Mumford & Sons: Little Lion Man Meaning
Little Lion Man Lyrics
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:This song is about the inability of a man to be the person he thinks he should be or thinks of himself to be. He hurts the people around him instead of leading them. He thinks of himself to be courageous and a leader, but finds that he is actually the one that is making the mistakes. This realization becomes clearer as he sees the same patterns of destruction with multiple people. We would all like to think of ourselves as brave, noble, people that care about others and ultimately do the right thing. When things don't go right it is easy to blame the negativity on others or the situation. But when one starts to see the same pattern in multiple situations, you might start to realize that the problem lies within. This song represents modern relationships. Where a person might go through many relationships aways blaming the other people for the reason why the relationship failed. And ultimately thinking that the right person hasn't common around. This song is about a man realizing that his relationships fail because of his inability to be a good partner.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart"
Its saying you won't be what you want to be.
"Weep little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
That through all the ups and downs in your relationship you have lost your courage to talk out your problems.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"
That you waste so much time trying to make yourself and your life and relationship perfect amounts to nothing.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?"
That you just messed up completely with her.
"Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before"
That you have been through a period like this in your relationship before or have seen a loved one or That you'll never have a chance to get back at her for the stuff she did, or vice versa.
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
that after the damage is done you try to act like nothing happened at all and your not sad at all
Learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck
That you should take advice from others or everything you do will fail or come back to hurt you. -
I think these lyrics are someone talking to himself after a fight with his significant other.
"Weep for yourself, my man
You'll never be what is in your heart"
You're not good enough for her.
"Weep, little lion man
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
You won't do what you would for her at the start of your relationship.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems
That you made in your own head"
This is all because of you.
The refrain is him talking to his significant other.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my dear?"
He's trying to convince her to stay, saying it was all his fault. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
Guys...guys.. guys...
Its not about a father and so , or inner child or freakin’ GOT.
He has said it was about it specific incident in his life. He did not get into specifics, but its very self explanatory.
He acted like a jackass. Like he didnt care, but he did. He didnt act like a man, but like a boy. And in the process he hurt someone. now he regrets it.
Its not that complex. -
I understand the meaning to be very different from all the other post. I hear a grown man who's reflecting on his life. Looking back through his life's journey with widsom and honesty, reflecting on the choices he's made. He's addressing his inner child. He's telling the little boy he once was, the little boy that still lives within him, all of his woes throughout his life. What had played out in comparison to what that little boy had imagined his life to become.
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That song is full of poetry making you think about its meaning and here is my interpretation.
Both verses are full of angriness and telling someone that a piece of sh** he or she is. No grace, no bravery, no stamina, nothing at all.
The refrain, however, is a total apology for this someone to be in a really tough and bad situation.
My only idea was that the VERSES are a dad yelling at his kid, telling him that he is a useless creature with no future.
The REFRAIN shows me the older dad, looking at his son, seeing a failed son with loads of self-doubt and bitterness,
and admits to him, that he - the father - has the main fault in his son's miserable situation. -
Though this song is perfectly written, so much that it can have many interpretions based on what a person thinks, I personally think that this song is about a family member, mainly an elder brother, singing to his other brother.
The first line, "Weep for yourself my man, you'll never be what is in your heart" could be the elder brother telling his sibling that he could never be what he desires to.
"Weep little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start", is when the singer(elder bro) knows that his younger sibling was very bold and calm, before he abused his younger bro, which along with the abuse of the world, made him terrified and unready for his independent, future life. The younger brother is compared to a young lion, possibly because lion cubs are usually very naive/playful and safe at first, before knowing about the dangers in the world. However, I don't honestly fully support this explanation for the term "little lion man"...
"Rate yourself and rake yourself, take all the courage you have left. And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head." This could refer to the younger brother judging himself and getting back on his feet, then gathering all his bravery back, but this time, use it to settle all the problems he faces in his mind.
"But it was not your fault but mine,"
Elder brother's POV:
"But it was not your fault but your own brother's for making you into this wreck you are now."
"And it was your heart on the line,"
Elder brother's POV:
"And now because of me, the blame is on you. You suffer and you don't deserve it."
"I really fucked it up this time, didn't I, my dear? Didn't I my-"
Elder brother's POV:
"Looks like I have made a really big mistake, didn't I, brother?"
Then comes, "Tremble for yourself, my man, you know that you have seen this all before" The elder brother could be referring to the threats his sibling has faced in the past, and now showing them to him.
"Tremble little lion man, you'll never settle any of your scores" This could mean that the younger brother will never be able to settle his problems ever again, all because of his older sibling.
"Your grace is wasted in your face, your boldness stands alone among the wreck" The younger brother has been hiding his true feelings for very long, but inside, his bravery remains in ruins, and fear took over.
"Now learn from your mother, or spend your days biting your own neck"
Elder bro's POV:
"Now go to mom instead, otherwise you will keep on blaming yourself for what I have done to you."
If anyone wants to say something about this, please let me know POLITELY! I like opinions! :) -
Little Lion Man - Tyrion Lannister (interpretive)
"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart"
Refers to Tyrion Lannister the Little Lion Man who is called an imp in the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, commonly known as the condition dwarfism. Through out the books Tyrion puts this hindrance to the test seeking acceptance from others, but mostly his father.
"Weep little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
From the start of the books Tyrion comes off as a typical Lannister, proud and smug. As the story develops he is eventually forced to leave town and go into hiding.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"
Tyrion is a Lannister of whom are very wealthy, and although he is an Imp, he must take a step back and realize that the problems he suffers from are not that bad compared to other areas such as North of The Wall and across the sea.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?"
This line is from the viewpoint of Shea, Tyrion's mistress and true love, revealing that she is possibly the narrator of the song. When Tyrion first met Shae, he was the one seeking her love. Tyrion being an Imp and her not, Shae did not see this possible.
"Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before"
Although it is not portrayed well in the television show, Tyrion is always second guessing himself, and always just at the last second he comes up with a clever response or solution to his impedance.
"Tremble Little Lion Man
You'll never settle any of your scores"
This is a revert back to why Tyrion always second guesses himself, being that he is still and imp and the ignorant will always treat him as such.
"Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck"
The War of the Five Kings was a major plot of the series and the Battle of the Blackwater was the largest battle of that War hosting many ships. Tyrion played a major role in turning the tides of the battle among one of the ships and somehow escaped impossible odds. He did unfortunately receive a massive scar on his face. The book described Tyrion as being hideous imp, and although the television show portrays him as having a fairly normal face, the scar in the book is much more detrimental. After the battle, he only wishes for recognition and perhaps some praise from his father, none of which he gets. Despite this he continues to be "bold".
"Learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck"
Tyrion is accused of killing his mother, being that she died while giving birth to him. Ironically, Tyrion is mocked for having a massive head, and it being the reason for his mothers death. Having no control over her death, just as his condition, he shouldn't blame himself as he often does.
It may be a bit of a stretch however Tyrion is a Lannister, the house of the lion. A lower house, House Clegane, are in a sense under the order of house Lannister. The crest of House Clegane is the three headed dog. In a sense questioning if Tyrion is really a dog and not a lion. -
I knew this man, of whom they sing, personally.
-
great song for our times to tame the old timers that came into this world as roaring lions in their youth with pride and ego that dissintagrates within time in becoming like lambs in the eyes of the lord that is sweet to his taste.
-
"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart"
Its saying the man had lost his way
"Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"
The man is trying to fix problems that are not their or is forcing his help on others
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?"
an ex lover or friend has pushed the man into wanting to control the any and all relationships. And this isn't the first time they had push this man down a dangerous self destructive path. and realize they had push him too far.
"Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before"
That he has seen the same thing with his own father
"Tremble little lion man you'll never settle any of your scores"
He needs to let go of past hurts
"Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck"
His fake care is clear to see as he is known to always take and throw away nothing more.
"Learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck"
His mother tries to help him because she knows he'll become alone and a sociopath. -
The song “Little Lion Man” has a lot of meaning to them. I think the song represents modern relationships and a man who hurts the people around him instead of leading them. “Weep for yourself, my man. You'll never be what is in you're heart.” Its means the man won't be what he wants to be. He thinks himself to be a brave and a leader, but finds he is actually the one that is making the mistakes. “Learn from you're mother or else spend the you're days biting your own neck.” Its says that the man should take advice from others or it will come back and hurt you.
Its comes more clearer that the man sees the same pattern in other people. When things don't go right it is easy to blame the negativity on others. The man slowly starts to realize the problem lies within. He realizes as he goes though many relationships, and he always blaming other people for the reason why the relationship failed. “You're grace is wasted in you're face. You're boldness stands alone among the rest.” Means after the damage is done, the man tries to act like nothing happened and his not sad.
This song is about a man realizing that his relationships fail because he can be a good partner. -
The words are coming from his innerself, his subconcious (the guy that lives inside of his head). It's self deprecation, deserved or not. It's his mind telling him what he needs to learn:
"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart"
- He wants to be a better person/partner and his mind is telling him that he can’t.
"Weep little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
- He thought he could be a better this time. He was only as brave as the cowardly lion (put up a brave front) when this (relationship) started, but as time went on, the ghosts in his head from all his past misdoings and by those misdoings done unto him have diminished his ability to be truly vulnerable (you need to be brave to be vulnerable) and truly able to be part of this (relationship.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"
- He will tell himself over and over that he is NOT who he wanted to be and will do it until he is raw with pain. He will then pull himself up by the bootstraps by telling himself that it was everyone else’s fault thereby "fixing" himself by justifying his behavior
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?"
- His subconscious is telling him that he couldn’t rely on his head to keep his heart safe because the deeply buried ghosts got loose and his subconscious led them right to where it hurt the most. As a result he really messed up the something relationship) that was really good this time.
"Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before.
Tremble little lion man. You'll never settle any of your scores"
- His subconscious is forcing him to see that what he is doing he has done before and the same pain (or maybe worse this time) will follow. He will never settle any of his past hurts because he only buries them ultimately bringing them into his next relationship. The old scores need to be leveled with those who carved them into his soul.
"Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck"
- His subconscious is telling him that the kindness and clemency he hides within is wasted as his external demeanor won't allow him to share it with others and that that after the battle is done his boldness, his feeling of justification protects him from having to see the damage he has wrought. He subconscious is telling him to learn from his past transgressions this or his life will be nothing more than a constant stream of his subconscious leading him down the same path. -
everyone takes what he needs from a song.
Personally,i think about my greatest love that i never had because i never thought i was good enough for the girl.even if i loved her and she loved me i was thinking she can find better and be happier with another.
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