Hunger of the Pine Lyrics
Butterflies and needles
Line my seamed-up join
Encased in case I need it
In my stomach, for my heart
Chain mail
Yawn yearns into me
Plenty more tears in the sea
And so you finally use it
Bedding with me you see at night
Your heart wears knight armour
(I'm a female rebel)
Sleeplessly
Embracing
You
As quickly as it takes your hand
To warm the cool side of the pillow
I'm there for you, be there for me
I'll hum the song the soldiers sing
As they march outside our window
(I'm a female rebel)
Sleeplessly
Embracing
You
Une immense espérance a traversée ma peur
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So here's my thoughts on this. Going off of what Alt-J have said, as quoted by hokealogenous.
Sleeplessly embracing - opening words, and they're repeated, over and over through the song. It's almost like counting sheep but the numbers keep getting higher, and sleep is elusive and you're just thinking and thinking about the person. But there's something about it being sleepless/wakeful. Sleepless implying the lack of sleep and all, and then the similarities between sleep deprivation and drug inebriation. It's not just that he's missing them, but that they're his drug, so to speak. (Overanalysis? Probably.)
Butterflies and needles- referring to collecting the butterflies (treasured memories? the person?) and pinning them, a procedure which takes a lot of care and effort. But as beautiful as they are, they're dead. The memories are no longer the present. The missed person, would they still be with him, would be trapped. It's taking the past and setting it on a pedestal. It's trapping the butterfly instead of letting it live its life. Line my seamed up join- possibly referring to the armor symbolism? Encased in case I need it- the pinned butterflies, encased. The needing being a reminder. In my stomach, for my heart- playing off the butterflies in the stomach feeling when you're in love. Which is sad- because the butterflies here are not fluttering- they're pinned. It's the hunger (of the stomach-- that pain) for the real thing. Chain mail- this yearning, this pining is more than a ritual. Though the relationship is over, he's not willing to give it up, and is building up walls, protecting himself, with memories. Not letting anyone get close, while in a way hurting himself.
Hunger of the pine- Because it's not just that he's pining. It's that the pining itself is hungry, and wants to be fed. To quote Gotye (I know, I can't forgive myself for it either) but you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness. And this is him feeding and trying to sustain the relationship in anyone he can. It may be over, but now he can still pine for it, and still maintain that.
Sleeplessly embracing Yawn yearns into me- It's not that he's actually tired, but the Sleep is yearning for him so much it finally overwhelms him. The yawn is yearning, and he's the passive recipient. But he gets the sleep. A new day comes. Plenty more tears in the sea- tears&salt water, kind of indicating he's cried more tears into the sea, but so have others, sure, also playing off the plenty of fish in the sea cliche people always throw out at break ups. And so you finally use it- First mention of a "you," and annoyingly vague usage of "it", thanks Alt-J. For me, the best explanation is to look forward a bit in the song- the "you" is using the knight armor, or the knight sword, trying to pierce through like the pins and butterflies. I think this is another person, not the one that he was originally missing, but someone similarly discarded. Bedding with me you see at night Your heart wears knight armour- they're both noticing the baggage they're carrying, the armor they've been wearing to prevent them from going further in relationships.
Hunger of the Pine (I'm a female rebel)- the distortion makes it seem more memory, not an additional voice in the song. More like he's remembering her saying that, and it being one of her more distinct features. Sleeplessly Embracing You- now he's found the new person, and he's no longer embracing the pinned butterflies; he's letting those go. Now he's sleeplessly embracing a person, hopefully the sleeplessness being a bit more enjoyable.
Realization grew on me As quickly as it takes your hand To warm the cool side of the pillow- so the realization being more of a gradual shift in perspective. But it's also the hand on the pillow; his cold shoulder is warming up, his life is warming up, and it is their handiwork, so to speak. I’m there for you, be there for me- he's cast off his armor, he's asking her for the same thing I’ll hum the song the soldiers sing As they march outside our window- because it's not just the two of them that have donned their armor like this; it's a lot of people. it's the people who have cried and created the sea. They're out there and they're still pining, and that song they're singing is almost like a battle-cry. He's scared she's going to go back and join them instead of staying with him and cast it off. So he'll hum it as well so that she'll listen to his call to his arms so they can be sleeplessly embracing once more.
Hunger of the pine- Because it's kind of something everyone's gone through. This culture surrounding the one great true love kind of leads people to think they can/should never move on after a big relationship is over. And it's a trap we all kind of fall into- that desperate missing. And then feeling like we can't escape from that role.
The French roughly translates: A great hope has crossed the earth/ A great hope has crossed my fear So then that hope being that he can move on, with this new person in his life. They're his new hope, crossing his old fear that he'd be pining for the first one forever.
Fairly cathartic. But that's my interpretation. Feel free to disagree :)
@vertigonia wonderful interpretation. Damn. I needed to read this today. Thank you.
@vertigonia wonderful interpretation. Damn. I needed to read this today. Thank you.
@vertigonia wow that is pretty incredible. Thank u for this. I love this song and the video trips me out. But now u have made the video make more sense. Like the arrows being hurled at the guy running aren't from actual enemies....they are from the girl that loves him or thinks she does. I dunno that just made a lot of sense to me tho. Thanks!
@vertigonia wow that is pretty incredible. Thank u for this. I love this song and the video trips me out. But now u have made the video make more sense. Like the arrows being hurled at the guy running aren't from actual enemies....they are from the girl that loves him or thinks she does. I dunno that just made a lot of sense to me tho. Thanks!
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Alt - J (∆) said on the new track (sourced from here - http://tinyurl.com/psdh6sl) that "The lyrics mainly suggest the idea that missing someone — pining — can be a physical pain much like hunger."
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Butterflies and needles Line my seamed-up join
These lines make me think of Silence of the Lambs, and the character Buffalo Bill who skins women to make himself a suit, he also keeps moths in his basement. I know they have a lot of film references in their lyrics. Not sure how it fits with the rest of the lyrics though.
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Sounds like he wants weed and he has a hunger for and the Miley drop saying she's a female rebel and having admitted that she smokes weed makes it seem even more like it's about being addicted to weed