Heavenfaced

This feels a little like a song about being in a relationship which you can't leave, because you couldn't live with yourself for hurting the other person, although that may be an over simplified interpretation.

That second-to-last bit is amazing:

"She’s a griever, my believer"

So the narrator is talking about how this woman approaches things solemnly and seriously and what she means to him...

"It’s not a fever, it’s a freezer"

...and how her way of seeing things isn't feverish (she's not "heavenfaced," she's not "high") but cold...

"I believe her, I'm a griever now"

...and how he eventually is won over to her way of looking at things. A really smart way of communicating the sort of circular nature of that kind of conversion, and one that fits well with the rest of the lyrics.

This song has so much emotion to it it makes me cry. I think it's about someone who has a very small amount of time to live...like a deadly form of cancer. They give you very strong drugs for these kinds of cancer. "How completely high was I" This person is deeply in love and don't really want the person to suffer with them, but they still believe they can one day be happy together in heaven. They know death is coming so they are scared and upset causing them to be "Heavenfaced" She believes he could some how pull through "She’s a griever, my believer" but it's not a "fever" or curable issue it's a "freezer" or Death. Were your body is put after you die to preserve it before burial. My brother is dying from liver cancer, he's also in love so maybe I'm just comparing it to the emotions I'm seeing.

There's a lot of fear/hope about death & dying here, but I can't quite figure out the central line: "Can’t face heaven all heavenfaced." What does it mean to be "heavenfaced"?

It seems to be about a soldier or someone who is facing death - wanting someone to go in his place. Not ready to die when he's in love (heavenfaced). Comforted by the thought that they would be together again someday. Still very ambiguous. Nice.

Heaven is an end - it's the end. It's also a euphoric state of being - "I'm in heaven". "Can't face heaven, all heavenfaced.": He can't face that his relationship has become cold, dead, because he is still caught in this euphoric love - he's still "heavenfaced". "She's a griever, my believer.": She grieves a lost aspect of their relationship, believing that it can come back - that He can be what he once was, that "He" can come back.

Berninger sings about being trapped in a nostalgic relationship; they stay together in memory of their heavenly history - unable to face their relationship's end.

Yes.

A response to......."There's a lot of fear/hope about death & dying here, but I can't quite figure out the central line: "Can’t face heaven all heavenfaced." What does it mean to be "heavenfaced"?"

I would imagine that heavenfaced would indicate a calm, angelic, peace filled face. I believe that what they meant or were trying to convey is one cannot face God with a smile on their face. Although awesome as it may be it would also be terrifying

i think in this song he is talking about the dynamic of a relationship... not necessarily one that is continuously failing, but has its ups and downs. i think the first verse in the song is about how he acknowledges the investment he placed in the relationship. when he says "if you lose me, i'm gonna die" i feel like he is scared of how dependent he grew to this relationship. and in regards to the final verse, i think he is just talking about the back and fourth of dependency and fear in the relationship.

but thats just me, and im an idiot

thank you for the reading

I think this song is about a breakup but the lover thinks they are still in a relationship.."I could walk out, but I won’t In my mind" He cant stand a place where he is not with the girl on his mind. the lines "Let’s go wait out in the fields with the ones we love" is the dream land (like in strawberry land by the beatles) where we thinks he should be.