Birdy’s “Skinny Love” Lyrics Meaning

As pointed out in the trivia section, Birdy’s “Skinny Love” was actually written by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. And Mr. Vernon is the type of musician who has a tendency to write lyrics that feature what we will refer to as highly-metaphorical lyrics. So we will rely on his own explanation of the song instead of attempting to analyze the wording directly.  And the way he terms it, a “skinny love” is basically a romance which is devoid of a strong foundation. More specifically the participant(s) is involved for his or her own reasons, not for the good of the couple collectively. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Birdy's Skinny Love at Lyrics.org.

And eventually, due to the fact that it is built on sand so to speak, such unions fall apart.  And such is obviously what’s going down in the song itself. The relationship the singer is in with the addressee has apparently run its course. And accordingly underneath all of the colorful metaphors lies the sentiment of her coming to this realization.

Facts about “Skinny Love”

This song was written by Justin Vernon, a musician who many people know by the band he fronts, Bon Iver. And it was in fact Bon Iver who originally released it back in 2007.

Meanwhile Birdy’s rendition was produced by the pair of Alex H. N. Gilbert and Christian Tattersfield. Her version came out in 2011 and proved to be a bigger hit than the original.  And it was featured on her first album, which itself is entitled Birdy and is a collection of covers of other people’s songs.

On that same album (Birdy) appears another signature track of hers titled “People Help the People“. “Skinny Love” was the album’s first single whereas “People Help the People” was the album’s third.

Her rendition appeared on three Billboard charts, in addition to breaking the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart and reaching number 1 in the Netherlands. In fact it was a massive international success, going septuple-platinum in Australia as well double-platinum in New Zealand and the UK. And just to note, Birdy was 14 years old when she recorded her cover of “Skinny Love”.

Later when she was a bit older, at 19 years of age, she released an acoustic version of “Skinny Love” which was featured on Beautiful Lies, her third album.

There are actually three different music videos to this song. The primary one employed music video vet Sophie Muller as its director, who would then go on to become sort of a regular collaborator of Birdy’s.

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