Winter Wonder Land
Animal Collective Lyrics

Mold of the fall
The remnants of autumn are visible, indicating that winter has arrived.

I have been frozen there for days
The singer has been feeling emotionally frozen and stagnant for some time.

With headlights reflecting in my face
Perhaps being confronted by something, like a car with its headlights on, has caused the singer to feel more acutely their frozen state.

I'm iced and cold on your lawn
This line could be taken literally or as a metaphor: perhaps the artist is feeling physically cold on someone's lawn, or perhaps they feel that they've been left out in the cold by someone they care about.

But inside I'm okay
Though the artist might appear to others to be struggling or frozen, they feel internally stable.

I can live without your dime (?)
The meaning of this line is unclear, but it could imply that the singer doesn't need material support or doesn't want pity.

Where snowmen never melt
Perhaps this is a reference to a place where things are always pristine and untouched, or to someone who is resilient despite the passing of time.

Instead they all went shy
This line could refer to the idea that snowmen, while seemingly stoic and unchanging, can still be nervous or shy when confronted by people or other new experiences.

And our bones are hardwired
The artist believes that their essential identity or character is fixed, and resistant to changing seasons, just as bones are hard and inflexible.

And we go dancing on the lake
Despite the cold, the artist is able to find joy and energy by dancing. The lake might symbolize something wide-open and expansive, a place where one can be free to move.

And sleds will carry us tonight
The singer is happy to surrender control and permit themselves to be pulled along by something else: perhaps this is a way of saying that they've found trust in other people or in fate.

And snowflakes will blow us on our way
Nature, represented by the snowflakes, is supporting and carrying us throughout our journey.

They slide to the sky
Snowflakes, as though weightless, drift upwards into the sky. This could be a way of saying that even the heaviest burdens eventually become nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Rainbow ice slide downhill
Ice, typically depicted as a cold and colorless thing, here takes on a more joyful and exuberant characterization due to its being refracted into rainbows.

Tears are frozen lovers (?)
It's unclear what exactly this sentence means, but it could suggest that even feelings of love can be paralyzed and suspended in time, just as tears can freeze with cold.

So we smile when we're crying
The artist is able to find happiness even in the midst of sadness or grief.

And if you don't believe in fantasy...
The subsequent lines are a repetitive chorus that asks, in different ways, whether the listener is willing or able to find magic or optimism in the world around them.

If you don't believe it's raining...
This one is about recognizing what you feel, even if it's unpleasant, rather than denying it. Not believing in something doesn't make it go away.

If you don't believe in happiness...
Optimism can be difficult to sustain, but choosing to disavow positive emotions only heightens negative ones.

If you don't believe you're dying...
Like the above lines, it's important to face difficult realities head-on rather than denying them in a futile attempt to avoid pain.