Bon Iver: Skinny Love Meaning
Skinny Love Lyrics
Come on skinny love just last the year
Pour a little salt we were never here
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer
I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and...
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I think this song is actually in some ways, him leaving her or him even dying.
"I'll be with you but it'll be a different kind" -
My interpretation is a little out there. I see it as about a guy who is trying to get someone he loves but she doesn't return his love therefore its 'skinny love' because its only one sided.
Whenever he is saying 'love' in the song he is speaking of his emotions towards her and not her.
'Come on skinny love just last the year'
Wanting to get through a year with the hope that she will still want him.
"I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall"
he realizes that it isn't going to work. The ropes are hope.
The lines
'And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind'
are about himself and how he told himself how to win her over and now he's lamenting not doing it correctly.
'Come on skinny love what happened here
We suckled on the hope in lite brassieres'
Again he's wondering how he messed up so bad 'suckled on the hope'.
Basically the whole song is a self assessment
'Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?
Ooh, ooh' and at the end he is wondering who will love him.
It's kind of sad but that's just how I see it. -
"it's about that time in a relationship that I was going through; you're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not necessarily why you should be in a relationship. And that's skinny. It doesn't have weight. Skinny love doesn't have a chance because it's not nourished." - Justin Vernon.
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I don't know why I think this, but someone once read this scripture to me that said "...you must be patient and balanced,and you must be kind..."
And suddenly I thought of Skinny Love. I wonder if it has anything to do with it. Does anyone happen to know what that scripture is at all and if it has any relevance? -
It doesn't matter what the "correct" interpretation of the song is! What matters is how the song affects you....how you relate to it on your own personal level....what you get out of it, from your own experiences.... that is what makes it such a beautiful song! A million different people can relate to it in a million different ways! Of course it's always nice to know what Bon Iver was thinking when the song was written. So, what does it mean to me? Ha,IT'S PERSONAL!!!
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I believe it's about a man singing to his lover who is anorexic/suicidal. But the line "I'll be holding all the tickets/and you'll be owning all the fines" gives the impression that he is making mistakes and she is paying for them. So, he blames himself for her illness. In the last verse he seems to be mad at her because of her illness.
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I was thinking she's addicted to cocaine because of "skinny love" and usually people tend to get skinny from cocaine & then "at the end of all your lines" like cocaine lines and then "you'll be owning all the fines" like its expensive and crap.
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I'm only 14 and I am such a great fan of Bon Iver… all his songs have so much depth and can be interpreted in numerous ways. So I'm gonna give this a shot! Here goes…
I think that "skinny love" is about a relationship that is falling apart. So what was before is now getting weaker. And the relationship is unable to grow because it's not being "fed" enough anymore. They have tried to work things out but it seems like no matter what they do, they can't go back to how things were before. -
I'm only 14 and I am such a great fan of Bon Iver… all his songs have so much depth and can be interpreted in numerous ways. So I'm gonna give this a shot! Here goes…
I think that "skinny love" is about a relationship that is falling apart. So what was before is now getting weaker. And the relationship is unable to grow because it's not being "fed" enough anymore. They have tried to work things out but it seems like no matter what they do, they can't go back… -
i think its about two people who love eachother but dont admitt or label it but act in accordance and the song explains the confussion and hurt of those circumstances.. the lyrics such as "stareing at the blood and crushed veneer" are symbolistic to the feeling of confusion but at the same time having the blood as symbolic to tha pain and the crushed veneer as though the covering or cover up of something so perfect and detailed has been destroyd and turned ugly. skinnylove can cause alot of suffering and can be much more destructive than that of unrequainted love because it is almost a denile or avoidance of truth and something that is potentially harmfull in the full run of responsability with relationships, when all the wile it is destroying them anyway, but people victamised to this are somewhat blind to it and so it is a vicious circle especially when others get involved.
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The relationship is starving. He is looking at a sink of blood and then looking in the mirror saying i told you to be patient. Then he talks to the lover who may or may not be there. I'll be with you in the morning but it will be a different kind. The relationship has suffered a breach. Something has been broken. And he will stay but it wont be the great love they wanted. He wants her to move on because he doesnt have the will to do so himeself. It is a tall order for either of them. It is about staying in a relationship that feels safe but does not feed your soul.
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The article I read interviewing Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) on his interpretation of Skinny Love:
"We dated and she's an incredibly important person that I lived with for a long time, but it's about that time in a relationship that I was going through; You're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not neccessarily why you should be in a relationship. And that's skinny. It doesn't have weight. Skinny Love doesn't have a chance because it's not nourished."
Since reading this, I have listened to the song in entirely new eyes. And it surprisingly gets more beautiful and fragile each time.
-KW -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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