Wednesday 25 April 2018

Lyrical Analysis - Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Gonna try something a little bit new, I’ve got a great appreciation for poetry and prose and I suppose song lyrics are an extension of this. For every ‘Gucci Gang’ there is a ‘Hallelujah’ and some lyrics are pure beauty. I’m going to go through some of my favourite songs and break down my interpretation of what they mean, I’ll also add some insight from the artists from previous interviews etc where applicable. I’m going to start with my favourite Indie/Electro song of all time, the absolute mammoth that is Sleepyhead by Passion Pit.

“And you said, it was like fire around the brim,
Burning solid, burning thin, the burning rim”

Michael wrote the song about a relationship that was on its last legs, this is undisputed as he has spoken about it before. This part of the song seems like he’s playing on the ‘burning love’ metaphors but talking specifically about around the edges. It’s almost as if he knows it’s passionate on the surface but not all the way to the centre. A superficial love. Michael has also said the fire is meant to be a metaphorical representation of being in hell.

“Like stars burning holes right through the dark,
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes.”

Another metaphorical verse, most people consider stars to be beautiful, but in this case the ‘burning holes right through the dark’ is meant in a violent way, which you can tell by the next line about the uncomfortable sensation of saltwater in the eyes. The love has literally burnt up into pain.

You were one inch from the edge of this bed,
I dragged you back, a sleepyhead, sleepyhead”

Michael has said that the ‘sleepyhead’ in this song is his former partner who grew tired of him and their relationship. The reference is obvious here, she was about to walk out through apathy and he begged her back, yet the problems are not fixed. A really powerful metaphor about something really familiar to most people.

“They couldn’t think of something to say the day you burst,
With all their lions and all their might and all their thirst”

A powerful line about outside influences on a relationship. Insincere friends who had jockeyed her to get out of it yet had no advice for her once she was out. Men who were there for her when she was in a relationship show how one-dimensional they are once she is available.

“They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing skin,
Against the walls, against your rules, against your skin”

The guys mentioned in the verse before are now swarming all over her, lusting and taking advantage. The “against your rules” line is the heartbreaker here as it’s obvious that Michael knows that what she is doing is not a reflection of who she really is.

“My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors,
Of your eyes, begonia skies, like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead”.

This is the letting go part. The beard growing represents the passage of time, he had to move on and away from her. The begonia skies metaphor is sad as it shows he still has feelings for her but he knows she is tired of him.

“Go Ahead”

This screeched part at the end is hard to make out but it is there, and it makes a difference to the tone of the song. In the end he is resigned to just having to let go, and this shows acceptance, despite still loving her he knows what he has to do. Just a beautiful ending to a truly phenomenal song.


I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of this absolute banger, would be interested in some suggestions of songs you’d like to see broken down and run through my brain filter. Thx, Craig.

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