"Seems that I have been held, in some dreaming state
A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake
No kiss, no gentle word could wake me from this slumber
Until I realise that it was you who held me under
Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids
Shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs
No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone
No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world
And I could hear the thunder and see the lightning crack
All around the world was waking, I never could go back
Cos all the walls of dreaming, they were torn right open
And finally it seemed that the spell was broken
And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open
And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open
No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone
No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world
Snow White's stitching up the circuitboards
Synapse slipping through the hidden door
Snow White's stitching up the circuitboard
No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone
No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love
No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world
Snow White's stitching up the circuitboards
Synapse slipping through the hidden door
Snow White's stitching up the circuitboard
Synapse slipping through the hidden door"
"Blinding" by Florence and the Machine has quickly become my favorite song in the short time since I first heard it.
It catches a person's attention with the unique beginning of a crow's echoing caw, and a girl's laughter and screaming while gentle music plays in the background. When main singer, Florence starts in, her deep voiced vocals and unusual lyrics make this song truly intriguing.
For an overall summary, I believe this song is about growing up, realizing that one cannot be a little girl when it comes to love. You can't be the princess dreaming for her prince all the time. Eventually the princess needs to help herself and move on past the prince who failed to "rescue her". She is blinded, therefore the song title. The song carries many themes that remind the listener of a fairy tale. The garden, the spell, "no kiss that can wake her from her slumber" alluding to Sleeping Beauty and the mention of Snow White. She likens her experience and herself to a fairy tale. Along with the caw of the crow in the first moments of the song, one hears a girl's laughter. This also has an echo to it, suggesting that it's a part of her dream in which she can laugh.
The first four lines emphasize this fact by demonstrating that the world the singer is in is fake, something fabricated within the subconscious of her mind. She doesn't belong there, as indicated by the word "tourist", her prince won't save her from the unreality and eventually it's revealed to be his fault. He entrapped her there in her dream world by encouraging it.
The next lines about her bones shaking makes me think that she feels the urge to break free from the delusions. Under her eyelids, her eyes begin to move. She is waking up from that dream.
The following chorus about death being undone could possibly mean that she is attempting to put him past her, to "bury" him. She is willing herself not to turn back and dig him back up. There can't be any more of that. Calling for a crow makes the image of her yelling ugly. The crow is definitely no song-bird, she would be "cawing" for him. It's an obnoxious, loud sound. It is out of place and unpleasant. The next lines are pretty self-explanatory, going off of the "getting over him" theme. She describes herself as a girl, not a woman, telling that her love for the boy was immature. She says "wrong world", also indicating that it isn't right. She doesn't belong in that world, nor does her love.
Coming out of that dream was like a storm to her. It was unyielding and undeniable, such as the sound of thunder and the crack of lightning can be. The lyrics are literal from there. She woke up and was unable to regress back to what she had felt.The "dream was torn open" and the "spell was broken". Reality has come crashing down on her.
The next two lines reiterate that the more time passes, the more she wakes up and leaves the dream behind. No longer can she feel it in her eyes, but her eyelids fly open. She is fully awake and aware now. The dream is completely gone.
After a repeat of the chorus, we find a more confusing and abstract couple of lines. Here we have the mention of Snow White, the character from a famous fairy tale. Though there are many interpretations one could make of this, I believe that "Snow White stitching up the circuit boards" refers to her putting her life back together and jump-starting it. It brings up the image of her sewing back pieces of something that will ignite and move things along. "Synapse slipping through the hidden door" could mean that she can't function like she used to. Courtesy of the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a synapse is defined as the point at which a nervous impulse passes from one neuron to another, and this brings the imagery of some discord among her brain. Being forced into reality has put her brain on the fritz as she "slips through the hidden door". The door is hidden, meaning she won't find it again. Not after she has gone through it.
This song is very magical in my eyes, with its allusions to fairy tales and it gives me the feeling of being in a forest. I like the theme of growing up and not being caught in an idealized love, all the while putting a dark, dreary spin on the reality that falling in love isn't always good, especially if you have "Prince Charming" expectations. Even if I find another favorite song in the future, this one will forever have a place in my heart.
