Turtle doves seem to be deeply symbolic of love, faithfulness, and devotion. As a religious symbol, it represents the release of the soul at death. So given this information, Antony sings about being kissed by a turtle dove. In the context of the first two verses, it seems that perhaps the narrator of the song is dying and ascending, but there is also a strong theme of love in here.
"Everything was new
Every sock and shoe
My face and your face
Tenderly renewed"
The chorus seems to refer to having reached heaven, or some equivalent sort of afterlife and meeting a lover there. She is either a lover from the past, or perhaps she and the narrator of the song died together somehow ("I was waking up to my love", meaning the narrator died, ascended, and woke up to a lover who waited for them, or the narrator and the lover died together and wove up in heaven). I assume that this is paradise, because they are "tenderly renewed". And yet, even though this is paradise, it's still very somber, because they died and their souls ascended from a human body into some ethereal realm and it's been a journey.
The verses following the chorus pertain to the visions they see here. The reason I described the place described in this song as "heaven" is because there seems to be a lot of Christian symbolism, such as the turtle dove, the Virgin Mary, halos, etc.
"As the rich winds blow
kiss each flamingo"
I can't find much information about the symbolism of flamingos, but they seem to represent beauty, balance, and grace (all of which seem to be consistent themes of each animal mentioned in this song). I've also read they can represent the sun. On a similar note...
"Tousle reckless trains of
The wild white horses"
It's worth noting that horses can be associated with destruction or victory, depending on the context, but also with resurrection. Some interpretations show the horse to be the mediator between heaven and earth. They are also messengers of birth. Related to the flamingos, horses can also represent illumination, daylight, the sun and the moon.
All in all, I know i haven't covered all the bases of this song, but it's very beautiful and very intricate. I personally believe it's about heaven because all of the symbolism points to the afterlife, and also to love. Many of these symbols are also associated with femininity. I think based on the tone of this song, it's more of a somber beauty. It's a beauty that comes after death, which means that it was a long journey to get here, as there's the process of birth, life, dying, and the ascension of the soul, so even though the narrator and their lover are in paradise, it's not a paradise that came without hardships. There is so much to this song that I can't even begin to convey in words, but this is the closest I can come to it.
Turtle doves seem to be deeply symbolic of love, faithfulness, and devotion. As a religious symbol, it represents the release of the soul at death. So given this information, Antony sings about being kissed by a turtle dove. In the context of the first two verses, it seems that perhaps the narrator of the song is dying and ascending, but there is also a strong theme of love in here.
"Everything was new Every sock and shoe My face and your face Tenderly renewed"
The chorus seems to refer to having reached heaven, or some equivalent sort of afterlife and meeting a lover there. She is either a lover from the past, or perhaps she and the narrator of the song died together somehow ("I was waking up to my love", meaning the narrator died, ascended, and woke up to a lover who waited for them, or the narrator and the lover died together and wove up in heaven). I assume that this is paradise, because they are "tenderly renewed". And yet, even though this is paradise, it's still very somber, because they died and their souls ascended from a human body into some ethereal realm and it's been a journey.
The verses following the chorus pertain to the visions they see here. The reason I described the place described in this song as "heaven" is because there seems to be a lot of Christian symbolism, such as the turtle dove, the Virgin Mary, halos, etc.
"As the rich winds blow kiss each flamingo" I can't find much information about the symbolism of flamingos, but they seem to represent beauty, balance, and grace (all of which seem to be consistent themes of each animal mentioned in this song). I've also read they can represent the sun. On a similar note...
"Tousle reckless trains of The wild white horses"
It's worth noting that horses can be associated with destruction or victory, depending on the context, but also with resurrection. Some interpretations show the horse to be the mediator between heaven and earth. They are also messengers of birth. Related to the flamingos, horses can also represent illumination, daylight, the sun and the moon.
All in all, I know i haven't covered all the bases of this song, but it's very beautiful and very intricate. I personally believe it's about heaven because all of the symbolism points to the afterlife, and also to love. Many of these symbols are also associated with femininity. I think based on the tone of this song, it's more of a somber beauty. It's a beauty that comes after death, which means that it was a long journey to get here, as there's the process of birth, life, dying, and the ascension of the soul, so even though the narrator and their lover are in paradise, it's not a paradise that came without hardships. There is so much to this song that I can't even begin to convey in words, but this is the closest I can come to it.