Of Monsters and Men: Little Talks Meaning
Song Released: 2011
Little Talks Lyrics
(Hey!)
(Hey!)
I don't like walking around this old and empty house
So hold my hand I'll walk with you my dear
The stairs creak as you sleep it's keeping me awake
It's the house telling you to close your eyes
Somedays I can't even...
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I always thought the song was about the depression and eventually the suicide of the female singer. She references an "old voice in my head that's holding me back" and I interpreted that as her depression holding her back. When the male singer sings "It's killing me to see you this way." it could mean he doesn't know how to help her. And the line "you're gone, gone, gone away, I watched you disappear" would mean the male singer watched her depression get worse until she commited suicide.
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Hey! Hey! Hey!
I don't like walking (WALKING = THINKING) around this old and empty (EMPTY STRUGGLING) house (HOUSE = HER MIND)
(*I HATE BEING IN MY OWN MIND)
So hold my hand,(I LOVE YOU) I'll walk with you my dear (I CARE SO MUCH FOR YOU)
The stairs (STAIRS = part of a house ) creak (CREAK = NOT WORKING PROPERLY) as I sleep (EVEN WHEN SHE SLEEPS THINGS ARE'NT BETTER)
It's keeping me awake. (SHE'S NOT ACTUALLY SLEEPING ) (*SHE'S ASLEEP BUT AWAKE)
It's the house (HOUSE = MIND )telling you to close your eyes ( HE IS SAYING YOU ARE OVER THINKING AND YOUR MIND IS SAYING GO TO SLEEP)
Some days I can't even trust myself
(FEELING SUICIDAL)
It's killing me to see you this way
(HE WANTS TO HELP BUT CAN'T AND IT'S HURTING HIM)
Cause though the truth may vary
(THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE OF OPINION BETWEEN THEM)
This ship (SHIP = LIFE) will carry our bodies (bodies meaning just their bodies not there minds) safe to shore (SHORE = HEAVEN ? )
Hey! Hey! Hey!
There's an old (OLD = KEEP THINKING THE SAME THING ) voice ( VOICE = HER MIND IS REPLAYING) in my head
That's holding me back (HOLDING ME BACK = STRUGGLING TO COPE. WITH THE PAST)
Well tell her that I miss our little talks
(HE MISSES THEY WAY THEY WERE/USED TO BE)
Soon it will all be over and buried with our past (SHE CAN'T COPE ANYMORE )
We used to play outside when we were young (THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING TOGETHER ANYMORE)
And full of life and full of love
(WANTS HERE TO THINK HOW THEY USED TO BE AT THE BEGINING WHEN THINGS WERE GOOD)
Some days I don't know if I am wrong or righT
(SHE'S COMING TO TERMS WITH HER MENATL ILLNESS)
Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear
(HE DOESN'T WANT TO COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT HER MENTAL HEALTH IS WORSENING )
Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
[Chorus]
Hey!
(SUNG TOGETHER NOW SO BOTH FEELING THE SAME)
Don't listen to a word I say (DONT LISTEN = WHAT THEY ARE BOTH NOW SAYING IS IN NOW IN ANGER AND NOT WHAT THEY REALLY THINK) (I THINK THE SITAUTION HAS MADE THEM BOTH MENTALLY ILL)
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!(THEY ARGUE ABOUT THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER )
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
You're gone, gone, gone away (THEY'VE SPLIT UP)
I watched you disappear (KNEW IT WAS HAPPENING BUT COULDNT CHANGE IT)
All that's left is a ghost of you (MENTAL HEALTH PROMBLEMS HAVE TAKEN OVER)
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart
There's nothing we can do (BOTH SO HURTING THAT ITS OVER )
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon.
(GOT TO PART FOE THE BEST FOR BOTH OF THEM)
Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around
I'll see you when I fall asleep. ( DON'T BE WITH ANYONE ELSE AND WE'LL BE TOGETHER IN HEAVEN)
Hey!
Don't listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Hey!
Don't listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore -
I don't like walking around this old and empty house (She might be a widow)
So hold my hand, I'll walk with you my dear (A male voice that may be her boyfriend comforts her)
The stairs creak as I sleep,
It's keeping me awake (She shows again that she is lonely and uncomfortable)
It's the house telling you to close your eyes (Her boyfriend continues to try to make the situation seem better. This raises a question of why is she still lonely if she has a boyfriend. She seems like a widow so is the boyfriend actually deceased)
And some days I can't even trust myself (Why is this so? It likely points to the fact that she has mental problems. This means that her boyfriend talking to her right now may be a figment of her imagination)
It's killing me to see you this way (He implies that she was not like this once before. Her mental uncertainty must have recently arisen. He also shows that her cares about her, furthering the point that they were in a relationship)
'Cause though the truth may vary (Because of her mental problems)
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore (This is the only thing that she is certain of. What is the ship and the shore?
There's an old voice in my head (Because of her mental problems)
That's holding me back (What is she getting held back from doing)
Well tell her that I miss our little talks (More evidence that they were once together)
Soon it will all be over, and buried with our past (Why will it be over? Is she going to kill herself)
We used to play outside when we were young (They may have aged supporting the inference that she is an old widow)
And full of life and full of love (Nostalgia and they had a close relationship)
Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right. (Wrong or right about what?)
Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear (Because of her mental problems)
'Cause though the truth may vary (Because of her mental problems)
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore (This ship and shore must be important because it is repeatedly mentioned at the climax)
Don't listen to a word I say (Why? Is he currently a figment of her imagination)
The screams all sound the same (What are these screams he is referring too? Is he talking about her mental characters?)
Though the truth may vary (Because of her mental problems)
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore (This ship and shore must be important because it is repeatedly mentioned at the climax)
You're gone, gone, gone away, (He must have died because he cares for her so he did not break up with her)
I watched you disappear (That must have been traumatic and may have contributed to her mental problems)
All that's left is a ghost of you (So yes, he did die)
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, (By death)
there's nothing we can do, (Because they are separated by the boundary between life and death)
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon (I guess she is going to kill herself to be with him again)
Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around (He does not want her to do it)
I'll see you when I fall asleep (This seems like something the girl should say)
Don't listen to a word I say
The screams all sound the same
Though the truth may vary
this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Don't listen to a word I say
The screams all sound the same
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore (He repeats this)
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore (She repeats these lines back to him)
The story that seems to be implied by the lyrics seems to be that the woman's husband has died. The woman suffers from a mental breakdown and imagines that her deceased husband is talking to her. She feels lonely, and tells her husband all her problems. She reasons that she can reunite with her husband through suicide as she would join her husband in death.
The lyric seem to be a sad story, but the tune is energetic and happy. So the listener must reconsider the lyrics as something that is good. How can this story of suicide be good? Well, let us look at this situation from the woman’s perspective. The woman is lonely, uncomfortable, and troubled at the beginning since she is not with the man the she loves most. All of those problems disappear when she kills herself. -
I took it as depression and suicide in my opinion :/
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think that there had been a fire and the man had already been killed. As the women is trying to get out of the house thw man is trying to help her. She soon realizes it is hopeless and asks him to let her die. He doesn't want her to though and trays to make her keep going.
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I think this song is definitely about a widow who was married for a very long time. Here is my reasoning:
"I don't like walking around this old and empty house
So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear"
The house seems old and empty without her husband, but she hears his voice telling her that he is present and will stay with her.
"And some days I can't even dress myself
It's killing me to see you this way"
I think that the girl is so overtaken with grief that she can't really do anything, and the boy is sort of like a ghost, watching over her but not able to help.
"There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back/Well tell her that I miss our little talks"
I think this means that the boy/man (as a ghost or whatever) showed himself to the widowed girl/woman, and that she wants to believe he is real but the realistic part of her is "holding her back." The ghost/man wants to talk, but part of the girl thinks she's going crazy.
"Some days I feel like I'm wrong when I'm right
Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear"
I don't know why, but I always find this part so sweet. I usually hear it as "Some days I don't know if I am all right" (but those aren't the words oops), and the boy/man/ghost thing is saying basically that she is all right/strong, and that she will be fine. <3
"You're gone, gone, gone away
I watched you disappear
All that's left is the ghost of you.
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart,
There's nothing we can do"
At this point I think it's the girl simply wanting the ghost of her husband to go away, so she can finish living her life and move on. She's saying, "you're gone...and there's nothing we can do" about it.
"Now wait, wait, wait for me
Please hang around
I'll see you when I fall asleep"
I think this is the ghost of the woman's husband pleading with her to stay with him in a sense, and not move on. The last line is her soothing him, saying that they'll meet up again in her dreams.
Hopefully that made sense:) -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I agree with most interpretations but my first thoughts were depression, loss, anxiety, loneliness, sadness and possibly suicidal. But while the song may be referring to these things hope seems to ring out loud and clear. Just a very well written song. I listen to it often.
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My interpretation of this song was that the main female singer is mentally ill. At first it mainly highlights the female singer with lines such as "I don't like walking around this old and empty house" while the male comforts her saying that he'll hold her hand. It becomes increasingly obvious as she sings the line "Some days I can't even dress myself" and as the man responds "It's killing me to see you this way". When she sings the line "There's old voice in my head that's holding me back" it all came together and began to make sense. She most likely has a mild to severe case of schizophrenia which would explain the voices in her head as well as the way she acts as if the house is alive, hearing the stairs creak while she goes to sleep. The Male singer goes on to sing verses such as "your mind is playing tricks on you my dear" and sings of a past in which he and the female singer played together "full of life and vigor" he alludes to a past lost but not forgotten. His lover slowly grows weaker as she struggles with illness. The story takes a twist at the middle of the song during the chorus when the lovers sing in unison (or it may just be the male with backup) "don't listen to a word I say" and "the screams all sound the same" it becomes apparent that the female lover is not the only one struggling through this. To me it seems as though the male doesn't have any mental problems past the mental trauma that he is facing as his lover slowly fades away. As the end draws nearer in this song lines including "All that's left is a ghost of you," "now we're torn, torn, torn apart" and "there's nothing we can do" it becomes increasingly obvious that the female singer is dying. This is confirmed when the line "just let me go we'll meet again soon" is uttered. The male protests, singing back "Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around" but then he concludes "I'll see you when I fall asleep." Then of course there is the chorus verse: "Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore." This line is sung as a final resignation, an acceptance of death, but at the same time it offers up the hopeful prospect that they will meet again soon, not matter what happens on this earth, they will meet in the next life safe and sound. Sorry if this was a little long, but this is what I saw when I heard this song.
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Not my at all, by the lead singer "Of Monsters and Men":
THE REAL "LITTLE TALKS": Okay. "Little Talks" is... How we usually make our lyrics is, Raggi and I, sometimes we come up with stories or situations. That one is about a relationship. Sometimes we haven't wanted to give too much away. We like people to read their own things in the lyrics. I guess I could share it. It's about a couple and the husband passed away and it's from the conversation between the two of them. We don't know if she's going crazy or if someone's actually there. We've kind of been inspired by people that lived in my house. This old couple that lived there for 30 years. The woman passed away, so it was kind of different. -
This song, if intended, and it might just be seeing how beautifully directed and animated the video is, is a masterpiece in my opinion. One of the best in our era lyrically and musically. It is vague, and thus open to a variety of interpretations, but I believe it is still about a certain type of situation, which is the separation of two people, and the pain of separation. Be it love, friendship, brotherly/sisterly love (unlikely to be parent-child given the young voices in the song, it just wouldnt fit).
If taken as it is, this is pretty much the general theme. The pain, and how they attempt to cope with it, mostly the male attempting to insert reason into the emotional maelstrom of the female protagonist, attempting to salvage whats left of the relationship, and maintain the hope that is all there is left.
If taken together with the video, it becomes even more profound, and beautiful. I believe, like some other people have pointed out, that this song is about life, and pain in general when taken with the video. The video is about a journey, and adventure, sometimes very much like life is. We march along to the beat of time, like the 5 characters do. The 5 characters may be friends, or they may just represent different parts of us, at different stages of our life, or simply the different aspects of our character. We encounter various obstacles, and survive through sheer luck mostly (ship hanging on branch). But at the start of the journey, at the start of life, from out of nowhere, a guardian angel arrives. Do we all have this guardian angel? does it bring colour and beauty into our drab, miserable, bleak lives? perhaps. It gives a sense of safety to us, a sense that we can set out to do the things we want to do, to take risks, knowing we have her as a back-up. She seems to overcome the obstacles easily, banishing them into a shower of iridescent sparkles with a ball of light shot from her mouth. Symbolic of words perhaps? the 'little talks' the male is having with the female? are words that powerful? perhaps. Another point to make is the importance of imagination in life. Some have interpreted this as a case of alzheimer's, and it is possible, since an alzheimer's patient may be living in her own world, imagining what it was like to go on an adventure like that in the video. Words are enough to banish our imaginary demons, replacing them with a firework of colour, turning someone negative into a beautiful positive.
but at the end one shouldnt 'listen to a word I say', as words are merely words, they open doors into other imaginary worlds, that in reality might not be as colourful or exciting. The sobering fact is that 'theres nothing we can do', but the one redeeming fact that we know is the 'though the truth may vary', and that nothing is certain, 'this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore'. We will all eventually arrive at the destination of life that is death. Any pain or happiness is temporary. The video emphasizes the metaphorical nature of the 'ship' that we use. The ship destroyed, the characters continue to proceed, by walking, or climbing, or riding on an iceberg, in tune towards their destination, unhindered. I think this represents the incessant and unstoppable passage of time in our lives, we are always pushed towards our final destination every second of our lives. And every second is an adventure, bringing new obstacles, and we overcome them by luck (guardian angel), by resourcefulness (the rope), or by the use of 'little talks', words that dont mean a thing, but are enough to transform our reality such that it makes reality that little bit easier to deal with and overcome. But what is reality? and are we all but living in an illusion? this journey brings us from the heights of the sky to the depths of the sea, and then back up again to the sky, (arguably even higher than where it began) where it ends in the video. Perhaps it represents the ups and downs in life, and how we usually end up where we begin, the same components as we began, but with the added experience of life.
at the end, we realise that our demons and obstacles in the past make up who we are in the end, and having overcome them, however which way we had, represents the summation of our lives and who we are. These monsters are beautiful in retrospect, imagined or real. Its as if the characters are reflecting on their lives at the end of the video, a portfolio of their achievements and a story of their journey in one picture, including the guardian angel, and finally realise that they are ready to die, to get to 'shore'. It is a happy ending however, evidenced by the guardian angel smiling. It was a happy, well-lived life, full of adventure, risk, and despite all the hardship and struggle there was beauty, mostly in the form of the guardian angel. Does this all mean we need to believe in a higher power? I doubt so as there doesnt seem to be any traditional religious symbolism here. It seems this guardian angel is more of a secular, liberal version of the traditional guardian angels in christianity. Perhaps it is a broader metaphor, for friends, family, lovers who are there for the 'little talks' to help and guide us along the way in life, and make our journey more colourful whilst at the same time helping us overcome our fears and obstacles.
I could go on and on about the meaning of the facepaint on each of the characters (perhaps as above, different characters of us, or the same individual at different times in his life etc), the meaning of the number 5 (5 eyes on the guardian angel, on the final form of the monster, 5 characters; or it may just be simply the 5 members of the band), or the details of the makeup of the final monster, or the meaning of the guardian angel's facepaint. I could also go on about the various details of the journey and their meaning regarding each stage of our lives, or the dichotomy that exists throughout the video (every negative is countered by a positive, and the dual nature of the final monster (black fumes and monster mixed in with colourful sparkles), and also about the interplay between the lyrics, the music and the video etc.
I could go on and on, such is the beauty of this song and its video. One of my favourite all time. -
I think it's about a woman with schizophrenia based on her confusion. "It's killing me to see you this way" the man says because he's watching his love slip into a mental disorder. A symptom is hallucinations and especially the music video looks it. "All that's left is a ghost of you" because once you have Schizophrenia, you are never the same person.
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I agree with most of these interpretations but I think the main chorus "though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore", could mean every ones life on earth are different whether rich poor, dying young old, all these differences don't matter when we lose someone. Then the ship will carry on, like planet earth is our ship and it'll keep on spinning - like life will go on. Shore is definitely heaven or whatever or wherever you believe we go to reunite w our lost loved ones. Hope you like my thoughts ;)
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