I don't understand why people always seek to find a mundane narrative about love affairs and drug abuse in wonderfully written songs like this. I was fortunate enough to see Miike Snow at Coachella, 2010. They came out with Phantom of the Opera masks on and it was obvious to me that mystery is a huge part of their show, lyrics, and videos. One look at the video for "Black and Blue" and "Sylvia" shows they are going the Tarriantino briefcase motif and I love the hell out of it. Here is the simple answer for me.
The person in this song has killed Sylvia. The conclusion is of the song is "...and your voice calls out for the coup de grace and the lights go out will there be a trace?" A coup de grace is defined as "a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, and with or without the consent of the sufferer." It certainly can be a figurative, metaphorical, or analogy "killing" but the song seems to suggest a literal killing from my perspective. Consider this "and your skin is so [white] underneath the black night" suggesting she is already dead along with the lyrics "I dont know silvia / that I loved, silvia / that I loved, silvia." Motive? Simple, "I know I can't have you here/ someone else on you skin." What makes this all so delicious is that like a character drawn from Edgar Allan Poe, the speaker seems to be deranged, holding a conversation with a dead lover: "Did I say too much / did I say enough / I don't know Silvia / I don't know Silvia." I think he followed the "powerlines" out of the city to bury her, and used them to return to the city. Amazing songwriting, thank you Miike Snow!
Love your take on the song, you seem like an intelligent person. So here is my addition, I'm not sure exactly what the song is about but I have a valuable insight; Silvia comes from the Latin root for forest. Silvia actually means spirit of the woods. So he could be not talking about a woman at all but something far greater seeing as how woods fit in with the animal jackalope that the men burn in the woods during the video. Forests are associated with darkness, perhaps a moral wilderness he has lost himself in or killed forever?
Love your take on the song, you seem like an intelligent person. So here is my addition, I'm not sure exactly what the song is about but I have a valuable insight; Silvia comes from the Latin root for forest. Silvia actually means spirit of the woods. So he could be not talking about a woman at all but something far greater seeing as how woods fit in with the animal jackalope that the men burn in the woods during the video. Forests are associated with darkness, perhaps a moral wilderness he has lost himself in or killed forever?
@Alwaysinterested These interpretations are on point. I want to add that a nymph is “a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations.” I think this song is about a man that has fallen for a nymphomaniac. The song starts in 3rd person and ends in 1st person. Throughout she is described as being emotionally unavailable. In the end the man that loved her possibly accepted her nature “And your voice calls out for the Coup de grace” somewhat indicating that she may have continued on her path of Nymphomania with another or...
@Alwaysinterested These interpretations are on point. I want to add that a nymph is “a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations.” I think this song is about a man that has fallen for a nymphomaniac. The song starts in 3rd person and ends in 1st person. Throughout she is described as being emotionally unavailable. In the end the man that loved her possibly accepted her nature “And your voice calls out for the Coup de grace” somewhat indicating that she may have continued on her path of Nymphomania with another or she may possibly be struggling to stop continuing the life path she’s on. In the end the lover has accepted that he may possibly be forgotten at night “When the lights go out will their be a trace?” as she continues on her life path of Nymphomania.
Nymphomania is not so much a life path but a way to cope and numb oneself from pain. I think the song makes it clear that she’s already “dead” emotionally dead/emotionally unavailable for a monogamous relationship, a stable life.
Nymphomania is not so much a life path but a way to cope and numb oneself from pain. I think the song makes it clear that she’s already “dead” emotionally dead/emotionally unavailable for a monogamous relationship, a stable life.
The journey your story took me on was awesome then reading all the other comments on here had me following the powerlines to the forest of nymps and I saw fire in my head at nite .
Mental orgasam of a journey lol
The journey your story took me on was awesome then reading all the other comments on here had me following the powerlines to the forest of nymps and I saw fire in my head at nite .
Mental orgasam of a journey lol
I don't understand why people always seek to find a mundane narrative about love affairs and drug abuse in wonderfully written songs like this. I was fortunate enough to see Miike Snow at Coachella, 2010. They came out with Phantom of the Opera masks on and it was obvious to me that mystery is a huge part of their show, lyrics, and videos. One look at the video for "Black and Blue" and "Sylvia" shows they are going the Tarriantino briefcase motif and I love the hell out of it. Here is the simple answer for me.
The person in this song has killed Sylvia. The conclusion is of the song is "...and your voice calls out for the coup de grace and the lights go out will there be a trace?" A coup de grace is defined as "a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, and with or without the consent of the sufferer." It certainly can be a figurative, metaphorical, or analogy "killing" but the song seems to suggest a literal killing from my perspective. Consider this "and your skin is so [white] underneath the black night" suggesting she is already dead along with the lyrics "I dont know silvia / that I loved, silvia / that I loved, silvia." Motive? Simple, "I know I can't have you here/ someone else on you skin." What makes this all so delicious is that like a character drawn from Edgar Allan Poe, the speaker seems to be deranged, holding a conversation with a dead lover: "Did I say too much / did I say enough / I don't know Silvia / I don't know Silvia." I think he followed the "powerlines" out of the city to bury her, and used them to return to the city. Amazing songwriting, thank you Miike Snow!
This is my favorite take on this song. Whether it's what the writer intended or not, it's a creative point of view.
This is my favorite take on this song. Whether it's what the writer intended or not, it's a creative point of view.
Love your take on the song, you seem like an intelligent person. So here is my addition, I'm not sure exactly what the song is about but I have a valuable insight; Silvia comes from the Latin root for forest. Silvia actually means spirit of the woods. So he could be not talking about a woman at all but something far greater seeing as how woods fit in with the animal jackalope that the men burn in the woods during the video. Forests are associated with darkness, perhaps a moral wilderness he has lost himself in or killed forever?
Love your take on the song, you seem like an intelligent person. So here is my addition, I'm not sure exactly what the song is about but I have a valuable insight; Silvia comes from the Latin root for forest. Silvia actually means spirit of the woods. So he could be not talking about a woman at all but something far greater seeing as how woods fit in with the animal jackalope that the men burn in the woods during the video. Forests are associated with darkness, perhaps a moral wilderness he has lost himself in or killed forever?
@Alwaysinterested These interpretations are on point. I want to add that a nymph is “a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations.” I think this song is about a man that has fallen for a nymphomaniac. The song starts in 3rd person and ends in 1st person. Throughout she is described as being emotionally unavailable. In the end the man that loved her possibly accepted her nature “And your voice calls out for the Coup de grace” somewhat indicating that she may have continued on her path of Nymphomania with another or...
@Alwaysinterested These interpretations are on point. I want to add that a nymph is “a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden inhabiting rivers, woods, or other locations.” I think this song is about a man that has fallen for a nymphomaniac. The song starts in 3rd person and ends in 1st person. Throughout she is described as being emotionally unavailable. In the end the man that loved her possibly accepted her nature “And your voice calls out for the Coup de grace” somewhat indicating that she may have continued on her path of Nymphomania with another or she may possibly be struggling to stop continuing the life path she’s on. In the end the lover has accepted that he may possibly be forgotten at night “When the lights go out will their be a trace?” as she continues on her life path of Nymphomania.
Nymphomania is not so much a life path but a way to cope and numb oneself from pain. I think the song makes it clear that she’s already “dead” emotionally dead/emotionally unavailable for a monogamous relationship, a stable life.
Nymphomania is not so much a life path but a way to cope and numb oneself from pain. I think the song makes it clear that she’s already “dead” emotionally dead/emotionally unavailable for a monogamous relationship, a stable life.
The journey your story took me on was awesome then reading all the other comments on here had me following the powerlines to the forest of nymps and I saw fire in my head at nite . Mental orgasam of a journey lol
The journey your story took me on was awesome then reading all the other comments on here had me following the powerlines to the forest of nymps and I saw fire in my head at nite . Mental orgasam of a journey lol