Never Let Me Go (Florence + The Machine) : The Analysis Of A Song

Listen to Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine here. 

The song's lyrics are given below:

Looking up from underneath
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under

And it's peaceful in the deep
'Cause either way you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under

Oh, and it's breaking over me
A thousand miles out to the sea bed
Found the place to rest my head

(Never let me go, never let me go
Never let me go, never let me go)

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing over me
And the questions I have for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean deliver me

Though the pressure's hard to take
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under, oh

And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles down to the sea bed
I found the place to rest my head

(Never let me go, never let me go
Never let me go, never let me go)

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
(So cold and so sweet)
And all this devotion was rushing out of me
And the questions I have for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean deliver me

And it's over and I'm going under
But I'm not giving up
I'm just giving in

Oh, slipping underneath
So cold and so sweet

In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold
And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all
And the questions I have for a sinner released
In the arms of the ocean deliver me

(Never let me go, never let me go
Never let me go, never let me go)

Deliver me

(Never let me go, never let me go
Never let me go, never let me go)
Never let me go, never let me go)

Deliver me
(Never let me go, never let me go)
Never let me go, never let me go)

Deliver me
Never let me go, never let me go

And it's over
I'm going under
But I'm not giving up
I'm just giving in

Ah, slipping underneath
Wooh, so cold, but so sweet

Songwriters: Paul Epworth / Tom Harpoon / Florence Welch


Never Let Me Go lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

How do the songwriters bring out themes of devotion and spirituality through their choice of words? 

The first 'stanza' according to some interpretations, references a person being baptised into the Christian faith. The person is being immersed in water, and they're looking out into the world above from below the water. 

The use of specific words tied to spirituality, faith and worship; such as 'Cathedral, pray or sinner', help reinforce the themes of religion being explored in the verses. 

The fifth stanza reinforces the idea of a Christian baptism- even seeming to reference the excessive feelings of devotion seen in some Charismatic Christian movements. The songwriter is being delivered from her burdens of sin by the cleansing effects of an 'ocean of water'. 

The personification of the 'ocean' as having arms imbibes a natural phenomenon with human qualities, which is a hallmark of faiths that respect and worship Nature, such as Hinduism. 

The tone of the poem and wording itself references death at some point, but it seems to imply a Resurrection, which ties in with the Christian motifs discussed earlier.