Landscape Lyrics
It's all painted in her grief
All of her history etched out at her feet
Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
She wants to be alone and together with you
So she ran to the lighthouse, hoped that it would help her see
She saw that the lighthouse had been washed out to sea
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
Give you back the open sea
Open up the ages, darling,
For you to see
the bullet and spit out
'Cause it's running in the family
all the rituals of you and me
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
'Cause it's burning through the bloodline
It's cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
I had another thought...when Florence was about 13 (I think) her Grandmother committed suicide...I wonder if this is about her Grandmother. And about how her difficulties were passed down through her family and as a result of the environment, and now have been passed to Florence, too (she suffers from depression)...
I agree about the Woolf reference. I think it's about being a product of your genes and your environment. And being sort of doomed because of that. like we just find ourselves here with so much history behind us that isn't really our fault, evolution and traits, learned behaviours, through the "family tree". Then an environment that we can't always control and for this girl has been harsh (rain and snow).
I too think "What the water gave me" refers to Woolf...and the following song on the album which I think is about suicide by drowning.
I love this song so much! I'd say it's about a girl who, despite the upbeat feel to the song, is sort of lost, definitely divided within herself, and possibly depressed. And all of that either runs in her family, or is causing a division within her family (or both). I love the part about the lighthouse. A lighthouse is a sort of beacon of hope, and when she goes to look for that hope, she finds that it was washed out to sea. The singer then sings directly to the girl, "I wanna give you back the open sky." The singer wants to help the girl. And then the girl is either attempting or thinking about suicide. Kind of a sad song, but I really love this one!
A few lines I think are different: "Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness" "It's cutting down the family tree" "Growing in the landscape" "She saw that the lighthouse had been washed out to sea" "You put the gun into your mouth to bite You pull it and spit out"
Depression definitely crossed my mind too. I've got a feeling that the 'She' in the song is Virginia Woolf. She wrote 'To The Lighthouse' and suffered from a very severe depression that led her to commit suicide.
Depression definitely crossed my mind too. I've got a feeling that the 'She' in the song is Virginia Woolf. She wrote 'To The Lighthouse' and suffered from a very severe depression that led her to commit suicide.
It's: You put the gun into your mouth to bite the bullet and spit out Cause it's running in the family all the rituals of you and me
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[Edit: n/a]
Yes, Brod, I agree - Virginia Woolf immediately came to my mind too, given the 'To The Lighthouse' reference. 'What the Water Gave Me' also makes me think of Woolf...
I also think it's about suicide and depression. I love the imagery of "cutting down the family tree" and it's interesting to imagine someone who is 'just like the weather.'
But... I think the line "Oh the rich and" is something different... It sounds almost like "Oh the ritual between you and me" or something like that.
This is probably my favorite song right now :)
I love the lines:
"I wanna give you back the open sky Give you back the open sea"
I want to believe that those lines are about trying to help someone with depression, trying to make them happy when they're obviously not, 'giving them back' their happiness. I think the song is definitely about someone with severe depression.
I think that this is about a girl who had a sibling that she was close with. Her brother/sister committed suicide and she's grieving (It's all painted in her grief). Her life feels empty without her sibling and she wants them back because her sibling was the only kind one in her family. Now she's unstable, her emotions constantly changing like the weather. Born from dark water probably means that she was born under unfavorable circumstances (like, her mom accidentally got pregnant with her). I think that daughter of the rain and snow is referring to her parents. Her mother is the rain, because she's always crying and grieving over the loss of her other child and their father is the snow, which means that always working and he's never in the house. Snow just says that he's a cold and distant figure. The sibling's death is tearing apart their family (It's cutting down the family tree). The girl wants all this madness to stop but at the same time, she's afraid of what will happen if it does stop.I think the lighthouse bit is about a person she was seeing that gave her advice. When she goes to look for that person, they're gone. Either they left or they died. I can't be sure. Someone else is talking about the girl in that part about the open sky. They want to help the girl. She is thinking of committing suicide (You put the gun into your mouth to bite). The girl stops herself at the last second and realizes that killing herself will bring only more pain to her family.
And that's what I think.
"You put the gun into your mouth to bite the bullet- then spit it out, 'Cause it's running in the family, All the rituals of you and I" are the lyrics...