So I was going on my quest to take over @palacelight’s #1 Beach House schlar spot earlier when I came to this song. Because of the youthful setting through a mature lens vibe that Devotion gives off, I read this sng, and this line specifically to be about a grandmother who raised her children alone that is able to find love again when she gets a grandchild. It could also easily be read that it’s about a wise lover but I’m not sure.

https://genius.com/5121671/Beach-house-heart-of-chambers/In-your-heart-of-chambers-where-you-sit-with-your-picture-books-and-your-ancient-wit-in-that-nook-i-found-you

I was discussing this earlier with @Heisenferg and we couldn’t come to a solid conclusion. Would love to hear from @ewokABdevito, @DaveHowell, @nietzsche, @TheScrivener /any Beach House fans etc.

the “chambers” could be a way to divvy up the varying facets of the singular person discussed – the ancient/youthful dichotomy, the ability to be playful while being serious in observing life. the songs that sandwich “house of chambers” contain references to books and pictures, these songs being about a specific lover the band’s had, so this being about an elderly person somewhat falls. instead, the picture books marry the three songs together, the synthesis of the things that remind them of this person who they lost

the “chambers” could be a way to divvy up the varying facets of the singular person discussed — the ancient/youthful dichotomy, the ability to be playful while being serious in observing life.

interesting observation i hadnt thought of. sounds about right. i dont get the second half tho. what “songs” are you talking about?

fuck forget the titles off hand, but whatever songs occur right before and after “house of chambers” on the album

“all the years” and “some things last a long time”

I don’t think it’s about a grandmother for a few reasons, the main one being the climax of the song.

Here are a few observations:

1.) Like Brian said:

In your heart of chambers
Where you sit
With your picture books and
Your ancient wit
In that nook I found you

Bold: “Heart of chambers” means the deepest recess of that persons self. We often divide aspects of personality and ego into different houses.

Italics:
Picture books (doodle books) and ancient wit are either mocking or endearing about this persons private drawings and writings. The person was trapped deep within themselves, introverted.

Made our iron bed side
Cold as graves

Bold: This introduces some interesting imagery of discomfort, but it’s real purpose is in the very end lines:

In our beds we’re the lucky ones
Fill us with the sun

Bold: They will be cooked alive on their bed of iron as they stoke the organ…

But here is the interesting aspect: They are in the “Heart of chambers” a place that natural light shouldn’t reach.

So this is a statement about death and rebirth, while also being a statement about breaking down walls. Hinging on the logical connection that natural light shouldn’t reach the heart of a chamber and that their iron bed “cold as a grave” will be stoked and they’ll be literally fried when the sunshine hits.

:)

“all the years” references a schoolbook

Doing all the housework
Returning all the schoolbooks
For good

Let’s go on pretending that the light
Is never-ending
We still have the summers
To be good to one another, hey

“some things last a long time” is a daniel johnston cover

Your picture
Is still
On my wall
On my wall

The colors
Are bright
Bright
As ever

Red is strong
Blue is true

Some things last a long time
Some things last a long time

@Heisenferg @nietzsche @BennySwans What do y'all think of my interpretation?

you’ve convinced me that its not a grandmother @ewokABdevito and @nietzsche. thats the image i always got listening to the first verse but it doesnt really fit with the rest you’re right. im not sure how to work what we’ve discussed into tates but i think this quote from victoria is rather poignant:

I’m realizing I’m completely off topic at this point… But when, for example, with other people, each song has its own meaning to someone. Each song has its own story, each song has its own emotion. That’s what’s beautiful about songs or songwriting, and you get to make your own little universe, and then your album is a collection of universes that take a listener to some place, and each listener is a completely unique and different person from the next, and will have their own interpretation. And there’s the other universe, the one that Alex and I are creating, at a practice space or at an airport or wherever, and all the thoughts we have and the experiences we have and everything is being funneled into a keyboard or an 8-track or a tool that we’re using.

I could check out the rest of the album and see if I pick up themes/any elucidating evidence.

@BennySwans Lmao

im not sure how to work what we’ve discussed into tates

This is my problem I could talk ALL day about the codification of meaning in any song, but I just can’t figure out how to translate some of it into a Genius annotation that is cogent to all.

Also to clarify: The Heart of chambers” being a place that natural light shouldn’t reach is the most important aspect. From this we derive that the sunlight represents getting the person “out of themselves”

A sort of a “You can try to hide in darkness, but light will break through” meme.

The being cooked part is foreshadowed by stoked and the fact that the graves were cold. However since this is complex imagery and most people don’t immediately see it, it should be second to the statement about light reaching the “heart”.

The frying pan thing is an uncanny surreal image, it depends on the bands propensity to do this, because it would take a degree of sunlight not stated and/or long exposure.

Sorry for all the posts, but a huge part of interpretation is trimming the extracted meaning. I drop frying pan thing at below 50%, so naturally I also have to omit a meaning derivative of that one:

I’d like to be someone
You could finally learn to
We’ve put our words down by our sides

Just like the frying pan thing on a reflective iron bed the words would literally be burned into their skin. Like vows.

But those are still below 50% (I don’t know much about the band and their propensity for certain types of imagery).

However the idea of a “Heart” and “chambers” can simply mark the “iron bed” as a “wrought iron bed” whose frame is as cold as a grave. If this is the case that the Iron bed word choice is a matter of “stateliness” to match the chamber.

But I am still off put by the words stoked and cold grave that foreshadow temperature being relevant in relation to the bed. So final thought:

Heart of Chambers = darkest recess of persons heart/being

Fill us with sun = Break down what keeps us introverted