Death. Love. Sex. Religion. When it comes to lyrics, Florence Welch isn’t afraid to tackle the big topics with a deft and imaginative hand. Some might even say she’s a lyric writing machine. Ahem. Here are 25 of Flo’s most striking offerings.
25 ‘Third Eye’
“You are flesh and blood!/ And you deserve to be loved and you deserve what you are given/ And oh, how much!”
24 ‘Breaking Down’
“All alone/ Even when I was a child I’ve always known there was something to be frightened of”
23 ‘Between Two Lungs’
“Between two lungs it was released/ The breath that carried me/ The sigh that blew me forward”
22 ‘Spectrum’
Recommended
“So say my name/ And every color illuminates/ And we are shining/ And we’ll never be afraid again”
21 ‘Over The Love’
“Now there’s green light in my eyes and my lover on my mind/ And I’ll sing from the piano, tear my yellow dress and cry and cry and cry”
20 ‘Kiss With A Fist’
“My black eye casts no shadow/ Your red eye sees no blame/ Your slaps don’t stick, your kicks don’t hit/ So we remain the same”
19 ‘Blinding’
“Snow White’s stitching up your circuit-boards/ Someone’s slipping through the hidden door”
18 ‘Landscape’
“Cause she’s just like the weather, can’t hold her together/ Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow”
17 ‘Hurricane Drunk’
“And you can’t hold me down ’cause I belong to the hurricane/ It’s gonna blow this all away”
16 ‘Drumming Song’
“I swallow the sound and it swallows me whole/ Till there’s nothing left inside my soul”
15 ‘What The Water Gave Me’
“And oh, poor Atlas/ The world’s a beast of a burden you’ve been holding up a long time”
14 ‘Cosmic Love’
“I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map/ And knew that somehow I could find my way back”
13 ‘Remain Nameless’
“I was born in a big grey cloud screaming out a love song/ All the broken chords and unnamed cries/ What a place to come from”
12 ‘No Light No Light’
“You are the hole in my head/ You are the space in my bed/ You are the silence in between what I thought and what I said”
11 ‘All This And Heaven Too’
“I would give it all if only for a moment/ That I could just understand the meaning of the word you see/ ‘Cause I’ve been scrawling it forever but it never makes sense to me at all”
10 ‘Falling’
“This is a song for a scribbled out name and my love keeps writing again and again
9 ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’
“And every day I wore your face like an atmosphere around me/ Half the other side of me”
8 ‘Hardest Of Hearts’
“Tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks/ And the kindest of kisses break the hardest of hearts”
7 ‘Seven Devils’
“I don’t want your money/ I don’t want your crown/ See I’ve come to burn your kingdom down”
6 ‘Dog Days Are Over’
“And I never wanted anything from you/ Except everything you had and what was left after that too”
5 ‘Heavy In your Arms’
“My love has concrete feet/ My love’s an iron ball/ Wrapped around your ankles/ Over the waterfall”
4 ‘What Kind Of Man’
“And with one kiss you inspired a fire of devotion that lasted 20 years/ What kind of man loves like this”
3 ‘Shake It Out’
“And I am done with my graceless heart/ So tonight I’m gonna cut it out and then restart”
2 ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’
“Midas is king and he holds me so tight and turns me to gold in the sunlight”
1 ‘Howl’
“Screaming in the dark, I howl when we’re apart/ Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart”