While these lyrics are lifted from another song, they nicely set the tone of the album, preparing the listener for the story to come. Through repurposing the lyrics, the themes of love and loss are introduced.

“You” refers to the female character of the album, sung by Portuguese Fado artist Elisa Rodrigues. She is arriving at the Island on her ship, and the narrator is walking along the beach searching for her.

“The Island” seems to refer to a sort of Paradise to where the narrator has returned. In track two of Field of Reeds, the narrator recalls:

In between the islands, where we used to swim

The Island can be seen as a sort of Eden, where they will meet again.

“The light” most likely refers to “The Light in Your Name”.

It is also one of many references to searchlights and lighthouses on the album.

As the missiles fall from the sky, the ship belonging to the narrator’s companion is destroyed. He is left to watch helplessly from the beach as she sinks to her death.

The song itself is a metaphor for the end of a relationship/loss of a loved one.

This refers to the Falklands War, fought in 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina. Exocets are anti-ship missiles, and Stanley is the capital of the Falkland Islands.

Curiously, Barnett delivers this line as “Exocets from Stanley,” but recently posted this: http://instagram.com/p/dZY65mgnf4/

References to anti-ship missiles and islands are no surprise. A similar line in Fragment Two states:

I swam towards your ship/Like a missile guided by vague feelings

Bandleader Jack Barnett is known to be a huge perfectionist. Reportedly, he had his brother George do 76 takes to get the drum track.

Our narrator is going back to the Island. In the context of the album, this track is the “journey,” the beginning.

A reference to the track “V (Island Song),” the centerpiece of the album. He and his female companion once lived there.

In the following track, “The Light in Your Name,” the band recorded the sound of panes of glass being smashed. This is one of many instances of cross-referencing within the album.