Florence + the Machine: Shake it Out Meaning

Song Released: 2011

Shake it Out Lyrics

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play


And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2012 !⃝

   I think it might be about how her and her partner have been having troubles with their relationship... Leave all the bad behind, and start anew, get rid of the dark and shed light into it.
   
   It's always darkest before the dawn, things look bad now, but wait for it.
   
   Everyone has a happy ending. If you are not yet happy, it is not yet the end.
2. BloodAfrica

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   Jun 2nd 2012 !⃝

   Its a hangover cure, i listened to it after a hard night bootin and the emotions that flow through this song are really the same ones as for someone trying to a shake off a hangover.
   
   Yeah sure in some way similar to the emotions you go through when you are in a dark place. but the lyrics are really not as twisted and riddled so as to describe an emotionally distressed person.
   
   Its either about a hangover and just that or its a badly written song about a trapped soul

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

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   May 30th 2012 !⃝

   She said in an interview, it's about having a hangover.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

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   May 19th 2012 !⃝

   If you watch the glee episode which features this song, you will understand the meaning. So if you're in a relationship where you aren't feeling right, whether it be domestic violence or whatever, you should get out of it (hence the 'its hard to dance with a devil on your back so shake him off')
5. anonymous

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   May 8th 2012 !⃝

   I think it's about alcoholism. The devil is a drink, and it's the only thing that can kill her. But she's finally understanding life goes on without the drink
6. anonymous

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   Apr 24th 2012 !⃝

   This song is about being in a dark place in ur place because uve been holding on to all the bad mistakes and regrets and nd negativity in ur life and you've been carrying it on your back making it hard for u to move forward (every demon wants his pound of flesh) all these mistakes are eating away at u but u refuse to talk about it so u needs to shake it out and move forward (and it hard to dance with the devil on your back so shake it out) its about finding a way to move forward from adversity T looking for heaven for the devil in me, so why the hell am I gonna let it happen to me ) this is refusing to a victim to ur past gotta love florence welsh
7. anonymous

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   Apr 17th 2012 !⃝

   This is about a woman who has cheated on her husband/boyfriend/lover and now feels awful, but is resolved to change herself and the internal flaw that makes her continue to cheat and put the past behind her. ("I am done with my graceless heart, So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart", "Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground")
   
   
   If i don't tell him i live with the terrible guilt, if i do tell him i break his heart ("I can see no way, I can see no way","And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't")
8. anonymous

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   Jan 8th 2012 !⃝

   i think the song is something like a deeper version of mariah carey's, shake it off. no disrespect to either becuase i love them both. but it could be about identifying anything in your life that is keeping you from enjoying being you, and then deciding to get rid of it. to me, its about getting over things because you cant really be happy while holding on to things that don't work, and/or didn't work in the past.
9. anonymous

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   Jan 6th 2012 !⃝

   I think its about a bad realtionship that she hasnt had the coverage to end. Its a drain on her life and causing her much pain but tonight she has decided to finish the realtionship. Hence the words she always carrying the horse around but tonight she going to bury it. The shake it off bit is the weight lifting of her shoulders that she finally moving on and can be at peace with herself and get on with her life and start to feel happy again.
10. anonymous

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    Dec 30th 2011 !⃝

    i think its about her relationship wth a guy and hes the devil hense the its hard to dance wth the devil on your back so shake HIM off and that her relationship is turning for the worst but that its gonna get worse before it gets better so just shake it off
11. anonymous

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    Dec 16th 2011 !⃝

    i think that in this song she was going through some things and she also mentioned something about dancing with a devil on your back , she was saying how hard it was . The lady wants people to feel as if they were falling off a building and when the beat comes in , she wants you to think that you're hitting the ground. This song reminds me of possesions and demons.

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