In Florence & the Machine's song
“Shake It Out”, Florence Welch describes how regrets from the
past are always at the back of one's mind, and affect the way a
person thinks and makes decisions in the present. A person's past can
be a burden, but a person learns from their mistakes and regrets.
In the first verse, Florence speaks of
how “regrets collect like old friends,” and how they “relive
your darkest moments.” That is true for many people. Thinking of
regrets tends to bring up a whole cluster of regretful moments, not
just one. Florence also talks about how she'd “like to keep some
things to myself.” That is usually true about one who feels they
have made mistakes in their life. If they see something they have
done as a mistake, they usually think of it as a flaw they have in
their judgment, and something they could be judged for by others.
In the second verse, Florence compares
her past to a horse that she is always dragging around behind her.
This is a good comparison. A person's past is always in the back of
their mind, affecting how they perceive things and how they make
decisions. Things people have done to them in their past can lead
them to be distrustful of others. However, past mistakes can also
lead a person to become wiser, and give them better perspective about
the choices they have, and the right decisions to make.
Florence then tells how she is “gonna
bury that horse in the ground.” Many people would like to bury
their past. If the past was forgotten, people would feel as if
nothing could hold them back from doing the things they wish. But
eventually, a person would make mistake after mistake, without even
realizing what they are doing is not the right thing. If a person did
not have their past mistakes to learn from, they would not realize
they needed to learn from the things they do.
In the chorus, she sings “It's hard
to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off.” She is
comparing our past to the “devil on your back.” In some
circumstances, it is okay to shake the past off. It can be good to
shake some things off and act without thinking of the past sometimes.
But the past is always part of a person. No matter how much a person
tries to forget mistakes and painful memories, the past can never
truly be erased.
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