The Wolves by Ben Howard Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Layers of Love and Loss
Lyrics
Now that we’re lonely, now that there’s nowhere to go
Watching from both sides, these clock towers burning up
I lost my time here, oh, I lost my patience with it all
We lost faith in the arms of love
Oh, where you been hiding lately?
Where you been hiding from the news?
(Oh, hiding lately, hiding from the news)
Because we’ve been fighting lately
And we’ve been fighting with the wolves
(Oh, fighting lately, fighting lately)
Oh, With the wolves
Oh, With the wolves
Red tongues and hands
Oh, falling from high places, falling through lost spaces
Now that we’re lonely, Now that we’re so far from home
Watching from both sides, these towers been tumbling down
I lost my mind here, oh, I lost my patience with the Lord
Oh with the Lord
We lost faith in the arms of love
Oh love, love, love
Oh, where you been hiding lately?
Where you been hiding from the news?
(Oh, hiding lately, hiding from the news)
‘Cause we’ve been fighting lately
And we’ve been fighting with the wolves
(Oh, fighting lately, fighting with the wolves)
Oh, with the wolves, now
Ooh, with the wolves
Red tongues and hands
Red tongues and hands
We lost faith in the arms of love
Oh, love, love, love (love, love, love)
Oh, love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Oh, love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Oh, love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love (love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Love, love, love (love, love, love)
Behind the haunting melodies and the raw, earthy vocals of Ben Howard’s song ‘The Wolves’ lies a complex tale woven with threads of love, loss, and the burdens of consciousness. As listeners, we’re invited to peel back the layers of this intricate ballad that oscillates between the personal and the profound.
Anchored in gentle guitar strings and the palpable emotion in Howard’s voice, ‘The Wolves’ draws us into a narrative that, while cryptic, touches on universal themes. Striking a balance between poetic ambiguity and emotional specificity, the lyrics beckon for a deeper exploration beyond their surface meaning.
A Battle Cry Against Modern Apathy?
In the throes of ‘The Wolves,’ Ben Howard doesn’t just sing; he laments – creating an ebb and flow that mimics the tumult of our times. Is the song an indictment of our collective desensitization to the ‘news,’ which often reads like a laundry list of calamities? The repeated inquires about hiding from the news, and the consequent admittance of ‘fighting with the wolves,’ hint at a struggle to remain empathetic in a world that’s all too eager to harden hearts.
Moreover, Howard’s lyrics evoke a landscape of burning clock towers and falling through empty spaces – it’s the imagery of a society in decay, where time and structure have lost their sway. The artist propels us into a reflection on our place within this chaos, and whether we choose to hide or stand and confront our realities.
Dissecting the ‘High Places’ and ‘Lost Spaces’
The recurrent mentions of high places and lost spaces invite various interpretations. These could denote the lofty aspirations and the subsequent feelings of desolation when those hopes are not met. Howard seems to articulate the vulnerability that comes with reaching for something greater, only to find oneself lost or alone in the pursuit.
Alternatively, one might view these ‘high places’ as pedestals we build for love, ideals, or religion. ‘The Wolves’ stirs within us the recognition of disappointment when such pedestals crumble – symbolized by tumbling towers – revealing the imperfection of what we hold sacred.
The Hidden Meaning Beneath The Howls
Metaphorically, the wolves could signify a multitude of existential threats – fear, doubt, external pressures, or internal conflicts. Navigating life’s challenges can feel akin to ‘fighting with the wolves,’ a fight that is as inevitable as it is draining. These wolves prey on our peace, leaving us with red tongues and hands – possibly stained by the effort to retain what love we have, or bloodied by the fight itself.
Ben Howard’s choice to repeat the chorus amplifies this message of endurance against repeated, relentless adversity. The wolves that howl throughout the song are not just external, but internal – representing the darker facets of the human psyche we grapple with, especially when faith in love wanes.
Echoes of Lost Faith in a Chorus of ‘Love, Love, Love’
As a refrain, the chant of ‘love, love, love’ morphs into an incantation that intertwines cynicism with yearning. The more the word ‘love’ echoes, the more it seems to fade, illustrating the pain of disillusionment. This repetition feels like a clinging to the ideal of love, even as it slips through the fingers of the singer and the listener alike.
However, Howard’s simple, almost desperate repetition of ‘love’ can also be seen as a mantra against the encroaching darkness of the wolves. It’s a clinging to hope amidst despair, a belief that even when faith in everything else is lost, love remains worth fighting for – perhaps the ultimate act of defiance against the wolves at the door.
Memorable Lines: ‘I lost my mind here, oh, I lost my patience with the Lord’
This striking line serves as an emotional pivot point in ‘The Wolves.’ It brings to the fore the crisis of faith, the moment where patience wears thin and one’s grip on previously held convictions starts to falter. This line is a surrender to the trials of life, a heartbreaking acceptance that sometimes, what we were holding on to might not be there to catch us when we fall.
Here, Howard succinctly captures a profound spiritual disillusionment – a moment where the divine and the earthly blur, where the ‘Lord’, a symbol of ultimate refuge, is called into question. It’s a powerful admission that even the most steadfast beliefs are subject to the wear and tear of life’s relentless pace.
