Cosmo Sheldrake: Birthday Suit Meaning
Song Released: 2019
Birthday Suit Lyrics
Weighed down by morning
In my birthday suit
Lift up the evening
Just for a while
Backwards, upside down and inside out
So hold on or we’ll all fall down
Oh, heave the oceans do
Won’t you?
[Outro]
I’ll keep my ears on
I’ll...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I believe this song is about the titan Atlas (Greek mythology) Who was condemned to hold up the celestial heavens and sky for eternity. To begin with, the first lyrics are: "weighed down by morning" If you look up a photo of Atlas you will see him holding up a large ball. He is clearly being weighed down. And the heavens (and sky) are part of morning. Next it says: "In my birthday suit" Take a look at Atlas, he is naked holding up this thing. Then it says "Lift up the evening, just for a while" At one point Herakles (Heracles) agrees to take the heavens upon his shoulders while Atlas fetched the golden apples for him. This is clearly him asking to temporarily be relived of his duty.
"So hold on or we'll all fall down" Some believe him to be holding up the Earth. If he doesn't hold it up we'll all fall. "Oh heave to oceans do, won't you" The Atlantic Ocean was derived from the Atlas Ocean; and Atlas is heaving holding it up. "Keep my legs in sight" He is kneeling and basically only seeing his legs.
In conclusion I believe this song was based on the condemned titan Atlas. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation: -
Call me crazy but I think this song is about Morning Wood. It makes sense considering the phrasing he uses. It's a stretch, but it's funny.
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I'm fairly sure this song is about expectations and accepting that you can't meet them all.
The lyrics "weighed down by morning," "Lift up the evening," "Hold on or we'll all fall down," and "Heave the oceans too, won't you" reference having to meet everyone's expectations, feeling like you have to hold the whole world up. Also, the lyric "In my birthday suit" implies that the character feels embarrassed, revealed, or maybe just unsupported. The lyric "Backwards, upside down, and inside out" could imply two things: A, the character is bending themselves in ways that aren't healthy just to meet the expectations of others, or B, their mind is being twisted by all of these beliefs.
At the end of the song, the character has a breakthrough. The lyrics "I'll keep my ears on, I'll keep my eyes open, I'll keep my legs in sight, and wait 'til we all fall down" are the protagonist saying that they'll take care of themselves, but they can't just put the world on their shoulders, so they'll let everyone else do what the protag can't. Earlier, the lyrics stated "hold on or we'll all fall down," and the protag counters that claim by saying "[I'll] wait 'til we all fall down." -
I think that the song is about the struggle to change your reality when you're stuck in a negative headspace. The character is feeling so weighed down by their circumstances, even though it’s all in their head, that they're grasping for any way to escape. If it means losing themselves in the process, so be it. But they're determined to keep trying, even if it means "falling down" along the way. There's a lot of hope and determination in the song, even though it's also very raw and honest about the struggle.
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Morning and birthday suit represents birth.
Lift up the evening, inside out/upside down symbolize the ups and downs of Life.
Heave the ocean also speaks to the effort and struggles in Life.
Wait til we all fall down - we all have a similar fate.
Universal theme of Birth, Struggle/Growth, Death. -
…a careless youngster with tattoos senses impending responsibility, luster loss, and future decay, but pushes the thought aside once again, losing another opportunity, and squandering valuable energy that can’t be reclaimed. An impractical night owl, in a large and often dangerous world.
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…a careless youngster senses impending responsibility but pushes the thought aside once again, losing another opportunity, and squandering valuable resources that can’t be reclaimed. An impractical night owl, in a large and other dangerous world.
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I think this song is about ED and depression.
"Weighed down by morning"
When people are depressed they typically find it hard to get up in the morning.
"In my birthday suit"
Could represent a exercise outfit or just pajamas I honestly do not have a clue.
"Lift up the evening"
This is when they indulge in the unhealthy activity most. Exercising, forceful vomiting, etc.
"Just for a while"
They don't want to last forever but they really can't help it.
"Backwards, upside down and inside out"
They're dizzy from being malnourished and the inside out could mean vomiting.
"So hold on or we'll all fall down"
When malnourished you typically have a hard time staying standing in extreme cases.
"Oh, heave the oceans oh won't you"
They heave water because they're is no food in their stomach. The oh won't you part represents the little voice in their head encouraging the ED.
"I'll keep my ears on"
Listening if anyone can hear them vomiting/ exercising.
"I'll keep my eyes open"
Watching if anyone can see their unhealthy habits.
"I'll keep my legs in sight and wait"
They're watching their legs so they don't get "fat"
"Till we all fall down"
Eventually they know that they will fall down and never get up because of it but they just can't stop. -
Cosmo Sheldrake songs are written from the beat, meaning that the background and beat are created first, followed by the lyrics. Sheldrake fills in the lyrics with whatever sounds right, so the song is nonsensical and meaningless and meant to be that way.
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I think Birthday Suit is about despression that has lead to addiction Here's a line by line reason I think this (sorry it's a little long):
Weighed down by morning
-Depression makes it hard to get out of bed, essentially weighing you down with your own sadness.
In my birthday suit
-Perhaps indicates that the night before was rough. Perhaps waking up from a relapse, party, night of binge drinking, etc.
Lift up the evening, just for awhile
-In literature, evening is often associated with nefarious things: crime, partying, drug use, drinking, etc. Lifting up something up is often thought of as supporting or partaking in something. So, perhaps the addiction has begun to affect the person so much that they're considering a hit, a drink, etc. before work or some other important engagement. Sort of a "just one *insert action here* and I'll feel better/be okay. I'll just get a little high/drunk/etc"
Backwards, upside down, and inside out
-Realizing their life is hitting rock bottom. Alternatively, realizing they've overindulged and now have to go to work or wherever in this state.
So hold on or we'll all fall down
-Keep it together. Act sober. Act okay or it'll all be over. Perhaps they would be fired, ostracized by their family, etc.
Oh, heave the oceans too, won't you?
-This line is tough. My best suggestion is that maybe they feel like they're throwing their life away. Heaving the oceans is a metaphor for everything they are throwing away with this addiction.
I'll keep my ears on
I'll keep my eyes open
I'll keep my legs in sight and wait
Till we all fall down
-Ultimately giving into the addiction and resolving to just hold it together until eventually it doesn't, perhaps because that's easier than actually fighting it. But, they're going to do their best to keep it hidden, so they must do the things in the verse to stay careful. Alternatively, it could be accepting a nihilistic worldview and accepting that we're all going to die anyway do they're just going to act on their addiction until that happens. -
Weighed down by morning/mourning. A naked slave captured and cast away on a slave ship. Evening is a metaphor for a later date, possibly juneteenth, when the slaves were jubilant but didn't understand just how rocky the road would be from there. Keep my eyes and ears is a reference to the torture of the lynching mobs. Just a guess.
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I feel it's about someone being taken over by an insane paranoia. That's just how I feel about it, if you listen to the background music and the tone of the lyrics, it might make senes.
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I think it has to do with being very small and confused but also having to own up to being very powerful/dealing with the world going on at the same time. He seems lost at the beginning of the song, "backwards, upside down, and inside out" but before that he says "lift up the evening" which could be him lifting up his body but sounds more like he's the one controlling when the evening happens. However, the first 4 lines sounds like he's struggled with getting out of bed. The idea is that he doesn't have control of himself but he has to keep everything together since he controls things more important than himself. That could also explain the references to 'Ring Around the Rosie" which was so very powerful and he's scared "he'll fall down" because of something powerful. Also, the ocean imagery could be apart of the albums aesthetic or the ocean could be another powerful thing that has to proceed his well being.
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I’m pretty sure this song is a warning of some sort.
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This song is about being naked and loving yourself :).
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