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Glory Lyrics

I see his eyes moving away from me
Oh no, is this another albatross?
He knows he holds dominion over me
But what I gain is worth the cost
We share the cold embrace of cousins
I wonder if I've seen him somewhere else before
And as I wonder at his ancestry
I miss the meeting by the door

And in the telling of the story
I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase
I read his lips and I see glory
But what I hear is "be afraid"

So from the fog of every morning
Until the heat of day is still
I watch the clock as it turns backwards
I watch the water run uphill

And in the telling of the story
I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase
I read his lips and I see glory
But what I hear is "be afraid"

And in the telling of the story
I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase
I read his lips and I see glory
But what I hear is "be afraid"
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Cover art for Glory lyrics by Wye Oak

This song is about infatuation and how it can overtake a person's life.

The song begins by telling about a woman who desires a man, though the man is not willing to reciprocate the woman's feelings. When he turns his eyes away from her (perhaps at a party or gathering), she thinks this is a bad omen (an "albatross," which is an allegorical symbol of bad luck described in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by the 18th century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge). The man in the song knows the woman is interested in him ("He knows he holds dominion over me"), yet he refrains from reciprocating the woman's feelings ("We share the cold embrace of cousins"). The woman, nevertheless, is entranced by his presence ("What I gain is worth the cost")--so much so that as she ponders where he comes from ("his ancestry"), he slips out the door without saying good-bye.

The chorus metaphorically explains how she reads him ("telling of the story," "lose my way inside a prepositional phrase," "I read his lips"), yet she realizes she should be afraid of such infatuation of a man who couldn't care less about her.

The final verse further describes the woman's continued infatuation at a later time. She wakes up every morning in a fog, perhaps from dreaming of the man overnight. She watches the clock go backward, the artist's way of saying the woman thinks back to the night she met the man. She sees the water "run uphill," another way of saying she thinks back to the previous encounter.

In essence, she knows her intense passion is unreasonable and that she should be afraid, but her mind says otherwise. Infatuation has overtaken her.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Glory lyrics by Wye Oak

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Cover art for Glory lyrics by Wye Oak

wye oak lyrics

I see his eyes moving away from me oh no is this another albatross he knows he holds dominion over me but what I gain is worth the cost we share the cold embrace of cousins I wonder if I’ve seen him somewhere else before and as I wonder at his ancestry
I miss the meeting by the door

And in the telling of the story I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase I read his lips and I see glory but what I hear is be afraid

so from the fog of every morning until the heat of day is still I watch the clock as it turns backwards I see the water run uphill

And in the telling of the story I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase I read his lips and I see glory but what I hear is be afraid

And in the telling of the story I lose my way inside a prepositional phrase I read his lips and I see glory but what I hear is be afraid

Cover art for Glory lyrics by Wye Oak

The missing lyric at the end of the first stanza is "I miss the meeting by the door."

 
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