I think there's a clear link between this song and Paul Celan's poem, Deathfugue. Originally written in German, the first words of any translation come out as "black milk". The general tone of the song is incredibly dark though the lyrics don't necessarily reflect that as much as the way she sings and the title.
Here's the actual lyrics according to more reliable sources, though I'm not certain of these either. We would have to hear them from Elizabeth Frazer herself to understand fully her lyrics:
You're not my eater
I'm not your food
Love you for God
Love you for the Mother
Eat me in the space
Within my heart
Love you for God
I love you for the Mother
Mother fountain
Or live or not at all
The most level
Sunken chapel
Love you for God
Oh, love you for the Mother
All's there to love
Only love
Notice how like in Paul Celan's poem, she makes use of constant repetition, both in the lyrical structure, as well as with the background vocals often echoing the previous line in a slurred almost unrecognizable way.
I believe this effect relates to the dizzying delirium of Celan's poem, repeating "we drink" constantly at the beginning of every stanza.
I don't believe there's a narrative in the lyrics. I believe she's using her voice and the lyrics more as an instrument than to be taken as literally connotating anything. The ideas that it's about polyamory or a relationship are way too literal. The lyrics are more poem than story telling. That said let's take a look into the content of Frazer's poem.
The most important part to look at is the repeated phrase "Love you for God, love you for the mother"
This certainly does not mean: "I love you because god tells me, I love you because my mom tells me"
That's a comically literal reading. If you have any doubt it's not suppose to be taken so literally, you must listen to the song and hear her voice and the effects they use on it. The creators of the song didn't intend you to hear perfectly every syllable of every word.
I think the closest is that this is to be heard as the dizzy, delirious rambling of someone on opium (black milk). The euphoria of opium here is represented by the mentions of love. The other effects of opium are easily heard in the timbre on her voice - again she's using her voice as an instrument, and that representation in itself is as important as the lyrical content.
So the repeated chorus of "love you for god, love you for the mother" as well as the opening line make reference to opum, or really any narcotic, maybe even marijuana. Again, I don't think there's a literal interpretation possible here. But we will use opium to refer to the substance. Now let's look at the lyrics without the chorus:
You're not my eater
I'm not your food
Eat me in the space
Within my heart
Mother fountain
Or live or not at all
The most level
Sunken chapel
All's there to love
Only love
With the chorus out of the way, it becomes a little clearer what Frazer was intending to convey.
The first two verses appear to contradict one another. First there's statement you're not my eater. At first there's a very tepid denial, and almost immediately, they're allowing the black milk to consume them. space within my heart is a pretty key phrase here; drug addicts almost universally describe falling prey to a drug's addictive allure as filling something that was missing. She's describing the original denial that one is falling victim, and then the fall, as she allows it to consume her "in the space within [her] heart"
The last verses are not as clear to me. Debussy has a prelude named "The Sunken Cathedral" about a Briton myth from ages ago, but doesn't seem to quite fit here. I'm also uncertain the lyrics are totally correct or even intelligble in many of the last verses/phrases.
The last phrase does seem to imply a complete dissolution of self - All's there to love, and then "only love". There's a notion of complete loss of self. This is backed up by the reference in the very first lines of being consumed. If the black milk has completely consumed her, then there's nothing, only "love". replace the word with euphoria, and you get a picture of a poem about someone who lets an opium habit become and addiction and ultimately consume them completely.
I think there's a clear link between this song and Paul Celan's poem, Deathfugue. Originally written in German, the first words of any translation come out as "black milk". The general tone of the song is incredibly dark though the lyrics don't necessarily reflect that as much as the way she sings and the title.
Deathfugue on wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todesfuge
Here's the actual lyrics according to more reliable sources, though I'm not certain of these either. We would have to hear them from Elizabeth Frazer herself to understand fully her lyrics:
You're not my eater I'm not your food
Love you for God Love you for the Mother
Eat me in the space Within my heart
Love you for God I love you for the Mother
Mother fountain Or live or not at all
The most level Sunken chapel
Love you for God Oh, love you for the Mother
All's there to love Only love
Notice how like in Paul Celan's poem, she makes use of constant repetition, both in the lyrical structure, as well as with the background vocals often echoing the previous line in a slurred almost unrecognizable way.
I believe this effect relates to the dizzying delirium of Celan's poem, repeating "we drink" constantly at the beginning of every stanza.
I don't believe there's a narrative in the lyrics. I believe she's using her voice and the lyrics more as an instrument than to be taken as literally connotating anything. The ideas that it's about polyamory or a relationship are way too literal. The lyrics are more poem than story telling. That said let's take a look into the content of Frazer's poem.
The most important part to look at is the repeated phrase "Love you for God, love you for the mother"
This certainly does not mean: "I love you because god tells me, I love you because my mom tells me" That's a comically literal reading. If you have any doubt it's not suppose to be taken so literally, you must listen to the song and hear her voice and the effects they use on it. The creators of the song didn't intend you to hear perfectly every syllable of every word.
I think the closest is that this is to be heard as the dizzy, delirious rambling of someone on opium (black milk). The euphoria of opium here is represented by the mentions of love. The other effects of opium are easily heard in the timbre on her voice - again she's using her voice as an instrument, and that representation in itself is as important as the lyrical content.
The beginning verse also references opium.
"You're not my eater, I'm not your food"
Lotus eaters is what they used to call people who used opium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus-eaters Moloko, another trip hop group, used this term as the name of one their songs three years earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OMOykadBDA
So the repeated chorus of "love you for god, love you for the mother" as well as the opening line make reference to opum, or really any narcotic, maybe even marijuana. Again, I don't think there's a literal interpretation possible here. But we will use opium to refer to the substance. Now let's look at the lyrics without the chorus:
You're not my eater I'm not your food
Eat me in the space Within my heart
Mother fountain Or live or not at all
The most level Sunken chapel
All's there to love Only love
With the chorus out of the way, it becomes a little clearer what Frazer was intending to convey.
The first two verses appear to contradict one another. First there's statement you're not my eater. At first there's a very tepid denial, and almost immediately, they're allowing the black milk to consume them. space within my heart is a pretty key phrase here; drug addicts almost universally describe falling prey to a drug's addictive allure as filling something that was missing. She's describing the original denial that one is falling victim, and then the fall, as she allows it to consume her "in the space within [her] heart"
The last verses are not as clear to me. Debussy has a prelude named "The Sunken Cathedral" about a Briton myth from ages ago, but doesn't seem to quite fit here. I'm also uncertain the lyrics are totally correct or even intelligble in many of the last verses/phrases.
The last phrase does seem to imply a complete dissolution of self - All's there to love, and then "only love". There's a notion of complete loss of self. This is backed up by the reference in the very first lines of being consumed. If the black milk has completely consumed her, then there's nothing, only "love". replace the word with euphoria, and you get a picture of a poem about someone who lets an opium habit become and addiction and ultimately consume them completely.