What does Awake My Soul mean?

Mumford & Sons: Awake My Soul Meaning

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Album cover for Awake My Soul album cover

Awake My Soul Lyrics

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes.
I struggle to find any truth in your lies.
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know.
This weakness I feel I must finally show.

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all.
But lend me...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Sep 27th 2012 !⃝

    This song (imho) is about a man finding his faith. He becomes painfully aware of his flawed nature and short-comings - yet sees the divine beauty of the soul.

    He desires to leave behind his past and embark on this new journey. Awake my soul.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    chad.l.bryson
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    Jun 13th 2012 !⃝

    Mumford & Sons' lyrics are heavily laden with literary content, needless to say that this song does too. In the one sentence: this song, it could be interpreted, refers to a call for the realization of man's humanity. This is what I interpret to mean 'soul'. 

    Our 'woozy eyes' and 'fickle heart' refer to the clouded perception of our awareness of this 'sleeping' humanity and we find it difficult to find our true sense of expression.

    This can be attributable to our contemporary society and the complexities of our interaction between others and the world. There are divisions which have been established historically which perpetuate the separation of ourselves from our true-selves (soul) and the love that exists between one another. (eg. Racism, sexism, nationalism, rich and poor)

    Our society is wrought with myths and people telling us what we should know and what and how we should think and act. So much so that we 'struggle to find any truth' in their lies. (eg. Religions, politicians, capitalists, tyrants)

    Communication is a problem, and when we 'stumble' upon 'things' we 'don't know' we can find no true sense of security from the uncertainty it my bring. So we feel lost, fearful and disconnected from others. We would rather not know, or not ask about things that might appear true to our 'heart' and stay asleep from letting our love speak for itself. 

    With so much uncertainty and so much deceit from evil and confusion  in the world we can only rely on one thing that will make us realise that we are human: that we have this body, this life, and it will come and go, we will die. And the only certainty in this life is love. This love in unlimited and is homed by the soul.

    The call is for the soul of man to
    be awoken from this clouded state in our complicated existence. Our woozy eyes shall be opened to the truth. We will be able share with each other our way of life 'lend me our eyes' and we can see what we can change but we must stay true to ourselves and not settle for one mode of existence we must keep our 'soul... totally free'. We will find trust, honesty and peace because, (see "sign no more": 'love it will not betray you dismay or enslave you, it will set you free'), and just like we faced the birth into this life, we will face it's end, we will 'meet 'our' maker'.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 18th 2018 !⃝

    Any interpretation must begin with original intention of the artist. They believe God exists - any rendering of the song from a humanitarian/atheist worldview is therefore meaningless and misses the point.

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 2nd 2015 !⃝

    Everyone has their own interpretation of the song which is completely fine but I believe the song is to be looked at by a more spiritual standpoint. For example the verse "Lend me your eyes I can change what you see, but your soul you must keep totally free" God can change what you see; how you look at things on a day to day basis like love, friendships, even life. He can change that, from what might be a skewed view to something beautiful. When keeping your soul free meaning keep your soul for God to work in your life.
    This to me also looks like a testimony. How he could've been before with his out take on life and how God changed that. This is my interpretation of the song.

  5. john.michaels.12
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    Jun 23rd 2014 !⃝

    I've always loved this song from the time I first heard it, without thinking too much about it... but then a very close aunt of mine lost her battle with cancer & i listened to this song & it had an all new very profound meaning... I'm reminded of this song as my wife recently lost a loved one

    To me the line "how fickle our heart & whose y our eyes" means no matter how much you prepare yourself for a loved ones passing, it does little to ease the pain

    The line "I struggle to find any truth in your lies" is about how we tell each other that everything will be ok... when we really feel like all is lost...

    "And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know" is how the heart struggles to understand death

    "My weakness I feel I must finally show" - means no matter how I try to hide it I will be reduced to tears...


    "Lend me your hand & we'll conquer them all" means that we can use each other to get through this....

    "But lend me your heart & i will just let you fall" means if we will cry together

    "Lend me your eyes & i can change what you see" means we can view it differently... Instead of a loss of life, it can be a celebration of life...

    "But you soul you must keep totally free" mean don't allow yourself to be burdened with Greig

    "in these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die"... means death is a natural part of life

    & where you invest your love, you invest you life"... means that's why it's so hard and it feels like all is lost

    "For you were made to meet your maker... means everything will be ok... it's all part of God's plan... they are where they are supposed to be... & you will be with them eventually...


    "Awake my soul" - means help me understand

    This is my interpretation of this song... taken in this context... this song will reduce you to tears... but it also becomes extremely comforting in how it makes you feel justified in your grief & provide you the strength you need to get through... it is such an amazingly beautiful song... i hope this interpretation can bring others the same comfort

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 8th 2012 !⃝

    To me,

    Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all.
    But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall.
    Lend me your eyes I can change what you see,
    but your soul you must keep totally free.

    These lines mean that it's a gift that comes with a price. This is best depicted by the word 'but'. It indicates the condition that comes with whatever is offered. The offerings are in the lines of 'lend me...'. It asks for confidence in the person with the hope of a better future.

    'Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all.' is to have faith and hope, and everything will be fine.

    'But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall.' is when you doubt or hold back, then whatever faith or hope we have will be useless.

    'Lend me your eyes I can change what you see,' is to trust the person and he will provide us with everything we need.

    'but your soul you must keep totally free.' In order to trust, we have to be open

  7. anonymous
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    Oct 9th 2011 !⃝

    I believe the above was supposed to say

    but you have to interoperate what you see for yourself.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 9th 2011 !⃝

    Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all.
    But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall.
    Lend me your eyes I can change what you see,
    but your soul you must keep totally free.

    I see this as meaning,
    together we can face any obstacle,
    but don't trust everything that you need to survive to me,
    I can change the way you see life
    but you have to what you see for yourself.


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