The Wolf

Awesome

In my opinion the wolf stands for the fear. People can be afraid of so many different things they can't talk about. And this can obviously ruin their relationship, if that's what the song is about.

I think this is about a relationship that ended, and The Wolf is the other man. The chorus alone sealed at least my interpretation of the song:

"I've been wondering for days how you felt me slip your mind" seems like the person he loves doesn't feel the same anymore. Then, "Leave behind your wanton ways", meaning drop the promiscuity. Maybe an affair? "You were all I ever longed for" describes this as a relationship in the past, which he clearly felt was going somewhere.

Marcus uses point of view a lot, and also switches POV frequently in his lyrics. He’s talking to himself here. He is likening himself to a wild animal, afraid and wandering. The phrase “you have been weighed, you have been found wanting” is a quote from Daniel 5:27. “Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” So he’s afraid he’s not good enough; a higher power has weighed him and he’s been found wanting. You’ve been wandering for days. How you felt me slip your mind. Leave behind your wanton ways. I want to learn to love in-kind. Cause you were all I ever longed for. It seems as though he’s switched POV here. As if the higher power is now telling him he’s been wandering for days and “you felt Me slip your mind.” He’s no longer thinking of God. But maybe either God or he, himself, is telling him to leave behind his sinful ways. To learn to ‘love in-kind’ means paying or returning something in the same kind that was given to you. He wants to learn to give unconditional love. “You were all I ever longed for.” He’s saying this to God. When there is an imminent threat, the public is told to ‘shelter in place.’ The wolf is the imminent threat, but the wolf could stand for many things. Sin, temptation, or even a lesser version of himself. It’s most likely another switch in POV again to God. He’s telling him to keep The Wolf back from the door, because it wanders ever closer. He grows closer to temptation, to being his lesser self. The Wolf is that part of himself that is a threat to his faith. And “I promised you everything would be fine” sounds like God is reminding him of His promise that everything would be fine. When he sings hold my gaze love (his love is God), don’t turn your back on me, you know I want to let go of my sin. Psalms 16:8: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” He’s saying his gaze is still on God. And when he is whole, he will stand with his love and together, will stare down at the wonder of it all, “And I will hold you in.” He will hold God in. He’s changed “I want to learn to love in-kind” to “I want to look you in the eye.” He’s accepted his accountability. His gaze is now back on God.

It reminds me of when my first love said she wanted to see other people.

i think the wolf means us. what I mean is that the wolf is our ego, an insatiable animal.

where the lyric picks up is a realization that our ego has led us astray (our "wide-eyed" terror (that reeks of existentialism)) but a memory of something more stirs (that "all I ever longed for", that something "to love in kind") to provide him some inkling of a path to redemption.

To me, this song is about depression. The wolf is depression, and the point of view belongs to a close friend of someone with depression. When you're depressed, you feel that you don't deserve to be loved by anyone. They "slip your mind". Depression starts with thinking that "you have been found wanting" and then creeps slowly, "closer every night".

This friend realized that the only thing that keeps the "wolf" at bay is actually connecting with the depressed person, supporting him/her and making sure they know how important s/he is.