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Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice) Lyrics
You and I were born in a little town
Before the awful sound started coming down
Oh no, oh
You came home from school and knew you had to run
Please stop running now, just let me be the one for you
I know you can see things that we can't see
But when I say I love you, your silence covers me
Oh, Eurydice, it's an awful sound
I was so disappointed you didn't want me
Oh, how could it be, Eurydice?
I was standing beside you by a frozen sea
Will you ever get free?
Just take all your pain, just put it on me
So that you can breathe
When you fly away will you hit the ground?
It's an awful sound
I know there's a way, we can make them pay
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
I know there's a way, we can leave today
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
You were born in the little town
Before the awful sound started coming down
There's so much inside you that you won't let me see
You fly away from me, but it's an awful sound when you hit the ground
It's an awful sound when you hit the ground
I know there's a way, we can make them pay
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
I know there's a way, we can leave today
Think it over
We know there's a price to pay for love in a reflective age
I met you up upon a stage, our love in a reflective age
Oh no, now you're gone
Before the awful sound started coming down
Oh no, oh
Please stop running now, just let me be the one for you
I know you can see things that we can't see
But when I say I love you, your silence covers me
Oh, Eurydice, it's an awful sound
Oh, how could it be, Eurydice?
I was standing beside you by a frozen sea
Will you ever get free?
So that you can breathe
When you fly away will you hit the ground?
It's an awful sound
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
I know there's a way, we can leave today
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
Before the awful sound started coming down
There's so much inside you that you won't let me see
You fly away from me, but it's an awful sound when you hit the ground
It's an awful sound when you hit the ground
Think it over and say, "I'm never going back again"
I know there's a way, we can leave today
Think it over
I met you up upon a stage, our love in a reflective age
Oh no, now you're gone
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This song, in the most part, is sung from the perspective of Aristaeus, a key player in the story of Eurydice and Orpheus, and details unrequited love.
Eurydice claimed that Aristaeus was obsessed with her, and was chasing her - causing her to step on the poisoned snake which killed her. Eurydice therefore held Aristaeus responsible for her death in some versions of the Eurydice and Orpheus tale.
The awful sound mentioned numerous times here is variously; the noise of Orpheus' music wooing Eurydice, the silence with which Aristaeus' professions of love were met by Eurydice, and the noise of Eurydice's body as it hit the ground after being poisoned.
This "awful sound" has a dual meaning. It could also be the "awful sound" of modern life, therefore the first lines "You and I were born in a little town / Before the awful sound started coming down" hark back to a time of innocence and before the prevalence of the destructive modern forms of technology and communication which are recurring throughout Reflektor. Indeed the lines "I met you up upon a stage / Our love in a reflective age" are taken straight from the title track.
I disagree.
I disagree.
I see the song as being written from the perspective of Orpheus. The awful sound being the burden of carrying Eurydice (the tree of knowledge) through him, propelling him to his own repeating doom as Orpheus rendered, as Innana's corpse in suspension, as Wotan in suspension, and as Christ upon the world tree of the cross.
I see the song as being written from the perspective of Orpheus. The awful sound being the burden of carrying Eurydice (the tree of knowledge) through him, propelling him to his own repeating doom as Orpheus rendered, as Innana's corpse in suspension, as Wotan in suspension, and as Christ upon the world tree of the cross.
Eurydice is the song that fills the vessel, which seems real until brought by the vessel into the light of the living, then evaporates leaving the vessel to face the vitriol world alone. Hence . . . Why have you forsaken me?
Eurydice is the song that fills the vessel, which seems real until brought by the vessel into the light of the living, then evaporates leaving the vessel to face the vitriol world alone. Hence . . . Why have you forsaken me?
As a reflector....
As a reflector. He is surely the vessel. Without existential meaning until filled with the Muse's gaze. But when Eurydice evaporates at the threshold? And should the vessel refuses to fill, is this not the path of the Buddha, who is also married to the tree.
Arcade Fire has changed the way I view music in general since finding them. Awful sound is my initial favorite, with saying that most grow to my favorite and then within about a year I will settle on a album favorite, the only band that has this musical prowess over my mind.
Contextually the most simplistic but layered music ever made. The song is a love song, anything but plain or simple.
First listen to this was just now... I like it a lot. New album is definitely different, but I suppose that's a part of the greatness of the band. Will always be a fan.
Obvious Greek Mythology aside, here's my take;
This song is about Win's journey and how fame changes you. The 'awful sound' is the crowds cheering. Both parties in the song are Win, the real Win, and the rockstar persona. The man and the reflection. At the beginning of the rockstar journey is the real person. They create a stage persona, but by the end of the journey the person they were has changed too much and is gone. All that is left is the shallow persona. In essence, eventually the man disappears but the reflection remains.
There is a bittersweet relationship between the famous and the fans. A thankfulness for everything fame has gotten them, and a resentment for everything it has taken away from them. I know there's a way, we can make them pay. By walking away forever.
Something every famous person considers at some point.