Queen of Peace
Florence + the Machine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gone mad within his suffering
Called out for relief
Someone cure him of his grief
His only son
Cut down, but the battle won
Oh, what is it worth?
When all that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
Oh, the queen of peace
Always does her best to please
Is it any use?
Somebody's gotta lose
Like a long stream
I'll bear all this echoing
Oh, what is it worth?
All that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
And my love is no good
Against the fortress that it made of you
Blood is running deep
Sorrow that you keep
Suddenly I'm overcome (overcome)
Dissolving like the setting sun (setting)
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run (on the run)
The damage is already done (already done)
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
The song "Queen of Peace" by Florence + The Machine is a haunting track that delves deeply into themes of grief, loss, and betrayal. The opening lines describe a king who has gone mad with suffering and calls out for relief, but finds none. He has lost his only son in battle, and even though the battle was won, all that remains is hurt. The chorus describes the singer's determination to conquer and overcome the pain, but as the song progresses, it becomes clear that this resolve is weakening. The lyrics "blood is running deep, some things never sleep" suggest that the pain is an everlasting wound that won't heal, like a deep stream that echoes through time.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, the king
The ruler of the land
Gone mad within his suffering
Suffers from mental illness
Called out for relief
Requests help
Someone cure him of his grief
Wishes to end emotional pain
His only son
The ruler's sole offspring
Cut down, but the battle won
Killed in war, but victorious
Oh, what is it worth?
Questioning the value of past actions
When all that's left is hurt
Feeling the pain of loss
Like the stars chase the sun
Pursuing a goal relentlessly
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Confidently facing challenges
Blood is running deep
A reference to the cost of war and conflict
Some things never sleep
Certain issues never fade away
Suddenly I'm overcome
Feeling overwhelmed with emotion
Dissolving like the setting sun
Fading away like the sun at dusk
Like a boat into oblivion
Disappearing completely
'Cause you're driving me away
Being forced to leave by another person
Now you have me on the run
Being chased
The damage is already done
Harm has already been inflicted
Come on, is this what you want?
Asking for clarity in communication
'Cause you're driving me away
Being forced to leave by another person
Oh, the queen of peace
A female leader who seeks harmony
Always does her best to please
Puts in effort to satisfy others
Is it any use?
Questioning the value of the effort
Somebody's gotta lose
Acknowledging that someone has to suffer a loss
Like a long stream
A continuous flow of time and events
I'll bear all this echoing
Coping with the aftermath of past actions
Oh, what is it worth?
Questioning the value of past actions
All that's left is hurt
Feeling the pain of loss
And my love is no good
Failed attempts at love
Against the fortress that it made of you
Unable to break through someone's emotional barriers
Sorrow that you keep
Holding onto emotional pain
Suddenly I'm overcome (overcome)
Feeling overwhelmed with emotion
Dissolving like the setting sun (setting)
Fading away like the sun at dusk
Like a boat into oblivion
Disappearing completely
'Cause you're driving me away
Being forced to leave by another person
Now you have me on the run (on the run)
Being chased
The damage is already done (already done)
Harm has already been inflicted
Come on, is this what you want?
Asking for clarity in communication
'Cause you're driving me away
Being forced to leave by another person
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Florence Leontine Mary Welch, Markus Dravs
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
average wagie
There's a kind of continuity in all of her songs, like her music conjures up a series of images that are connected somehow. There's a lot of imagery of the British countryside and supernatural phenomena in these songs.
Virginia Woolf writing alone in her room, mumbling to herself.
Karen Carpenter looking at herself in the mirror and feeling completely alone in the world.
Jane Eyre in the red room, clawing at the door and begging to be let out.
Tristan and Isolde embracing on the deck of a boat.
A punk teenager walking down the streets of Glasgow at night in the 70s, stray cats meowling behind brown brick walls.
The White Cliffs of Dover.
Lewis Carroll taking a walk through the woods, witnessing a will-o'-the-wisp in the distance.
A selkie washing up on the shore of Galway.
Gulliver beating the giant king at Chess.
Sylvia Plath putting her head inside an oven.
FreeSparrow
Queen of Peace is so intense in the way that it stirs up so many emotions that I feel unable to express them in words but simultaneously feel the strong need to do so. Here is my interperetation:
If we don't see the video as literal fighting between townspeople but instead as two individuals that fight within their inner selves, we see:
There are 4 stages of life of the same man and 3 of the same woman:
The man: The boy (1), the man (2), and the bearded man (3) from the initial fight (as well as 3.10), as well as the old man (4) in 3.20.
The bearded man can be omitted for the interpretation, but 1,2 and 4 are crucial.
The woman: The girl (1), Florence (2), the old woman in 2.57 (3).
In symbolism, the song plays on the contrast between man and woman:
The man is fighting, arguing with himself, using brutalitiy and pain trying to solve problems that he has. The fact that the boy, man and bearded man fight with each other thereby symbolises an inner fight. He is fighting with himself, probably because he feels helpless in a situation that he caused, or because he regrets something he did but cannot cope with the guilt. So he punishes and hates himself.
The woman, on the other hand, represents compassion and love and forgiveness. Within the video, we see the girl caring for the boy, and Florence repeatedly embracing the 3 men. She tries to stop the fighting, to calm and comfort him.
However, as the song says: "You're driving me away".
You could also imagine their literal relation like this: They were friends as children (boy and girl), married and lived together until old age (sitting together in 2.55). Seeing them as man and wife increases the idea of the woman being the man's life-long companion who witnessed all his suffering and how he degraded and changed:
However, the woman/ wife is not strong enough:
1. Not physically, because the man is stronger than her. She cannot join the fights as active agent, but she can only try to function as a barrier between the men (risking to get hurt, cf. 5:30). However, "some things never sleep", so he continues. As long as the man keeps fighting, the pain does not decrease, it is only partially re-directed as her: "Somebody's got to lose .... Like a long scream I bear all (t)his echoing")
Even when (dancing) alone with him (3:40) he is the one pushing her hand away, lifting her up or turning her body around, while she can only embrace him whenever he allows her to do so.
2. Not mentally, because it is him who has to let her in. He has to open his heart for her reasoning. He is the one who has to forgive himself to end his inner fight and his own suffering. She cannot do that for him.
She sings "My love is no good against the fortress that it made of you": Probably, because she loved him too much. She accepted his misbehaviour and injustice (directed at her) because she understood his suffering and, to herself, excused his behaviour again and again: "This queen of peace always does her best to please". We see that she stayed with him until they were old. She as his wife, decided to be there for him until the end.
Mark Florence hugging the bearded man in (3.05), while the girl that follows hits him on the cheek (3.08). The young, straightforward girl is still able to distinguish right from wrong, while Florence as dedicated wife just forgave the man.
However, this reluctance to confront and punish his misbehaviour kept him going.
We see this behaviour even in small children: A boy throws a tantrum or misbehaves to get attention. The man hates himself. The only time he receives or rather feels love is from the woman, when she comforts him after a fight.
He as to be at his worst to feel at his best.
We see the 3 men giving in to her embraces and even crying several times in the video. He wants to, but only when he is too weak to fight against himself anymore he can allow it.
Although she gives in to his misbehaviour, the woman is the one who understands the man. The girl and Florence interact with all his four age versions. This shows how she can look back on what he was, and see what he became, and also see how he will end up as old man.
The song ends with the girl and boy runnig outside. They are at the start of their relationship. They could go anywhere. But all older versions find themselves in the same house (2:50), confined to their past/ the man's behaviour.
Mark Florence at 2:50. Why does she look out of the window? Because she sees the children passing by outside. She remembers how it has been. She also knows that theoretically, she could leave anytime. But directly after, she embraces the old woman: The future, or how it will be. She knows. And she nonetheless stands with her decision and comforts herself, (because the man is too fixated on himself to see her suffering´).
I previously said she was/is/ will be too weak to help, but she is not ignorant. With her love, she does more than any other person could. It is up to the man to accept her help. People on the outside can only do so much. And as long as we keep hurting ourselves, we keep hurting and pushing them away.
She sings "Is this really what you want", beacuse it is not. The man, just as any human deep within, longs for love.
As the beginning of the song says:
"The king (man) gone mad within his suffering, called out for release, someone cheer him of his grief" - He needs help.
"His only son cut down but the battle won" - The son (1) is the youngest of the 4 age stages of the man. He stands for innocence and love. As a child, he must not yet fall into the brutal (male) image that he will become. The man, by hating himself, destroys this younger, innocent self, the one that is still able to love and also the one fragment of his soul that openly wishes for love.
A "son" also stands for that which we leave behind, the next generation. Thus symbolically, the man does not only destroys a fragment of his soul/ his feelings, but by doing so also eradicates his future - hope. As a result, he ends up in a vicious cycle of guilt and blame, never going anywhere.
"Oh but is it worth, all that's left is hurt." - Without this fragment of his soul, which is, without the part in us that accepts love, only hurt is left. The older stages of the man can only fight. Shutting out our feelings creates the greatest pain.
How does it end? This is up for the viewer to decide, depending on how you want to connect the pieces:
1. In the end, the girl leads the boy away - We may hope that she manages to protect love until the end.
I also saw: 2. At 3.25 we see the old man and the man holding hands, both hugging Florence. At first glance, it could mean that the man made peace with himself. However, for 2 seconds, the scene reapears at 5.37, where we see the old man trying to strangle the man. if he never changed, then 4.10 is a funeral for the boy (the only one not in the picture).
(We see the man hugging the girl at 5.59. Maybe he finally realises what he did and thanks the woman for her help.)If we take the next song into account, then we see the man sending Florence off at 6.40. He understood that he is no good for her (and maybe that there is nothing left for her since the boy died). Here, he pushes her away not out of misdirected anger, but out of love, which is to protect her from himself.
This is a conflicted but also conforting image, because, although he destroyed the boy and thus everything that the girl once fell in love with, his older self is finally (and nonetheless) able to feel compassion. His future will be without her, but he has a future.
The orchestra-like music if full of emotions, Florence's voice consistently strong, and the lyrics full of emotions. The video embraces all these and adds a dramatic story. I think what makes all of these elements so touching is that you can see yourself in many of the different roles. The song touches you from deep within, because deep within we all have a fragment that craves love, and we probably also have a part of us that we hate. The ending is not transparent, because, as song and story tell, only we ourselves are responsible for our future. Whether you are the man or the woman, decide for yourself whether you want to remain or alter or leave such vicious cyle.
Brendan Morin
Lyrics ;)
Oh, the king
Gone mad within his suffering
Called out for relief
Someone cure him of his grief
His only son
Cut down, but the battle won
Oh, what is it worth
When all that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want
Cause you're driving me away
Oh, the queen of peace
Always does her best to please
Is it any use
Somebody's gotta lose
Like a long stream
I'll bear all this echoing
Oh, what is it worth
All that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want
Cause you're driving me away
And my love is no good
Against the fortress that it made of you
Blood is running deep
Sorrow that you keep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want
Cause you're driving me away
💜Siya 💜 BTS army girl
Oh, the king
Gone mad within his suffering
Called out for relief
Someone cure him of his grief
His only son
Cut down, but the battle won
Oh, what is it worth?
When all that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
Oh, the queen of peace
Always does her best to please
Is it any use?
Somebody's gotta lose
Like a long stream
I'll bear all this echoing
Oh, what is it worth?
All that's left is hurt
Like the stars chase the sun
Over the glowing hill, I will conquer
Blood is running deep
Some things never sleep
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
And my love is no good
Against the fortress that it made of you
Blood is running deep
Sorrow that you keep
Overcome
Setting sun
Oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Suddenly I'm overcome
Dissolving like the setting sun
Like a boat into oblivion
'Cause you're driving me away
Now you have me on the run
The damage is already done
Come on, is this what you want?
'Cause you're driving me away
Skye Baye
To give yourself over to another body
That's all you want really
To be out of your own and consumed by another
To swim inside the skin of your lover
Not to have to breathe, not to have to think
But you can't live on love and salt water's no drink
You're dying of thirst so we feast on each other
The seas are still a violent mother
The blood runs down your pores like water
Each wave a lamb led to the slaughter
And like children that she just can't teach
You break, and break, and break, and break ourselves upon the beach
MonsterMarionMomsen1
Lost in the fog, these hollow hills
Blood running hot, night chills
Without your love I'll be
So long and lost, are you missing me?
Is it too late to come on home?
Are all those bridges now old stone?
Is it too late to come on home?
Can the city forgive? I hear its sad song
I need the clouds to cover me
Pulling them down, surround me
Without your love I'll be
So long and lost, are you missing me?
Is it too late to come on home?
Are all those bridges now old stone?
Is it too late to come on home?
Can the city forgive? I hear its sad song
It's been so long between the words we spoke
Will you be there up on the shore, I hope
You wonder why it is that I came home
I figured out where I belong
But it's too late to come on home
Are all those bridges now old stone?
But it's too late to come on home
Can the city forgive? I hear its sad song
K A
She's so bloody artistic
Vince SC
So blessed artistic
Vince SC
Not a movie bro, it's a music video
Beverley Stagg
Tupac do for love
petulashowtv by seb
i love you
average wagie
There's a kind of continuity in all of her songs, like her music conjures up a series of images that are connected somehow. There's a lot of imagery of the British countryside and supernatural phenomena in these songs.
Virginia Woolf writing alone in her room, mumbling to herself.
Karen Carpenter looking at herself in the mirror and feeling completely alone in the world.
Jane Eyre in the red room, clawing at the door and begging to be let out.
Tristan and Isolde embracing on the deck of a boat.
A punk teenager walking down the streets of Glasgow at night in the 70s, stray cats meowling behind brown brick walls.
The White Cliffs of Dover.
Lewis Carroll taking a walk through the woods, witnessing a will-o'-the-wisp in the distance.
A selkie washing up on the shore of Galway.
Gulliver beating the giant king at Chess.
Sylvia Plath putting her head inside an oven.
Kerem Başbuğ
+LightsOfBohemia that post gave me chills...
eman
this comment is perhaps the most beautiful comment I've ever read on YouTube, and the fact that it's under a Florence and The Machine video only adds to its beauty
🌌Night⏳Time
eman amen
Steve empire MANTRA
Artist of the millennium