I'm gonna be released from behind these lines
And I don't care whether I live or die
And I'm losing blood, I'm gonna leave my bones
And I don't want your heart, it leaves me cold
[Pre-Chorus]
I don't want your future
I don't need your past
One grand moment
Is all I ask
[Chorus]
I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me down)
Said I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me, pulling me down)
[Verse 2]
I don't need a husband, don't need no wife
And I don't need the day, I don't need the night
And I don't need the birds, let them fly away
And I don't want the clouds, they never seem to stay
I don't want no future (Want no future)
I don't need no past (Need no past)
One grand moment (One grand moment)
Is all I ask (Is all I ask)
I don't want your future (Want your future)
I don't need your past (Need your past)
One grand moment (One grand moment)
Is all I ask, and I-
[Chorus]
I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me down)
Said I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my, lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me, pulling me down)
[Bridge]
Pulling me down
(And it's pulling me down)
Pulling me down, oh
(And it's pulling me down)
Pulling me down
(And it's pulling me, pulling me down)
Pulling me, pulling me down
I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me down)
Said I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me, pulling me down)
Yes, I'm gonna leave my body
(Moving up to higher ground)
I'm gonna lose my mind
(Your history keeps pulling me down)
(Moving up to higher ground)
(Your history keeps pulling me, pulling me down)
About
Ceremonials comes to its conclusion on the somber track which is “Leave My Body”. With a spiritual, ethereal instrumental, the song ends with a ghosting sound, sonically representing in an accurate way what its title suggests.
Although many usually believe the lyrics are about death, a theme much explored within the album, and despite having a dark sound, “Leave My Body” is much lighter than it seems to be. In a track-by-track interview, Florence Welch stated that the lyrics are a metaphor for the feeling she gets while performing onstage. The obliviousness and rapture experiences provided by the act of singing live.
I think when you’re singing you live for that moment, not having any past or future but living purely in the moment, you’re with the song, with that note, and there’s nothing else. And I think it’s a sense like leaving your body. […] That was like a song to myself, just to try and live in that moment a bit more.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a 2011 track-by-track interview, Florence stated:
‘Leave My Body’ is kinda like… I think when you’re singing you live for that moment, not having any past or future but living purely in the moment, you’re with the song, with that note, and there’s nothing else. And I think it’s a sense like leaving your body. I kind of get the feeling sometimes of being just trapped inside my own head, behind eyes that aren’t big enough for something, you know, I want to be able to see everything around me and I’m stuck between these two points of vision, sometimes, I feel too trapped. You just want to sort of get out of yourself. I think performing is like not wanting, you don’t have to have regular things, you don’t have to be married, you don’t have to have a future or a past, you can just be totally in oblivion, like a split second, you just want a moment, you don’t need anything else. That was like a song to myself, just to try and live in that moment a bit more.
- 2.Shake It Out
- 8.Seven Devils
- 9.Heartlines
- 12.Leave My Body
- 13.Remain Nameless
- 15.Bedroom Hymns
- 17.Landscape (Demo)