Florence and the Machine - Dance Fever Album Lyrics

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King

We argue in the kitchen about whether to have children
About the world ending and the scale of my ambition
And how much is art really worth
The very thing you're best at is the thing that hurts the most
But you need your rotten heart, your dazzling pain like diamond rings
You need to go to war to find material to sing
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king

I need my golden crown of sorrow, my bloody sword to swing
My empty halls to echo with grand self-mythology
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king

But a woman is a changeling, always shifting shape
Just when you think you have it figured out, something new begins to take
What strange claws are these scratching at my skin?
I never knew my killer would be coming from within
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king

I need my golden crown of sorrow, my bloody sword to swing
I need my empty halls to echo with grand self-mythology
'Cause I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king
I am no mother, I am no bride
I am king

Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh

And I was never as good as I always thought I was
But I knew how to dress it up
I was never satisfied, it never let me go
Just dragged me by my hair, and back on with the show

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Free

Sometimes I wonder if I should be medicated
If I would feel better just slightly sedated
A feeling comes so fast and I cannot control it
I'm on fire, but I'm trying not to show it

As it picks me up, puts me down
It picks me up, puts me down
Picks me up, puts me down
A hundred times a day
It picks me up, puts me down
It chews me up, spits me out
Picks me up, puts me down

I'm always running from something
I push it back, but it keeps on coming
And being clever never got me very far
Because it's all in my head
And "You're too sensitive", they said
I said, "Okay, but let's discuss this at the hospital"

As it picks me up, puts me down
It picks me up, puts me down
Picks me up, puts me down
A hundred times a day
It picks me up, puts me down
It chews me up, spits me out
Picks me up, puts me down

But I hear music
I feel the beat
And for a moment
When I'm dancing, I am free

I hear the music
I feel the beat (ahh)
And for a moment
When I'm dancing, I am free, I am free

Ooh, ooh

Is this how it is?
Is this how it's always been?
To exist in the face of suffering and death
And somehow still keep singing
Oh like Christ up on a cross
Who died for us? Who died for what?
Oh, don't you wanna call it off?
But there's nothing else that I know how to do
But to open up my arms and give it all to you

'Cause I hear music, I feel the beat
And for a moment, when I'm dancing
I am free, I am free
I am free, I am free

---

Choreomania

And I am freaking out in the middle of the street
With the complete conviction of someone who's
Never had anything actually really bad happen to them
But I am committed now to the feeling

I don't know how it started
Don't know how to stop it
Suddenly, I'm dancing to imaginary music

Something's coming
So out of breath
I just kept spinning
And I danced myself to death
Something's coming
So out of breath
I just kept spinning
And I danced myself to death

And this is the end
And I am thinking about her
Driving around in the backseat of a car
I'll be your demon daddy
And do they speak to you?
'Cause they speak to me too
The pressure and the panic you push your body through

Something's coming, so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death

Something's coming, so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death

You said that rock and roll is dead
But is that just because
It has not been resurrected in your image?
Like if Jesus came back
But in a beautiful dress
And all the angels were like
"Oh yes, oh yes" (oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes)

Something's coming, so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death
(Something's coming, something's coming)

Something's coming so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death
(Something's coming, something's coming)

Something's coming so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death
(Something's coming, something's coming)

Something's coming so out of breath
I just kept spinning and I danced myself to death
(Something's coming, something's coming)

---

Back in Town

Never really been alive before
Always lived in my head
And sometimes it was easier
Hungover and half dead

Back in town, why don't we go out
Let the rats spin around our feet
The full moon shines down
On these dirty streets
Back in town, why don't we go out
To that Ninth Street diner
And carry own slowly torturing each other
'Cause it's always the same

I came for the pleasure, but I stayed
Yes, I stayed for the pain

It's lit up like a movie scene
That halogen glow
And if you get spat on
That's just your big city baptism
You're the star of the show

Back in town, why don't we go out
And never go to sleep
To all our dreams, I'll let them
Pile up on the streets
I thought that I was here with you
But it was always just that empty room
'Cause it's always the same

I came for the pleasure, but I stayed
Yes, I stayed for the pain

---

Girls Against God

What a thing to admit
That when someone looks at me with real love
I don't like it very much
Kinda makes me feel like I'm bein' crushed
Is this something that you would like to discuss?

And it's good to be alive
Crying into cereal at midnight
If they ever let me out
I'm gonna really let it out
I listen to music from 2006 and feel kind of sick
But, oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with this

Remember being in that basement with Tom Vek?
Everyone treated us like little pets
Oh, tell me it's not over yet
And in my darkest fantasies
I am the picture of passivity
Waiting for you side stage
Suppressing all my private rage
But as my sister said
I'd probably last six days

Oh, it's good to be alive
Crying into cereal at midnight
And if they ever let me out
I'm gonna really let it out
When I decided to wage holy war
It looked very much like staring at my bedroom floor
But, oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with me

And I know I may not look like much
Just another screaming speck of dust
But, oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with us (oh God, you're gonna get it)

But it's good to be alive
Crying into cereal at midnight
Oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with us

Oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with us
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
Oh God, you're gonna get it
You'll be sorry that you messed with me

I met the devil
You know, he gave me a choice
A golden heart, or a golden voice

---

Dream Girl Evil

Well, did you miss me?
Walk on water just to kiss me
Oh, come and get me
Drag me out, destroy me
I've been expecting you, I'm ready
Deliver me that bad news baby

Am I your dream girl?
You think of me in bed
But you could never hold me
And like me better in your head
Make me evil, then I'm an angel instead
At least you'll sanctify me when I'm dead

Dream girl evil, dream girl evil
Dream girl evil, dream girl evil

Did I disappoint you?
Did mommy make you sad?
Do I at least remind you
Of every girl that made you mad?
Make me perfect, make me your fantasy
You know I deserve it
Well, take it out on me

Am I your dream girl?
You think of me in bed
But you could never hold me
You like me better in your head
Make me evil, then I'm an angel instead
At least you'll sanctify me when I'm dead

Dream girl evil, dream girl evil
Dream girl evil, dream girl evil

Watch me shimmer (shimmer)
A projection of your mother (mother)
But don't come crying (crying)
I am nobody's mother, center

It cannot hold, it cannot hold
It cannot hold, it cannot hold
It cannot hold, it cannot hold
It cannot hold, it cannot hold
It cannot hold (dream girl)
It cannot hold (evil)
It cannot hold (dream girl)
It cannot hold (evil)
It cannot hold (dream girl)
It cannot hold (evil)
It cannot hold (dream girl)
It cannot hold (evil)

---

Prayer Factory

All the things that I ran from
I now bring as close to me as I can
Ripping hotel sheets with gritted teeth
My montage of lost things, it's mine
Shiny trinkets of grief

Why don't you give me a call?
Open my mouth, yes, I'll take it all
Know it's work onto work
Maybe finally you shut the gate

---

Cassandra

I used to see the future
And now I see nothing
They cut out my eyes
And sent me home packing
To pace around the kitchen for scraps of inspiration
Crying like Cassandra
I used to tell the future
But they cut out my tongue
And left me doing laundry
To think on what I've done
It wasn't me, it was the song

I used to move into the future
Bring it all back, let it bleed through my fingers
A treasure in my hands
Now I creep out, when there's no one about
'Cause they put crosses on the doors to try and keep me out
Gardens overgrown
And I run in the middle of the road

Well, can you see me?
I cannot see you
Everything I thought I knew
Has fallen out of view
In this madness I'm condemned to
Well, can you hear me?
I cannot hear you
Every song I thought I knew
I've been deafened to
And there's no one left to sing to

All the gods have been domesticated
And heaven is now overrated
And churches, they all closed their doors
But you can take your complaints straight to the Lord
I try to still look with a wonder at the world
As the roses bloom
And the riot plants, they play me and you

Well, can you see me?
I cannot see you
Everything I thought I knew
Has fallen out of view
In this madness I'm condemned to
Well, can you hear me?
I cannot hear you
Every song I thought I knew
I've been deafened to
And there's no one left to sing to

Ooh, ooh, ooh, oh
Ooh, ooh, ooh (take me back)
Ooh, ooh, ooh (oh, the drunken gods of slaughter
Ooh, ooh, ooh (you know I've always been your favorite daughter)

Well, can you see me?
I cannot see you
Everything I thought I knew
Has fallen out of view
And if I run fast enough
Could I break apart?
Empires tumble and cathedrals flatten
In my heart

---

Heaven Is Here

Oh, bring yourself, bring your cigarette
Draw me a circle and I'll protect
Heaven is here if you want it

Oh, bring your boy, bring your bottle
Open your mouth pour it down his neck
Heaven is here if you want it

And all of the fish, let 'em flounder
I went to the water, drank every drop
I'll turn your sea to a desert

My catholic taste in the devil
All gilded and golden, yes, I'm your girl
Hell, if it glitters, I'm going

And I ride in my red dress
And time stretches endless
With my gun in my hand
You know I always get my man

And every song I wrote became an escape rope
Tied around my neck to pull me up to heaven

---

Daffodil

I couldn't have it, yes, I let it get in
The helpless hope to missing of spring
Worn out and tired and my heart never tired
And the world's bent doubled from weeping
And yet, the birds begin to sing
Ooh ooh oh

Daffodil, daffodil

I'm not bad, I'm not good
I drank every scar that I could
Made myself mythical, tried to be real
Saw the future in the face of a

Daffodil, daffodil
Daffodil, daffodil

You practice resurrection every night
Raising the dead under the moonlight
In the gloaming night, start to cry
You're a perfect pearl out in the sky

There is no bad, there is no good
I drank all the blood that I could
Made myself mythical, tried to be real
Saw the future in the face of a

Daffodil, daffodil
Daffodil, daffodil

English sun, she has come
To kiss my face and tell me I'm that chosen one
A generation soaked in grief
We're drying out and hanging on by the skin of our teeth
I never thought it would get this far
This somewhat drunken joke
Sometimes I see so much beauty
I don't think that I can cope

There is no bad, there is no good
I drank every scar that I could
Made myself mythical, tried to be real
Saw the future in the face of a

Daffodil, daffodil
Daffodil, daffodil

---

My Love

Ooh, ooh

I was always able to write my way out
Song always made sense to me
Now I find that when I look down
Every page is empty (ooh)
There is nothing to describe
Except the moon, still and bright
Against the worrying sky (ooh)
I pray the trees will get their leaves soon

So tell me where to put my love
Do I wait for time to do what it does?
I don't know where to put my love (ooh)

And when it came, it was stranger
Than I had ever imagined
No cracking open of heaven
But quiet and still
My friends are getting ill

So tell me where to put my love
Do I wait for time to do what it does?
I don't know where to put my love (ooh)
So tell me where to put my love
Do I wait for time to do what it does?
I don't know where to put my love (ooh)

My arms emptied
The skies emptied
The billboards emptied
My arms emptied
The skies emptied
The buildings emptied

So tell me where to put my love
Do I wait for time to do what it does?
I don't know where to put my love (ha)
So tell me where to put my love
Do I wait for time to do what it does? (Ha)
I don't know where to put my love

My arms emptied
The skies emptied
The billboards emptied
My arms emptied
The skies emptied
The buildings emptied (ha)

---

Restraint

And have I learned restraint?
Am I quiet enough for you yet?

Ah, ah, ah, oh, ah
Ah, ah, ah, oh, ah

---

The Bomb

You said this could've been the best thing
That ever happened to you
So you decided not to do it
Now you come back every summer
Like a carnivorous flower
And I stare at your hands in the heat and I
Think that you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

If I was free to love you
You wouldn't want me would you?
Unavailability is the only thing that turns you on

Come here, baby
Tell me that I'm wrong

I've blown apart my life for you
And bodies hit the floor for you
And break me, shake me, devastate me
Come here, baby
Tell me that I'm wrong

I don't love you, I just love the bomb
Buildings falling is the only thing that turns me on

I've blown apart my life for you
And bodies hit the floor for you
And break me, shake me, devastate me
Come here, baby
Tell me that I'm wrong

I don't love you, I just love the bomb
I let it burn, but it just had to be done
And I'm in ruins, but is it what I wanted all along?
Sometimes you get the good, sometimes you get a song

---

Morning Elvis

When they dressed me and they put me on a plane to Memphis
Well, I never got to see Elvis
I just sweated it out in a hotel room
But I think the king would've understood
Why I never made it to Graceland
Bathroom towels were cool against my head
I pressed my forehead to the floor
And prayed for a trapdoor
I've been here many times before
But I've never made it to Graceland

And if I make it to the morning
I should've come with a warning
And if I make it to the stage
I'll show you what it means to be sad

Well, pick me up in New Orleans
Pinned in a bathroom stall
Pick me up above my body
Press my corpse against the wall
I told the band to leave without me
I'll get the next flight
And I'll see you all with Elvis
If I don't survive the night

If I make it to the morning
I should've come with a warning
And if I make it to the stage
I'll show you what it means to be sad

And after every tour, I swear I'll quit
It's over boys, now this is it
But the call, it always comes
And it sounds like children
Begging to be born
But, oh, I guess I got my wish
Anything, anything, anything but this

If I make it to the morning
I should've come with a warning
And if I make it to the stage
I'll show you what it means to be sad

Oh, you know I'm still afraid
I'm still crazy and I'm still scared
But if I make it to the stage
I'll show you what it means

To be spared, to be spared
To be spared, to be spared
To be spared