I thought about this song a lot and came to my own way of understanding it, but it's probably just what I see in it.
The music gives me the feeling that Bastille isn't trying to justify the "scrub" mentioned in the song, nor the girl refusing him, but simply shows the desperation of the entire situation. Combined with the title "No Angels" (though also clearly a reference to the song Angels by XX) I think the song could be understood as a lamentation of the human's inability to love and be loved. We are no angels, we are imperfect and yet do not have the capacity to love what is imperfect.
The music is rather melancholic and sad and I feel as if the words of scorn were said almost unwillingly. (As if "I simply cannot love you.")
I also believe the song is about being refused and the pain it causes. As if the hurtful words were constantly replayed in the head of Norman (in the version with the Psycho reference) The worst of it is, that it's really nobody's fault. We can't expect the scrub to be different (hence: "I was born in mine.") and we can't expect the girl to like him the way he is. It's as if indeed there were no angels.
I thought about this song a lot and came to my own way of understanding it, but it's probably just what I see in it.
The music gives me the feeling that Bastille isn't trying to justify the "scrub" mentioned in the song, nor the girl refusing him, but simply shows the desperation of the entire situation. Combined with the title "No Angels" (though also clearly a reference to the song Angels by XX) I think the song could be understood as a lamentation of the human's inability to love and be loved. We are no angels, we are imperfect and yet do not have the capacity to love what is imperfect.
The music is rather melancholic and sad and I feel as if the words of scorn were said almost unwillingly. (As if "I simply cannot love you.")
I also believe the song is about being refused and the pain it causes. As if the hurtful words were constantly replayed in the head of Norman (in the version with the Psycho reference) The worst of it is, that it's really nobody's fault. We can't expect the scrub to be different (hence: "I was born in mine.") and we can't expect the girl to like him the way he is. It's as if indeed there were no angels.