“Skinny Love” Lyrics & Meaning (Bon Iver)

The Skinny Love lyrics meaning has nothing to do with what you might think.

It is not the artists preference for underweight women.

Nor is it about an eating disorder.

In fact, it has nothing to do with weight at all.

But it is about relationships. Specifically, one type of relationship.

Keep reading to learn exactly what songwriter Justin Vernon had in mind when he penned this beautiful tune.

 

Skinny Love Lyrics And Meaning

Skinny Love was a song written and produced by Bon Iver in 2007. It was featured on Bon Iver’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago. Justin Vernon is the creative force behind Bon Iver and he crafted Skinny Love to reveal the fragile nature of malnourished love.

I believe it’s also interesting to note that even though the album is titled For Emma, Forever Ago. the album isn’t actually dedicated to a person called Emma.

In 2009, Vernon revealed “Emma isn’t a person.” Instead, “Emma is a place you get stuck in. Emma’s a pain that you can’t erase.”

Bon Iver is an Indie-Folk band that was founded in 2006 by Justin Vernon. Other members of the band included Sean Carey, Michael Lewis, and Matthew McCaughan. The name “Bon Iver” came from the French term, “bon hiver” which means good winter.

The first album by Bon Iver was created just by Vernon himself, after he went to an isolated cabin in the woods. Vernon recorded the album himself, playing all the instruments and recording it on simple recording equipment.

It received critical acclaim and was then picked up by the indie label Jagjaguwar, where he acquired his future bandmates.

As Vernon sprung to fame, he became involved with many other musical artists. He has collaborated with Volcano Choir, Gayngs, The Shouting Matches, and even Kanye West. His side projects and collaborations with other artists show just how versatile he is when it comes to music.

The song has resonated with many different people and this is what has caused it to be so successful. This is due to the song’s beautiful lyrics and the fact that it’s been covered by many other artists.

The most notable cover was by the British artist, Birdy. Her version of the song catapulted Skinny Love to international success, especially in the U.K., where it sold 744,000 copies by August 2016. The song also did incredibly well in Australia and New Zealand, where there were even performances of it on The X Factor.

 

Skinny Love Lyrics

 

Verse 1

Come on, skinny love, just last the year
Pour a little salt, we were never here
My my my, my my my, my my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer
I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall
My my my, my my my, my my
Right in this moment, this order’s tall

Chorus

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And in the morning I’ll be with you
But it will be a different kind
And I’ll be holding all the tickets
And you’ll be owning all the fines

Verse 2

Come on, skinny love, what happened here?
Suckle on the hope in light brassieres
My my my, my my my, my my
Sullen load is full, so slow on the split

Chorus

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And now all your love is wasted
And then who the hell was I?
And I’m breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?

 

Skinny Love Meaning

Skinny Love is about a relationship on the brink of collapse, where it’s unable to sustain itself under it’s frailty. The term Skinny Love refers to a superficial love that lacks both the depth and strength to survive. It’s about a relationship that exists more out of the need for support than genuine compatibility.

Vernon has said that while he wrote the song about a specific period in his life, the song isn’t about one relationship in particular. It’s more about how he recognized that relationships need substance to last.

The lyrics of Skinny Love reflect the true and raw emotion that goes into a relationship and how daunting the end can be. Lines such as “pour a little salt, we were never here” reflect both the healing and destructive powers of salt, which shows the bitter acknowledgement of the end of a relationship.

The repetitive “my, my, my” also sounds like a heartbeat and that helps to reflect the simplicity of love but also how complex it can be. It’s this heartbeat that keeps him going, even though he’s losing someone with whom he is in love.

Skinny Love is a song that connects people to experiences of love and loss. It’s a song that speaks about these broad conditions and how if someone clings to a love despite it being no good for them, and the fact that it is bound to fade away.

 

Skinny Love Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

The Skinny Love lyrics meaning has nothing to do with weight at all. Instead, the song describes a relationship that is not built on a solid foundation. The love is “skinny”.

Such a love can noty hold up to the pressures of everyday life over the long run. It is doomed to fail. Yet, we often hold on to the relationship for fear of being alone again. This is a universal human experience, which is one of the reasons this song has become so popular.

A relationship that has neared its end often leads to cheating. We have a similar lyric analysis of one of the most famous songs about cheating of all time, from none other than George Michael. Check out our take on the Careless Whisper lyrics meaning.

Often when a relationship is not working, we try something drastic to keep it together, like having kids. That is what the Christmas Kids lyrics are all about, though that song does go into a much darker place, than this one.