Oh goodness, this makes me so excited. I'm pretty sure I figured out the meaning, not only to this song, but to the whole album.
This song is a breakup song, if you will. He had an affair with a girl (Winter Winds), and this is the breakup between him and his girlfriend.
"Rip the earth in two with your mind
Seal the urge which ensues with brass wires
I never meant you any harm."
The girlfriend is upset, her world is falling apart. And brass wires = a connection; Marcus is saying that he and the girl he had an affair with was just a connection, nothing more. And he didn't do this on purpose, he just wasn't thinking.
"If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won."
He's pretty much saying, "If only I had a part of my conscience telling me 'no' more than me not caring, I wouldn't have had the affair."
"But I gave you all"
I gave everything to this relationship.
"But you rip it from my hands
And you swear it's all gone
And you rip out all I have
Just to say that you've won."
She just broke up with him, and ended the whole relationship which broke his heart.
Oh goodness, this makes me so excited. I'm pretty sure I figured out the meaning, not only to this song, but to the whole album. This song is a breakup song, if you will. He had an affair with a girl (Winter Winds), and this is the breakup between him and his girlfriend.
"Rip the earth in two with your mind Seal the urge which ensues with brass wires I never meant you any harm." The girlfriend is upset, her world is falling apart. And brass wires = a connection; Marcus is saying that he and the girl he had an affair with was just a connection, nothing more. And he didn't do this on purpose, he just wasn't thinking.
"If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won." He's pretty much saying, "If only I had a part of my conscience telling me 'no' more than me not caring, I wouldn't have had the affair."
"But I gave you all" I gave everything to this relationship.
"But you rip it from my hands And you swear it's all gone And you rip out all I have Just to say that you've won." She just broke up with him, and ended the whole relationship which broke his heart.
So! Since I don't want to copy and paste a whole long thing, here's a link to my blog post about the album, if you're interested. I just really want to get this theory out to the world! Haha http://goatinakitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/church-of-mumford-meaning-of-their.html