The band's debut self-titled album was released on April 3, 2012. The album's first single, "Ho Hey" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
The Ho Hey Songfacts reports that Schultz and Fraites were originally based in New York and started collaborating in 2002 after Fraites’ brother, Josh, who was also Schultz’s best friend died of an overdose. The pair began writing and performing to cope with their grief and they later relocated to Denver, where they met the classically trained Pekarek after advertising for a cellist.
Their self-titled debut album The Lumineers was released on April 3, 2012, on Dualtone Records.
Their second album, Cleopatra, was released in 2016.
The band's third album, titled III, was released on September 13, 2019 and debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200.
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Salt And The Sea
The Lumineers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the back staircase you fell to your knees with tears in your eyes
All that you suffered, all the disease
You couldn't hide it, hide it from me
All alone scared in your room, would you swear there's nobody home
On the bed laying awake as you prayed he'd leave you alone
I'll let the darkness swallow me whole
I need to find you, need you to know
I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
Like the salt and the sea
And they wrote all these prescriptions, they wrote me off
Like a heel
Yeah, the doctors with their medicine left me
To rock in my filth
From the destruction, out of the flame
You need a villain, give me a name
I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
I'll be your friend in the daylight again
There we will be, like an old enemy
Like the salt and the sea
Like the salt and the sea
The Lumineers’ “Salt and the Sea” is a moving track, pondering on the pains of mental and emotional turmoil. The song opens with a rhetorical contemplation about the singer's role in a past relationship. The uncertainty deepens in the following lines as the author reflects on the pains experienced by their partner, who had a disease they couldn't keep hidden despite their best efforts. The third verse depicts the victim's suffering in a manner that's both chilling and heartbreaking. A common symptom of trauma is insomnia, which the lyrics of this verse draw upon. Here, the author alludes to being lost in the darkness, incapable of finding the exit, indicating an inability to shake off the effects of the aforementioned relationship.
In the chorus, the author declares their willingness to be there for their ex-partner and help them through the darkness, despite the terms of their separation. The analogy of being like “salt and the sea” is evocatively portrayed, with the idea that even in the toughest of separations, both entities are indivisible from each other. The final verse has the author (presumably) reflecting on their acceptance of being cast out of the relationship and the ordeal that followed.
Line by Line Meaning
Could it be I was the one that you held so deep in the night
Is it possible that I was the person you held close during the night, experiencing deep emotional intimacy
On the back staircase you fell to your knees with tears in your eyes
You were in such emotional pain that you physically fell to your knees, crying tears of sadness on a back staircase
All that you suffered, all the disease
I was aware of all of the hardship and illness that you went through
You couldn't hide it, hide it from me
You tried to conceal your struggles, but I could still sense them
All alone scared in your room, would you swear there's nobody home
You were frightened and alone in your room, believing that nobody else was there
On the bed laying awake as you prayed he'd leave you alone
You were anxiously awake and praying that someone would leave you alone, indicating a history of abuse or trauma
I'll let the darkness swallow me whole
I will allow myself to be overwhelmed by the darkness of your struggles in order to better understand and help you
I need to find you, need you to know
It is necessary for me to locate you and make sure that you are okay
And they wrote all these prescriptions, they wrote me off
Doctors prescribed medication without really understanding the extent of my struggles
Like a heel
I was judged harshly and unfairly because of my mental health issues
Yeah, the doctors with their medicine left me
Medical professionals relied solely on medication, which left me feeling abandoned and unsupported
To rock in my filth
I was left to suffer on my own, with nobody to help me
From the destruction, out of the flame
Despite the destruction and chaos caused by mental illness, there is still hope for healing and growth
You need a villain, give me a name
In order to make sense of the struggles, it is easier to view mental illness as an external enemy or villain
I'll be your friend in the daylight again
I will support you during your good days, in times when you feel more at peace
There we will be, like an old enemy
Although we have been through difficult times together, we have come out the other side as strong and supportive friends
Like the salt and the sea
Just as salt and sea are closely intertwined, so too are our struggles and growth, inextricably connected
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Fraites
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind