Sighing No More

Yesterday evening, as I was watching Dirty Jobs, a thought entered my mind – or rather a lyric – that made me stop and think:

“Sigh no more, no more.”

It made me stop and think because: 1) I hadn’t listened the song in ages, and 2) It applies directly to me. And I didn’t even realize how much until I listened to it later on, and wrote out all my thoughts about the song.

So, here is my philosophical analysis of the song “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons.

(I’ll post the music and lyrics first, and then break each one down.)

~*~

Serve God, love me and mend

This is not the end

Live unbruised; we are friends

And I’m sorry,

I’m sorry

Sigh No more, no more,

Once foot in sea, one on shore

My heart was never pure

And you know me,

You know me

And man is a giddy thing,

Oh man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing

Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,

It will set you free;

Be more like the man, you were made to be.

There is a design, an alignment to cry,

Of my heart to see

The beauty of love as it was made to be.

~*~

Serve God, love me and mend

This is not the end

• I believe the author is speaking to himself in this song, after a break-up, and in this line he is reminding himself of what he needs to do, and reminding himself that (even though he may think it) it is not the end of all things; there is more to be lived, and more worth living for.

Live unbruised; we are friends

And I’m sorry

I’m sorry

• Here, it can be interpreted in two ways. He could 1) be telling the one he loved to not be hurt by what happened, and that they are still friends, or 2) (and what I personally believe) He is speaking to himself. Something obviously happened, and he is struggling not to hate himself – like we all do at times – so he his telling himself that, “It’s okay, don’t be hurt. I forgive myself. We’re cool.” But even still, he’s sorry for what happened.

Sigh no more, no more

One foot in sea, one on shore

• Here, he is at a crossroads. One foot is in the sea of his depression/grief/pain/past (a “sea of sighs”?) and the other is trying to step out of it onto the shore. Onto the stable land, where he can be okay. Where he can sigh no more. He’s tired of the past weighing him down. He wants a new start.

My heart was never pure

And you know me

You know me

• No one truly knows our own hearts but ourselves and God, so I think the author could be speaking to both himself and God. He’s confessing the impurity of his heart, for which he is already sorry (see last verse), and it appears that this impurity got in the way of his relationship.

And man is a giddy thing,

Oh man is a giddy thing

• “Giddy” means impulsive, frivolous, flighty, and lighthearted. So, perhaps he jumped into this relationship without really thinking it through, or maybe he started it for the wrong reasons. Not necessarily immoral reasons, but maybe selfish reasons (which are also impure). And I think this is less a statement of fact, and more a despairing revelation. (“You know me, and man is a giddy thing”) He regrets his actions, and is basically laying it all out on the table, saying that this is who/what he is by nature, along with every other guy.

Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,

It will set you free;

Be more like the man, you were made to be

• Again, he is reminding himself of something, telling himself that, even though things ended badly in his relationship, and even though the ending hurts, it was still better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Love is not a trap, or a source of pain. Yes, it can painful and hurtful at times, but ultimately you come out better in the end. All things happen for a reason, even heartbreak; and heartbreak can make us better people, because it helps us to feel for others who are heartbroken, and to appreciate love all the more when it happens. It allows us to be more like the people we were meant to be; kind, caring, and compassionate.

There is a design, and alignment to cry,

Of my heart to see

The beauty of love as it was made to be.

• Even though he is hurting, and regrets what had happened, he still clings to the hope that love is out there for him. And not the love he had before. His heart is crying out for a purer, more beautiful love, untainted by his own despair. A love that he now truly appreciates because he now knows that it exists. From the depths of his despair he rose and was awakened, realizing that what he had was merely a fraction of what love really is. “The beauty of love as it was made to be.” A love that is equally given and received and cherished above all. And his heart yearns for it.

~*~

That’s my interpretation of the song, anyway. Hopefully it made you see the song in a different light, and made you stop and think too.