Their music is clearly influenced by bands like R.E.M., although their sound is distinctively brighter and janglier, featuring contrast-filled intrumentation and catchy and crisp hooks and unusual chord progressions, giving vivid life to Don McGlashan's lyrics, dominated by poetic imagery and everyday themes.
Their debut The Mutton Birds (1992) was followed by Salty in 1993. In 1995 a compilation of their two first albums, titled Nature, was released outside of New Zealand. Also around this time the first two albums were re-released within NZ as a box set entitled Box of Birds. After moving to England the band released Envy of Angels in 1996, and it is perhaps their strongest album in terms of songwriting and arrangements. After a limited-edition collection of singles and B-sides (Too Hard Basket) and a live album (Angle of Entry), they released Rain, Steam and Speed in 1999.
Flock - The Best of The Mutton Birds was later released in New Zealand and Australia.
Anchor Me
The Mutton Birds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Someday I'll lie
Singing songs that come
From dead men's tongues
Anchor me, anchor me
As the compass turns
And the glass it falls
Where the storm clouds roll
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Let the salt spray lash
The shivering skin
Where the green waves crash
And the whirlpools spin
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
Where the Banshees cry
And the bells they sound
When you lift me high
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
The Mutton Birds' song "Anchor Me" is a reflection on life's transience and the desire for stability, with the metaphor of the sea as a powerful force that can both offer protection and threaten to consume us. The line "full fathom five, someday I'll lie" is a reference to Shakespeare's play The Tempest, specifically Ariel's song about the sea, which speaks of a sailor being consumed by the waves and becoming part of the underwater realm. The use of the dead men's tongues in the lyrics is also a nod to this same play, where Caliban declares: "sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. / Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments / Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices / That, if I then had waked after long sleep, / Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, / The clouds methought would open and show riches / Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked, / I cried to dream again."
The song also references the concept of anchoring, offering a plea for protection and stability amidst life's turbulence. The repeated "anchor me" refrain is a plea for the lover to be a steady force that grounds and supports the singer, even in the midst of the storm. The use of the color blue in the lyrics also serves as a metaphor for this sense of grounding, as blue is traditionally associated with calmness, strength, and stability.
Overall, "Anchor Me" is a poetic meditation on the desire for security and constancy, as well as the challenges and beauty of navigating life's uncertainties.
Line by Line Meaning
Full fathom five
At the very bottom of the sea
Someday I'll lie
One day, I will rest eternally at the bottom of the sea
Singing songs that come
Performing tunes
From dead men's tongues
That have been passed down through the ages from those who have perished at sea
Anchor me, anchor me
Secure me in place
As the compass turns
As the navigational tool spins
And the glass it falls
And the barometer drops
Where the storm clouds roll
Where the turbulent skies hang heavy
And the gulls they call
And the seabirds cry out
Let the salt spray lash
Allow the salty mist to whip
The shivering skin
The trembling flesh
Where the green waves crash
Where the surging ocean waves collide
And the whirlpools spin
And the churning vortexes swirl
Where the Banshees cry
Where the supernatural spirits wail
And the bells they sound
And the ominous chimes ring out
When you lift me high
When you hoist me upwards
When you pull me down
When you tug me downwards
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Provide a safe haven for me amidst the vast expanse of your ocean
Anchor me, anchor me
Make sure I am firmly fastened in place
Anchor me
Keep me anchored, safe and sound
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kiwiceejay
Full fathom five
Someday I'll lie
Singing songs that come
From dead men's tongues
Anchor me, anchor me
As the compass turns
And the glass it falls
When the storm clouds roll
And the gulls they call
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Let the salt spray lash
The shivering skin
Where the green waves crash
And the whirlpools spin
Anchor me, anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
Where the Banshees cry
And the bells they sound
When you lift me high
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me, anchor me
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
In the middle of your deep blue sea, your deep blue sea
Anchor me, anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
Anchor me
Songwriters: Don Mcglashan
@reubenmccabe3259
I enjoy this song so much more when I am not on hold to Spark
@tysonking3750
Damn you spark 😡 ruining our NZ classics!
@hstw31
Reuben McCabe Haha so good
@silentpalmolive6754
Maharaja 1v1 scrims
@alexlodda
or Studylink
@silentpalmolive6754
Maharajar HD I can’t, I’m watching blue
@christianende7307
Bury me in Lyttleton Harbour with this inscript on my gravestone: "I've seen the towering moutains of New Zealand, rise perpendicularly from the depth of the seas,, I've seen the sparkling waters of the Waitemata and I've seen the infinite expanse of the Great Southern Ocean-- Now--In the Middle of your Deep Blue Sea, anchor me." My emotions go wild when I hear this song!!!!
@theradioattheendoftheworld4251
Good song. Reminds me of a time when New Zealand was a better place
@quinn3974
#MeToo
@Rotavegas1
still is bruh