Mumford & Sons: After the Storm Meaning
After the Storm Lyrics
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.
Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:It's about hope. Pure and simple. Hope that things will get better.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:A dying husband shares his last words of hope and a future together with his loving wife - who will soon be left behind after his death. He wishes to soothe her impending pain and tears.
He tells her he holds on to everything he knows (her love) - the only thing which can calm his fears.
Into the dark night he goes with Faith and a devoted wife's undying love. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:hope, huh?... maybe, i think its about accepting death. the storm is fear he is constantly running from fear. and many people do, throuout their lives. they run and run as the rains come. the rain is pieces of your fears coming to life. yet, he realizes as every great brave and nobel man must. that death is not to be feared. that our culture has been playing death as the bad guy for hundreds of years when in reality. death should be valued, i know this sounds kind of deranged but... death is a great adventure. the greatest of all. the only adventure available to a coward. grabbing someones hand and remembering life. and much of your life you will run round and round... and people tell you love is great. but love durring life... kinda really sucks :) there will come a time (when you die) when love will mean something more, when it WILL be great. now... im not quite a normal person... i know this, especially for my young age. and this interpretation is probably going to be disliked. but, i felt that maybe someone else would gain from it. maybe :) who knows?
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Love this song! Seems to me a Christian message. The Storm could be life. After the storm being death. Darkness does not know the light is biblical and is eluded to with slightly different words.Looking up, on knees and out of luck can easily be looking up to heaven as we are broken and seek forgiveness/help/relief. Love overcomes fear. Grace in your heart. Over your hill could be another word, like storm, for life.
Regardless, it is certainly a great song! -
I believe this is specifically about English soldiers on the Western Front during WW1. The Great War left an indelible mark on British society - it impacted every family. It created a Lost Generation. The British Empire never recovered.
"And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
On my knees and out of luck,
I look up."
Post battle, a soldier is retreating to safety. He drops to his knees in exhaustion and pain - realizing his friends are gone and his boyish dreams of glory are shattered. He is literally praying.
"Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot."
Tomorrow will come for the survivors, whether they want to see it or not. There is no greater proof of life than witnessing death; seeing the bodies of your comrades buried and decaying in the trenches. It is a constant reminder that the soldier is alive. It is prayer and a primal scream that the soldier will not become one of "them".
"And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for."
This is a flashback to the villages where the Pal Regiments were formed. Entire communities sent their boys off to serve together. They marched through the squares to cheers and tears from girlfriends and mothers, respectively. They did it for the glory of England, King and country. It was what they were taught to believe. It was deeply ingrained as duty.
"But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."
This is the fear of battle and the release that death provides. Death brings relief from pain and heartbreak. This is the only positive spin a soldier can conjure. The Brits were constantly taking territory from entrenched German positions. The orders of the day were almost always, "Today we take that hill, boys!" The Germans seemed to always have the high ground. Victory and life itself, lived over that hill. Either way, a soldier would sleep well at the end of the day, whether in a captured trench or a shallow grave.
"And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold."
The soldier is clinging to sanity and naive beliefs about the glory of war. He has now witnessed the horror of battle and he realizes that he must suspend grand notions and focus only on simple survival. Just surviving the day is victory - maps, generals, parades ... they mean nothing anymore.
"And I won't die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before."
The soldier is contemplating his own death and final resting place. Will he go home to the village cemetery or be covered over in a shell hole in no man's land? And does it even matter? He is but one of millions to go into the maw. He's terrified thinking about the battles he's seen and the battles he still must endure.
"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."
Here the soldier is talking to his dead friend. He repeats his prayer for his friend who we know is gone as the Lord has taken his spirit and filled it with His grace. He now lies in a coffin with the garlands of a returning hero upon his head.
The repetition of this verse underscores it as a prayer, a hymn. -
I've always seen this song as being about overcoming life. Whether it be about the death of a loved one [as death is highlighted in the lyrics] or depression, or other forms of loss.
However my personal interpretation has changed recently in light of the events in Orlando. It reminds me now of the struggle the LGBTQ community has gone through. How hopeless it feels and how difficult the struggle for acceptance and equality has been. To me, now, the storm in this song is the Orlando massacre, and the rest of the lyrics are meant to inspire us to keep fighting for what's right.
Obviously that's not why the song was written but I feel the song was meant to be interpreted to suit the needs of the listener. It's intentionally vague in order for the listener to substitute their own struggle as the storm and go from there. -
someone who is fearful, dreading what will be coming next. he/she tries to run and run away from it all but they know nothing will get better. he/ she looks up; stops for a second and evaluates the life they have. Just a little hope inside them, a small spark to light the confidence they lack will help get he/she to the top. Their not going to give up on the life they've built, all the memories made and chains linked, it's not worth the giving up and broken souls. A friend or an inner voice speaks to them, helps them get back up. (Chorus) with the help and advice from a friend or inner self, he/she stands tall, believes nothing can get in their way. they must keep their minds set straight forward to success.
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I believe that the meaning behind this song is to give everyone hope and to interpret it in a way which works for you.
For me it helps me deal with depression and I find it inspiring that things will get better "there will come a time you'll see with no more tears"
It tells me that not everyone is against me, somewhere there is someone who will help me through it and show me the way "and love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears"
It gives me hope that there's something better waiting for me on the other side of the depression, you just have to work for it "get over your hill and see what you find there"
But it also reminds me to stay true to who I am and remain positive and alive within myself "with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair"
The storm in this song is the depression, the rains are the tears and spilt emotions, you're looking up for the light to give you hope. There's someone waiting for you "and I took her by the hand and we stood tall". It reminds you that after you're gone, your memory still remains "but I won't rot, not this mind and not this heart I won't rot" -
To me, this song are the hopeful words said to someone who is going through depression. Or it is the person themselves trying to convince themselves not to commit suicide, and that they'll make it through the worse. Therefore the lyrics "after the the storm" mean that someday everything will turn out okay
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For me, (I have depression) the protagonist is in a relationship or is close to someone who has depression or is going through a tough time. They are talking to them, saying how things will get better 'after the storm' or after they recover / things stop being so bad, telling them that this WILL happen and to be hopeful.
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it's the voice of a dead soldier, letting his wife know that he will go on to the next world and comforting her.
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this is about love and loving someone. theres a huge storm. which is going to separate them emotionally, he looks up and says that he'll make it. that they'll get through it together and that the future will be better & that they should believe in their love for each other. even though its going to be hard now it'll be okay. he took her by the hand & they stood tall <3 it will be okay he knows it
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In my personal opinion "after the storm" is about a man whose wife,close friend, or family member is dying and he is telling them everything will be ok.(And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears). And his final word to them is Get over your hill and see what you find there,With grace in your heart...
Then after they have past he is simply lost(death so full and man so small) -
I think it is about someone who witnessed a mass murder or war and saw death in the face but somehow survived, and this is him speaking to a child or even to himself. Reminding himself that life is worth liveing and that it will be alright.
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Lemme know what you think but I have an idea it is about Jesus' crucifixion,
"I won't Rot" because Jesus Arises after 3 days
"I will die alone" because Jesus Feels forsaken by God and probably people.
"Because death is just so full and man so small" Jesus is hesitant to die and sacrifice himself for mankind.
I believe the first stanza refers to Jesus Praying in the Garden before his death after the storm on the sea when he walks on water -
I think this song is about hope. And that even after something bad has happened to you, you can move on. And find something or someone to help you.
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My interpretation of this song is that, the lead singer was in a relationship, and they got in an argument, a huge fight that almost tore them apart completely, and he is simply stating that after the storm, when everything is looking bad and ripped apart, look up, have hope, look for a better future "and love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears" the song is about hope. It is about in the wreckage of a storm, after the storm, it will get better.
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I believe that this song is about a man and his wife who have survived a big war that happened in their town. And they had family who died and need to accept it and get some closure.
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