If you could only see the beast you've made of me
I held it in, but now it seems you've set it running free
Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart
Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart
My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in
You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to howl
My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in
You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to
[Refrain]
Howl, howl
Howl, howl
[Verse 2]
Now there's no holding back, I'm aching to attack
My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground
Like some child, possessed, the beast howls in my veins
I want to find you, tear out all your tenderness and
[Refrain]
Howl, howl
Howl, howl
Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers
Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters
[Bridge]
(Hunters, hunters)
(Hunters, hunters)
(Hunters, hunters)
(Hunters, hunters)
[Verse 3]
The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress
Until I wrap myself inside your arms, I cannot rest
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed
[Refrain]
Ground
And howl
[Chorus]
Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers
It starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters
A man who's pure of heart and says his prayers by night
May still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright
If you could only see the beast you've made of me
I held it in, but now it seems you've set it running free
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground
About
Howl is the fourth track from Florence + The Machine’s debut album, Lungs. The song uses metaphors from the Gothic horror to talk about the feelings and sensations provided by love when you are young.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Welch told the story behind the song on her website:
I was in a really intense emotional state for this one! I’d been so drunk and so badly behaved that I felt like a beast, I felt feral. […] I was thinking about the extremes you go to when you’re in love, the way it takes over, and how that then turns into wanting to rip and tear. Young love starts off so instant, but then you make mistakes, and it becomes sordid, sometimes. And dangerous. Then while we were in the studio, I got so over-involved with the idea of werewolves! I took this idea and ran with it, and all the ideas just came from Gothic horror: werewolves and wedding dresses, and licking beating hearts.
- 4.Howl
- 9.Cosmic Love
- 11.Hurricane Drunk
- 12.Blinding
