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| "That's right...we're, you know, sensitive and stuff." |
No, really. This is appropriate for personal reasons.
And yes, I like Snow Patrol. Sue me.
This song originally appeared on Fallen Empires. This is a very subdued song, very much in keeping with what most people think of when they think of Snow Patrol, with its pared down near acoustic arrangement and its plaintive reading of the lyrics.
Maybe it’s where I am in my life right now, on the precipice of a decision similar to the one being explored here, but I gotta admit it speaks to me. This is a song about that moment of nervous, frightened anticipation when someone--notice that we assume that this is a man simply because the vocals are male; there’s no true indication as to the singer’s identity--commits to someone else. The reference to the island at the beginning represents not a physical place but the state of mind of the singer, that state of isolation the truly lonely get used to....and then this path to the outside world opens up, and you stumble for it, glimpsing someone who could guide you out. The question then becomes who that person is--'are you wolf or are you lamb are you too scared to choose?’ The question then becomes do you follow the person, even if his/her ‘cold hands feel good,’ even if the possibility warms you like a star that bathes you in a ‘dark red heat that burns’....do you give in, or listen to what you’ve learned in the past?
I could be reading too much into this song. For all I know, Snow Patrol is pointing at me and laughing. But given where I am right now in my life, the situation I am in, I am taken with this song. I am a strong believer in signs and portents, and I believe that somewhere, someone is trying to tell me something.
Sorry this one got kinda metaphysical. I promise I’ll do better next time.
Here’s the song.
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