Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) Lyrics

[Verse 1]
The looking glass, so shiny and new
How quickly the glamour fades
I start spinning, slipping out of time
Was that the wrong pill to take? (Raise it up)
You made a deal and now it seems you have to offer up
But will it ever be enough? (Raise it up, raise it up)
It's not enough (Raise it up, raise it up)
Here I am, a rabbit-hearted girl
Frozen in the headlights
It seems I've made the final sacrifice

[Pre-Chorus]
We raise it up, this offering
We raise it up

[Chorus]
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

[Verse 2]
I look around, but I can't find you (Raise it up)
If only I could see your face (Raise it up)
I start rushing towards the skyline (Raise it up)
I wish that I could just be brave
I must become a lion-hearted girl
Ready for a fight
Before I make the final sacrifice

[Pre-Chorus]
We raise it up, this offering
We raise it up

[Chorus]
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

[Post-Chorus]
Raise it up, raise it up
Raise it up, raise it up

[Bridge]
And in the spring, I shed my skin
And it blows away with the changing wind
The waters turn from blue to red
As towards the sky, I offer it

[Chorus]
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight
This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?
Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

[Outro]
This is a gift

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About

Genius Annotation

Although open to interpretation, the song is a description of what Florence felt whilst on the precipice of fame.

I think it was just all about me about to jump into the limelight and being in the music industry stuff like that

After being asked to record an upbeat song as a single for the label, she ended up with a chorus about ritual sacrifice.

Florence stated:

I’d written all these dark songs, and the label suggested we should have something that was a bit more upbeat. In the process of trying to do that, I realised maybe I was sacrificing something. So I had a really upbeat piano and drums, but the lyrics that came out were, ‘This is the gift/It comes with a price/ Who is the lamb/And who is the knife? The rabbit heart is a reference to fear – I’m so afraid of what’s about to happen. Of being in the spotlight.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Florence + the Machine say about "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)"?

Genius Answer

It was written after her label asked her for something more upbeat, but ended up with a chorus about ritual sacrifice. In an interview for Steve Lamacq on his BBC Radio In New Music We Trust show, she explained:

I’ve been doing all this heavy dark stuff and I just wanted something to express that sort of joyful sort of side to the music. But then again once I started doing that, the lyrics started getting dark again and then it became all about like ritual sacrifice and like who is the lamb and who is the knife? But it is sort of joyful in a way because its all about giving yourself up and letting it go and you start off being a sort of timid rabbit heart and you have to become courageous and become a lion heart."

Speaking to DIY Magazine, Florence explained:

Originally I wanted the song to be called ‘Offering’ because I was thinking of offering of a heart or a sacrifice. At the time I felt under quite a lot of pressure toward the end of the album and I had wanted to make an upbeat song, but obviously it became about the premise of ‘What are you actually giving up?’ or if it’s not a ‘give’, ‘What is it actually taking away from you?’

This song features Welch’s vocal overdubbed with so many harmonies she sounds like a massed choir of one. She confessed to The Independent June 27, 2009: