White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes cover)

Now this is just a guess, but I think that this song could be about slavery. I was following a pack all swallowed in there coats = I was running for my life and everyone was bundled cause it was winter.

With scarves of red tied 'round their throats to keep their little heads from falling in the snow = some people may have scarfs or ropes with blood that the slave owners tug on to keep them moving.

And I turned 'round and there you go and Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime = Someone saw someone fall maybe that they knew called Micheal cause the slave owner caught up with them and shot Micheal.

That's just what I think this song means!

Well, I guess it's about, like, one tragic cold winter, in which the singer has a younger brother (Michael). She looks out in the window, and sees the brother running with some kind of pack (wolves/ wild dogs/ etc...etc...) and what puzzles her is why he isn't harmed. Then, suddenly, the next second, she turns around to find out that a wolf has killed her brother (And Michael, you would fall And turn the white snow red as strawberries In the summertime ...) the 'turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime' line means blood or death or something.I think the singer of this song either lost someone special- or either a brother or a lover. Not sure though :(

It's a dream. A bizarre one, but just a dream the writer is conveying.

My first thought is on the name Michael. Why that name? The song is called White Winter Hymnal which implies a biblical essence at the very least, but after noticing the name Michael i thought of the angel. I looked it up since i'm not versed enough to know much about angels and the bible and it say that Michael was the angel the lead God's armies against the devil. Could this mean that mentioning the name in the lyrics at all in such a simple song is purposefully trying to draw your attention to it. Also, the verse repeats over and over again. it seems meloncholly if you listen to a good version. (if you havent heard it yet, try the version by Birdy, it's amazing) Repetition is often used in poetry to show importance of something and the bible is basically a gigantic poem. So, could it be that this simple and seemingly meaningless song is actually quite meaningful?
possibly it says

"Micheal, you fell against evil..." and i say this because it is also said that Michael was often referred to as the Archangel Michael, and the lyrics say "I was following the pack, ( following the ways of god ) all swallowed in their coats (of armor) With scarves of red tied 'round their throats (slit throats) To keep their little heads from falling in the snow, and I turned 'round and there you go And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in summertime (and then michael goes down too)

I know it's grim but this is the only thing that makes sense to me for a song named for hymnal and a name blaring you in the face, the name of and angel.

Seems to me the greatest reasons to write songs are love or faith or pain but who knows, maybe i'm reading way too much into it.

Maybe we are all wrong... I found this:

Fleet Foxes songwriter Robin Pecknold revealed to Rolling Stone that his songs are "written from personal experience,” including “Hymnal,” which was about a time when his friends ditched him in middle school. The lyrics might have been about childhood past, but the melody came from a familiar source — namely, Walt Disney. “The idea was a song like “Whistle While You Work,” from Snow White, you know?” Pecknold said. “So it started with that very beginning thing, the first kind of like, melody. And then once the verse was done, it just seemed like it lent itself to the repetition, you know?”

Read more: rollingstone.com/music/news/white-winter-hymnal-fleet-foxes Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

I think it could be about the french revolution. there was a sign they wore to show that they were with the revolution(the scarves) and people who didn't got killed. and some people followed blindly. it could also be a dream, and im reading too much into it. to me, personally, its having mental problems, and the red scarf is the thing that hold you together, whether it be self harm or not. red is the pain. eventually it all comes apart. like, the singers friend fell apart.

Here's a link to a wonderful music video by an a capella group, The BU Sweethearts, covering this song bu.edu/buniverse/view/ My feeling about these lyrics: You go along day to day with everyone else (the pack), immersed in trivia, and suddenly, something personal, momentous and tragic occurs to shock you out of your complacency. Michael was a friend or lover, and the warmth of that relationship is embodied in "strawberries in summertime", in contrast to the coldness of winter and death. The line "To keep their little heads from falling in the snow" is hindsight anger at the pack's shallow mindlessness, and also its innocence which the singer has lost and yearns for.