longed figure must've already left.

I'm pretty sure it's the thoughts of a suicidal person.

"I'm wasted, losing time" = Consuming alcohol to ease the emotional pain. "I'm a foolish, fragile spine" = Blaming herself, feeling weak. "I want all that is not mine" = Wants more, feels what she has is never enough. "I want him, but we're not right" = Feels undeserving of love.

"In the darkness I will meet my creators And they will all agree, that I'm a suffocator"

Thinks about what will happen after death and feels that all she ever does is "suffocate"/"smother" people, she feels like she's nothing more than a nuisance, and that is all that people will remember her as when she's dead.

"I should go now quietly For my bones have found a place To lie down and sleep"

This could be taken literally, she could have found a place to take her own life, but it could also say that she's comfortable with the thought of dying and she's planning on quietly dying soon.

"Where all my layers can become reeds All my limbs can become trees All my children can become me"

Children often represent new beginnings while trees and reeds (plant life in general) tends to represent life itself, so she seems to think that if anything comes out of her death, it will only be positive things. Life comes from death, happiness comes from pain?

"What a mess I leave To follow"

Here's where the logical thinking peaks its head out for a small amount of time. Suicide tends to be somewhat contagious, those who cared for her will most likely become depressed and perhaps even attempt suicide. Deep down in her heart, she knows someone cares about her and that her death will negatively affect them.

"I'm sorry if I smothered you"

She regrets whatever harm she may have caused and sincerely apologises for it.

"I sometimes wish I'd stayed inside My mother Never to come out"

She wishes she'd never been born.

As many of the other interpretations are saying, I believe this song is about self conflict. I can relate so much.

One of the main lyrics in the song is "I'm sorry if I smothered you." I think she is saying that she was being too clingy, controlling of another person. Even if the other person doesn't feel that way, she is pushing the other person away because she thinks she is suffocating them.

She begins to think that she is suffocating to everything around her and says that "her creators will agree" that she is a suffocator.

At this point, she feels as if she messed up with everything and doesn't feel as if she is worth it. She says "I will go now quietly."

I can relate to this song so much, and I think it is an internal conflict of thinking that you don't deserve to love anyone or to love them because you "suffocate" them.