Mumford & Sons: The Cave Meaning
The Cave Lyrics
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind
The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the...
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The song is obviously about addiction, and anyone who has struggled with true addiction would have picked it up after only a minute in. "The noose around your neck," is what you know is killing you but dont have the strength to change alone. "You cannibal you," is a refrence to all the evil things that addiction forces a person to do even if its completely against their nature, and you are never proud of it, you know its wrong, you feel terrible about it, but the dependence is always stronger than you are. Literally could not hold tears in the entire day after I heard the song, and I am a recovered addict, but I know all about how hard it is. And if you could spend a couple weeks in a rehab facility and sit in on meetings, the song would be the perfect music video to your experiences there. Amazing song, and obviously know all the ins and outs of dependence.
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While I do not know Mumford, my guess is that he is a musician of heart vs. text. In otherwords, I'd find it hard to believe that The Odyssey or Plato was a consideration when he penned this song. I think it is a song that was in his heart and he didn't overly cross-refernce it with literature garbage; as the other bloggers suggest.
Having said that, I do see tons of symbolism in it though. I believe that it is really him talking to himself. The Good positive force inside all of us vs. the debilitating bad side. The only caviat, is that he is also reaching out to all of us that go through the hard times... When he says "I know the shame in your defeat."
It's about coming to terms of where you are at and that "God" voice of positivity inside... letting that be strong and shine.
"I'll know my name when it is called again" (What a beautiful verse). Is about knowing his "call" being "true" (to self) rising out of "pain" and being victorious against the enemy.
Coming out of the cave means losing your fears and coming into the light with a new persepective and persona. "Come out walking on your hands" "know the Maker's hand".
That's my view... all I know is that I totally love this song and it has struck a cord very deep inside me.
Beautiful lyrics and sung with heart and love the Folk Genre that they sit it in.
JW -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I like the Ghandi reference, but I bet it's like Genesis' "in the air tonight," i.e. a set of lyrics that sound intriguing, but were not written with a specific meaning at hand. Art is in the eye of the beholder. Whatever you hear in the lyrics are correct, for you. Just as an artist in the painted form would not tell you what you are to feel when you look at their paintings, M&S likely don't want to tell you what to hear, but rather appreciate the varied and many interpretations posted here.
I just ran a marathon today, and I repeated the lyrics over and over through the tough sections of the race. I think we can all identify with pieces of this work, but what drove me initially to he song was the melody and intensity of the music and singing, coupled with lyrics that seemed to ring true, without my knowing specifically what they meant. -
Its about a break-up but there are Odyssey references, read the whole thing. The girl in this is a compulsive liar.
-"It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind"
They went through a tough break-up. Her heart is empty, shes changed her ways and has "left all her fears and faults behind" he finds out there's more to her and realizes she never mentioned her fears and faults but they now come out.
-"The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat"
Hes angry about what he finds out. She has been this heartless person and "you cannibal, you meat-eater" is referring to her as her turning into a man-eater(not a literal one) but crushing all mens hearts and playing with them, from him leaving.
-"But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck"
The girl has become harmful to herself, whether it be partying, drugs. The singer has hope for her in the future and will watch out for her and make sure she doesnt kill herself.
-"And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again"
He will find strength in leaving her and will change his ways. He can finally know the true him is, without her controlling and lieing ways.
-"Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind"
He has other options and is going to move on, there splitting up. But he wants to know the truth about something because he doesn't believe anything she says anymore.
-"So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears"
This part is referring to the Odyssey, he wants to be tied to a post and block his ears so he doesnt have to her what she is telling him. Shes continuing to lie. Hes referring to her as the sirens. "I can see windows and orphans through my tears." He's crying because he wants to believe her but he knows if he does he will be alone and not have someone who truly loves him(orphans and widows). "i know my call despite my faults and despite my growing fears." He knows this is his call for him to leave even with all of his faults and his fears of leaving her.
-"But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck"
Once again he still has faith in her and hopes that one day she will change.
"So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand"
He wants her to stop all of her lies and see the world the opposite of how she thinks or sees it."You can understand dependence. When you know the maker's hand" She doesnt have to lie anymore and just tell him the truth.
-"So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say"
Another Odyssey reference, She continues to lie and he tells her to try and convince him all he wants but he wont listen.
-"Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be"
He needs freedom and needs to learn how to live his life without her and in essence walks away. -
I think it is about freeing yourself from the dark side of our self.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This song brought me closure for my divorce. I was married to a alcoholic for two years and she fought with this addiction and never wanted it bad enough to work the program to help herself. I never gave up with her and even now I will always be there for her to help. All the pain I suffered I learned to grow and live my life for myself and find me again.
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Well what I've heard is that this song is about a man speaking to his dog....
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Ok, so my perspective is that the song represents humanity and how we are raping the planet we live on and we're not going to realize it until one day when everything is a mess. But the singer is holding out hope that we will change our ways and go back to a simpler way of thinking.
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I have enjoyed reading the interpretations. I believe that the interpretation is much simpler than what all have been describing.
Though I do not consider myself a religious person, I do believe that this particular song is about a duality. The author writes of Jesus's struggle and also the struggle of a man who finds salvation.
Regardless the meaning, I agree that it is a powerful song that speaks to the heart as well as the mind, and it sucks me in with emotion.
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