A northern state in the summer time
My Uncle's lake on the Fourth of July
Outside the cabin my sister tried to call like the loon with her hands cupped tight up against her mouth as the fireflies became visible in the failing summer light
A sparkler in my hand, I went after them (as they went out into the night)
I wandered down to a quiet place where the grass grew tall as it met the lake
There was a different bug, must have bit my leg, though I never saw him
Back at home, I cried in my room
My closest friend, the one that I confided to
I wanted her, but she wanted you
and I was sick in bed, I could barely move
And then as my body turned against itself
I prayed for death that I'd come back to be anyone else
Be anyone else (x2)
As the sickness formed within my cells
You never loved me like the way you love anyone else
If you dig a hole and dig it deep enough
The truth buries itself and buries itself
And I, I disowned my own family
All for love (x2)
I was ashamed of my sister because
She belonged to me when I wasn't good enough
I'm sorry (x2)
You were the only thing I should've ever loved
I'm sorry (x2)
My Uncle's lake on the Fourth of July
Outside the cabin my sister tried to call like the loon with her hands cupped tight up against her mouth as the fireflies became visible in the failing summer light
A sparkler in my hand, I went after them (as they went out into the night)
I wandered down to a quiet place where the grass grew tall as it met the lake
There was a different bug, must have bit my leg, though I never saw him
My closest friend, the one that I confided to
I wanted her, but she wanted you
and I was sick in bed, I could barely move
And then as my body turned against itself
I prayed for death that I'd come back to be anyone else
Be anyone else (x2)
You never loved me like the way you love anyone else
If you dig a hole and dig it deep enough
The truth buries itself and buries itself
And I, I disowned my own family
All for love (x2)
I was ashamed of my sister because
She belonged to me when I wasn't good enough
You were the only thing I should've ever loved
I'm sorry (x2)
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An immensely beautiful song. Kyle Morton, the lead singer, was bitten by a bug and got Lyme disease and almost died of organ failure, so the meaning makes much more sense in that respect. But still, there are a lot more layers to it, especially considering love, family, sacrifice.
This is only my extense interpretation, I hope you like it.
“A northern state in the summer time, my uncle’s lake on the fourth of July”
-With “northern state” Kyle refers to the State of Oregon in the United States which is located in the northern part of the country. He is talking about a story or event that happened on the fourth of July; which is the U.S Independence Day.
“Outside the cabin my sister tried, to call like the loon with her hands cupped tight, up against her mouth as the fireflies became visible in the failing summer light, a sparkler in my hand, I went after them as they went out in the night”
-First of all, there is an alliteration in “call like the loon”, and in this verse Morton is saying that his sister was trying to get the attention of the loon, that we suppose was in the lake, by doing sounds so the loon can answer back to her.
“I wandered down into a quiet place, where the grass grew tall where it met the lake, there was a different bug, must have bit my leg, though I never saw it”
-This verse is very important. It is related to the bug that bit Kyle; the one that transferred Lyme Disease to him. He thinks that one day, he walked down some tall grass and this bug bit him, without him realizing what happened.
“Back at home I cried in my room, my closest friend, the one that I confided to: ‘I wanted her, but she wanted you’, I was sick in bed, I could barely move, and then as my body turned against itself, I prayed for death that I’d come back to be anyone else, as sickness formed within my cells”
-In this stanza, Kyle is narrating that he was in love with this girl; probably he had sort of a crush on her. Morton is narrating when he told his best friend that that girl was in love with his best friend, and not him. Also, Kyle could not do much because he was in bed, fighting and struggling against his disease.
“You never loved me like the way you loved anyone else, you dig a hole, dig it deep enough, the truth buries itself and buries itself”
-This sort of a complicated verse. Kyle regrets liking this girl instead of caring and loving his sister that was always there for him. “You dig a hole, dig it deep enough, the truth buries itself” it is a metaphor for time. Kyle wants her sister to forget about what happened and the mistakes he made by using the factor of time.
“I’m sorry, you were the only thing I should have ever loved”
-Kyle Morton ends the song with a deep and powerful apology to his sister.