Figure 8 by FKA twigs Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling The Emotional Labyrinth
Lyrics
Through your vice
Mass appeal
I feel in ten breaths it’s a miracle if we’re still alive
Can you touch it? Is it real?
Paper cards that I feel
The slightest rip is a river that’s overflowing me
Something happened, just above me
I’ve a baby inside
But I won’t give birth till you insert yourself inside of me
I hear you whining, baby lively
I am an angel (hush now)
My back wings give the hardest slap that you’ve ever seen
Figures of 8 around your face
Elaborate, your eternity
You’re so fucking fake that it’s hurting me
I’m just jealous cause you’re more alive than what I’ll ever be
I take a step, I break my neck
Teach me how to lead with my middle finger
Boys growing boys growing girls into women
Teach me how to live life like I’m not a singer
3-3-3-3-3-3, hold that pose for me
Hush now, hush now
Let me live
Let me live (hush now, hush now)
Teeming with raw emotion and profound lyrical imagery, FKA twigs’s ‘Figure 8’ is more than a melody—it’s a narrative, a revelation, a piece of art that demands to be deciphered. Despite its ethereal soundscape, every verse pulses with the weight of experiences, symbols, truths, and perhaps confessions—a tapestry woven with the threads of the artist’s deepest reflections.
The track, a standout from twigs’s repertoire, invites listeners into a complex world of introspection, existential struggle, and the search for meaning amid chaos. ‘Figure 8’ does not simply skim the surface; it plunges into unseen depths, where the psyche and the soul intertwine, challenging us to explore the space where personal growth can be as painful as it is beautiful.
Embracing Life’s Contradictions Through Melody
‘Figure 8’ captures a multitude of opposing forces at play within a single entity. At the heart of the song lies the struggle of reconciling the desire to live fully with the accompanying vulnerabilities that such an existence demands. The melody, a haunting backdrop to the unfolding drama, wraps around the lyrics like a cocoon—binding the visceral to the spiritual, the tangible to the intangible.
FKA twigs doesn’t just convey a message; she creates an atmosphere, a microcosm of sound in which every note resonates with the intensity of the words. The struggle for mass appeal and the struggle to stay true to oneself become a dance, one that is as intricate and delicate as the figure eight—a symbol not only of infinity but also of balance and the interplay of energies.
The Vulnerability of Creation and The Artist’s Burden
In a striking confession likening the artistic process to childbirth, ‘Figure 8’ dives into the sacredness and agony that come with creation. FKA twigs relays her readiness to birth art, but only upon the condition of connectivity—an insertion of spirit or consciousness by the recipient, which perhaps suggests that art is incomplete without its beholder.
This metaphor extends beyond the physical to capture the essence of the creative dilemma. The artist, like a guardian angel with torn wings, fiercely protects the sanctity of their work but remains aware that the act of creation involves pain, sacrifice, and a piece of the creator’s very soul. twigs paints a vivid portrait of the double edge of creativity—empowering, yes, but also draining and deeply personal.
Dancing Through Pain: ‘Figure 8’ and the Art of Resilience
Life’s figurative spine gets tested, and in the poignant words of the song, to ‘take a step’ is to ‘break my neck.’ Yet, there’s an inherent call to resilience coursing through ‘Figure 8.’ To lead with one’s middle finger is to move forward despite adversity, to learn to command presence in a world that relentlessly pushes back.
FKA twigs’s lyrics don’t beg for sympathy but rather command respect for the fortitude it takes to grow—from boys into men, from girls into women. The artist does not sing from an ivory tower but from the frontlines, portraying life’s unglamorous reality and the transformative power of pain endured and overcome.
The Haunting Accusation: The Hidden Meaning Within
The song weaves a web of confrontation with the line, ‘You’re so fucking fake that it’s hurting me.’ Direct and piercing, the accusation is levied not just at another, but, perhaps, at the facade that we all sometimes wear. There’s a duality at play here, with FKA twigs possibly criticizing the façade often demanded by society and also the jealousy that stems from watching the seemingly ‘more alive’ exist carefree.
Yet, it’s not just bitterness that ‘Figure 8’ evokes; there is also an element of self-reflection and recognition that these facades are part of the human condition. Weaving through each line is the acknowledgment that life is not always lived genuinely, and the façade can be as painful to the wearer as it is to the onlooker.
Freeze Frame: The Emblematic Phrases We Can’t Ignore
‘3-3-3-3-3-3, hold that pose for me’—in a song rife with metaphorical depth, this line stands out for its sharp command to halt, to capture a moment in time amidst the chaos. This could well be interpreted as a nod to the voyeuristic nature of celebrity, where every moment is staged, every emotion is up for display in a frozen tableau to be judged, analyzed, and often, misconstrued.
‘Hush now, hush now’—the song concludes with these words; a demand for silence, for stillness, for the cessation of flickering thoughts that both inspire and torment the artist’s soul. It is a compelling invitation to pause, reflect, and perhaps, to find solace in the quiet aftermath of the storm that is ‘Figure 8.’
