Florence + the Machine
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Holy water cannot help you now
A thousand armies couldn't keep me out
I don't want your money
I don't want your crown
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Holy water cannot help you now
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out
I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out
Seven devils all around me
Seven devils in my house
See they were there when I woke up this morning
I'll be dead before the day is done
Seven devils all around you
Seven devils in your house
See I was dead when I woke up this morning
I'll be dead before the day is done
Before the day is done
And now all your love will be exorcised
And we will find new saints to be canonized
And it's an evensong
It's a litany
It's a battle cry
It's a symphony
Seven devils all around me
Seven devils in my house
See they were there when I woke up this morning
I'll be dead before the day is done
Seven devils all around you
Seven devils in your house
See I was dead when I woke up this morning
And I'll be dead before the day is done
Before the day is done
Before the day is done
Before the day is done
You can't keep it out
It's coming through the walls
To devastate your heart
And to take take your soul
For what has been done
Cannot be undone
In the eagle's eye
In the evensong
Seven devils all around you
Seven devils in your house
See I was dead when I woke up this morning
I'll be dead before the day is done
Before the day is done
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Lyrics submitted byllscience, edited by DG2001, Kiamelnaru, lilyparis, mdong, ShannieWasabi, nihilistgum, singwbluebirds, Floatthedisco, ms_gwyn, SpinoJB, gir620, AeneaJones, sandbugs, Hellopatrick, ZeVeegee, Niorra, ladysigyn, LadyLilith
Seven Devils Lyrics as written by Florence Welch Paul Epworth
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Seven Devils song meanings
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+23
General Comment
I think this is about a RECKONING at the end of a relationship.
Jesus cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene, but Florence doesn't want her devils cast out, she doesn't want to be pacified by holy water (reasonableness/goodness/Jesus), she doesn't want to be bought off by money, she doesn't want to share in the chattels and goods of the relationship: her goal is to tear her lover's world to pieces, to give full rein to her "seven devils," of bitterness and fury and anger and hurt, to burn him down completely in revenge.
But also in purification, because when she's done, he will be excorised, his lies exposed, the contradictions (paradoxes) in what he said laid bare, and his heart may ultimately be saved by this (for a future relationship, not this one, for what has been done "cannot be undone)"
She is already dead because she woke up to realise the foundation of her life, her relationship, was dead, and now the day is about roasting her lover on hot coals until the devils of their relationship consume them both.
yhtrownuon October 23, 2011Link
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+16
General Comment
There's an interview on YouTube where she discusses the meaning of her songs on Ceremonials. According to Florence, Seven Devils could be interpreted as the seven deadly sins, however, she says she wasn't thinking about that when she wrote it. She referred to a book by Chester Himes called 'If He Hollers, Let Him Go'.
It's about an african American around WW2 who works in a shipyard and has to deal with racism, work discrimination and anti-communist fears. He is so angry and frustrated about all he has to deal with that he often battles thoughts of murdering and raping the people around him to get back at 'white america'. She said she read the book and it was beautifully written and one of the quotes in the book says something like 'I woke up with seven devils in me' and Florence says she liked that quote and wrote her song.
To me, the lyrics and this story are disconnected a bit. I favor the deadly sins idea to the one she had, but to each their own, I guess. I'm just stating what she said, but I have my own interpretation just like all of you have your own.
EightThirtyon December 14, 2011Link
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+8
Lyric Correction
This is really good! Here is some stuff I think is actually different though:
I don't want your crowd > I don't want your crownSee I've had to burn your kingdom down > See I've come to burn your kingdom downAnd now all your love will be exorcised > And now all your lies will be exorcisedAnd we will find you saying it's to be ? > And we will find your sayings to be paradise (not sure about this one)What have we done? can it be undone? > For what has been done / Cannot be undone
sevendevilson October 22, 2011Link
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+7
Lyric Correction
"a thousand armies" not hours and armies"crown" not i don't want your crowdand when it says "see i have to burn", i'm not sure it's burn. it sounds like something else.
but in the next line she says "i've COME to burn your kingdom down" not had
thuglifeforevson May 02, 2012Link
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+5
Lyric Correction
Correction:
"And what have we done?Can I be undone?"
is incorrect and should be:
"For what has been doneCannot be undone"
janeaparis1on July 11, 2012Link
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+4
Lyric Correction
'And now all your love will be exercised'
I think she means 'And now all your love will be exorcised'
ninasafirion October 21, 2011Link
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+4
Lyric Correction
The first stanza, it's actually "A thousand armies couldn't keep me out"
SummLifeeon August 16, 2012Link
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+3
General Comment
Florence Welch is a celebrity Doctor Who fan, and I have to say, these lyrics are PRETTY perfect, if too obvious, for the recent (and pivotal) episode, A Good Man Goes to War. In it the Doctor collects five allies to rescue a sixth (making seven total) from a religious sect and an entire army organized and trained specifically to fight him ("a thousand armies couldn't keep me out") based on their Doctor myth that reputes him to be a supernatural evil (making all the religious imagery in the song sort of a mockery). The Doctor's uncharacteristic anger and ego is a central issue to the story, which would fit the dramatic statement "I've come to burn your kingdom down."
The rest are spoilers for the episode and season, so I'm separating them. Don't read unless you've seen at least the six episodes preceding A Good Man Goes to War!
The season's subplot is, of course, the impending death of the Doctor, so "I'll be dead before the day is done" fits. And this is probably just a coincidence, but the big surprise twist finale of the episode reveals that the baby "Melody" ("it's a melody") goes on to become the woman "River Song" ("and no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out"), AND one plot point involves a language issue that confuses the word "pond" with the word "river." Like I said, probably a coincidence, but if Florence was going to drop hints, those would work.
CamelCamelCamelon December 05, 2011Link
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+3
General Comment
If you've ever read the Song of Ice & Fire series by George R.R. Martin (now popularly known as the Game of Thrones series due to the TV show), then you might agree with me that this song could definitely be Catelyn Tully's theme song by the end of the third book.
sobogmanon March 05, 2012Link
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+2
My Opinion
This is a song of vengence and change, the emminent destruction of another person and in turn the destruction of yourself in the process. It isn't tit for tat, its an all out war. Nothing would be left unscathed and in the end, the other would be changed. But you would be forever scorned, deadened by whatever the other has done.
A curse, if you may.
neurolockon April 01, 2014Link
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- Artists - F
- Florence + the Machine
- Ceremonials
- Seven Devils Lyrics
More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave Thee More Shallows So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new. This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus. Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1. All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy. And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation. Love in a Vacuum 'Til Tuesday Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in "There was a timeyou opened up every doorwayyou didn't mind if everythingwasn't your way"then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,"Don't pull awaythat goes against what you told meI look in your eyes I realize what you've sold meis love in a vacuum"so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,"I think you've changedbut you insist thatthat's not true"quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum","You look so strange, so distantthat you're hardly youNow I can seehow you have been acting differentYou say it's mebut I knowthat it isn'tit's love in a vacuum"but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines"You will be lonelyif you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have, "Love in a vacuumand that's not enoughlove in a vacuumYou will be lonelyyou'll be the only one who feels this wayYou will be lonelyif you leave me alone You will be lonelyyou'll be the only one who feels this wayit's just not enough"you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment, "You will be lonelyyou'll be the only one who feels this wayit's just not enoughand just waityou will be lonelyLove in a vacuumLove in a vacuum and that's not enoughLove in a vacuum".'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the co*ke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song. Quintessential Aimee Mann. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp Led Zeppelin This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping. Cajun Girl Little Feat Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you” Holiday Bee Gees @[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.Rate These Lyrics
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