Florence + the Machine: Seven Devils Meaning

Song Released: 2011

Seven Devils Lyrics

[Florence]
Holy water cannot help you now
A thousand armies couldn't keep me out
I don't want your money
I don't want your crown
See I have to tell you
You're a ...

Holy water cannot help you now
See I've come to burn your kingdom...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 26th 2013 !⃝

   While I am a Christian person, I don't think that this song has very much to do with religion. Someone stated before that it seems more like she's out to get someone. And the more I listen to it, the more it sounds like she is after someone for hurting her.
   I think this song is about her revenge on someone who hurt her.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 30th 2013 !⃝

   From my point of view, Florence's "Seven Devils" is mainly about revenge and vengeance in the afterlife. I picture it as a wandering spirit whose come "home" and all what's in it's mind is hatred towards the person in the song. In the beginning it states: "Holy water cannot help you now, A thousand armies couldn't keep me out, I don't want your money, I don't want your crown, see I have to burn your kingdom down...And no rivers and no lakes, can put the fire out, I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out..." This whole section reveals how much hate it feels inside by using the words "fire, burn, stake, and smoke,". Fire, in this case, symbolizes fury and destruction.
   "I have to burn your kingdom down"- I must to destroy your home.
   "And no rivers and no lakes can, can put the fire out"- Nothing can stop the madness I feel inside.
   "I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out"- (Stake: a wooden post in which people were tied up and burned to death as an old form of execution) I'm gonna put up the post and I will burn you.
   (I'm gonna try to make my response shorter, because I still have homework to do and it's late!)
   The most significant part of the song is it's refrain, it repeats:
   "Seven devils all around you, seven devils in my house, see they were there when I woke up this morning, I'll be dead before the day is gone"- Seven devils surround you, seven devils are in the house, they appeared this morning when I woke up, I'll will vanish before the day is gone
   (I apologize if I wasn't clear enough)
3. anonymous

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   Jan 29th 2013 !⃝

   well i think that this song describes veru good harry potter especially 7b.in the other hand this is the soundruck of the beautiful creatures movie so it can have o connection with the movie.I AM TOTELLY IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG!!!!!!!! <3
4. anonymous

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   Dec 26th 2012 !⃝

   I really interpreted this song as an allegory for paranoia. The first part "Holy Water cannot help you now ... I've come to burn your kingdom down" is basically her determination to know what's going on behind her back. Because paranoid people can get really worried and interested in what her accomplices are doing when she's not around (I.E. Private conversations, texts, phone calls, etc...).
   
   The chorus, "Seven devils all around me/Seven devils in my house/ See they were there when I woke up this morning/I'll be dead before the day is done" Is basically the seven devils representing her paranoia, "they were there when I woke up this morning" is her saying that that's how she is and it's not something she does willingly. "I'll be dead before the day is done" this paranoia will eventually be the possibly literal death of her, or maybe not as far as that, just her infinite frustration and need to know will drive her crazy.
   
   The second part, "And now all your love will be exorcised/and we will find your saying to be paradox/its an even sum/its a melody/its a battle cry/its a symphony" Is her saying that she will eventually find out what goes on behind her back and uncover those she thought to be friends as liars and two-faced (we will find your saying to be paradox).
   
   This is probably not the case, but that's how I interpret it.
5. anonymous

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   Dec 2nd 2012 !⃝

   I think this song has to do with the Seven Deadly Sins. Florence always has a way of expressing her true feelings in her music, and this song seems to me that it tell of her regrets of her sins or something of the sort.
   Wouldn't suprise me if it were a message from God. I truly think Florence may be an angel!
6. anonymous

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   Nov 9th 2012 !⃝

   It could be something from the Lord too... a warning that He has come and allowed the devils to surround. Sounds like the message is to the saints?
7. anonymous

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   Oct 20th 2012 !⃝

   Was hoping for deeper interpretations, but I'll just throw in my two cents...heard it in a trailer over the weekend and had to know more :)
   
   It could mean:
   a) a bad relationship, as many have said
   b) allusion to a nation and its citizens; thier desires manifest into the seven sins/ devils.
   C) played straight, and may mean an allusion to the church, and thier contradicting way of doing things, verses the people, or simply the occult. Just throwing that one out there.
   D) completely up to the interpretation of the listener; seems like there is several different levels of conflict in the song, not just 1 direct meaning.
   I'll re-edit when i let it sink in haha.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 22nd 2012 !⃝

   florence and the machine has been influenced by the church might have converted into christianity at one point of her life, but maybe she might have turned away from the path of God. In the bible it talks about 7 devils. In the book of Mattew chapter 12 verse 43 it says " When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walked through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none" meaning when you except Jesus Christ as your personal saviour your supposed to pray and get to know about the religion and pray to have a relationship with God, but if you don't you have excepted but not committed which means the same person you were before can still be there. in verse 44 it says "then he says, i will return into my house where i came out, he finds it swept and garnished" this means you have been cleansed when you accept but empty if you don't commit to God. your "house" is referred to your heart, your heart becomes empty which ends up driving you to your old ways. Verse 45 "then he goes and he takes with himself SEVEN other SPIRITS more wicked then himself, and they dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse then the first..." So possibly florence was once a christian and departed so she received the 7 unclean spirits which are the SEVEN DEVILS
9. anonymous

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   Feb 14th 2012 !⃝

   I think it's about the Seven Deadly Sins and how she has to live with all of them, but I think they are not in herself, but in her lover. I think this because she says 'Seven devils all around you' not me.
   I think she is also saying that her lover is killing her with his sudden change and that she will be heartbroken i.e 'dead' soon.

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