Florence + the Machine: Difference between revisions

[[Florence + the Machine]] is the work of British singer/songwriter Florence Welch, with 'the machine' being her (rotating) backing group, though the name originally referred to her original collaborator (and current keyboardist for her backing group) Isabella Summers when the group was "Florence Robot/Isa Machine" to be shortened to its current moniker. After her debut album ''Lungs'' made number one in the United Kingdom (six months after release, and repeatedly), she became one of 2009's frontrunners in a burst of popular, powerful female pop music. Her second album, ''Ceremonials'', switched tacks abruptly and took the world by storm in a burst of overpowering soul music.

Welch is known for quite macabre lyrics — "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was her reaction to being asked to make an ''upbeat'' record for marketability! —, [[Love It or Hate It|love-or-hate]] performances and haunting vocals.

They contributed the song "Heavy In Your Arms" to the ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]] Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack, so tropers in the US can probably expect to hear a bit more of them soon, going by [[Muse (band)|Muse]]'s example. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OJa13Okm-A&feature=player_embedded Also recently performed a song for] ''[[Snow White and the Huntsman]]''. In 2018, they contributed the song "Jenny of Oldstones" to the ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' episode "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

{{quote|''I opened my mouth to scream and shout,

''I waved my arms and flapped about.

''But I couldn't scream and I couldn't shout,

''I couldn't scream and I couldn't shout. }}

''Pretty little thing stopped me in my tracks / [[Eye Scream|And now she sleeps with one eye open]]'' }}

{{quote|''A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes

''I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind }}

{{quote|"''I picked up the bird and above the din, I said "That's the last song you'll ever sing"

''Held him down, broke his neck, taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget."'' }}

* [[Sanity Slippage Song]]: "Drumming Song", "What The Water Gave Me", "Dog Days Are Over", "Hurricane Drunk", "Seven Devils", "Kiss With A Fist", "Breaking Down", "Lover To Lover", "Bird Song", "Falling", and "Swimming".

** In '"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'" she uses a line that was originally in a Gang Gang Dance song-

*** The song also asks if that was [[The Matrix|"the wrong pill to take"]].

** * Also considering that the melody is similar to the aforementioned song it also counts as [[Sampled Up]].

** "Howl" includes a couple of lines from the 1941 ''[[Wolf Man]]'' movie. It works really, really well thematically.

** "What the Water Gave Me" refers to the painting by the same name made by [[Frida Kahlo]]. It also alludes to Atlas and [[Virginia Woolf]]'s suicide:

** "Shake It Out" borrows a line, a la "Rabbit Heart": "it's hard to dance with the devil on your back" is borrowed from the original "Lord of the Dance" hymn (yes, ''that'' [[The Lord of the Dance 1997|Lord of the Dance]]).

** The "Spectrum" music video's ballet dancers use the same head covering devices used in ''[[Swan Lake]]'' and has a few visual'svisuals from ''[[Black Swan]]'' and certain mythological beliefs. (Greece this time)

* [[Something Something Leonard Bernstein]]: "Seven Devils" final verse is;:

{{quote|''Something something Up, Tear the walls

''Something something Heart something something Soul

''something something enough, something something eagle

''something something soar... }}

* [[Updated Rerelease]]: "Lungs" was re-released and updated with a 12 -track additional disk and linear notes in late 2010.

** "Drumming Song" is chocked chock-full of sexual imagery, ''and'' religious imagery. The video even takes place in a church, and there's a case to be made that the backup dancers are angels. Or devils. Or just hallucinations.

{{quote|''Atom oh atom, oh what's the ''matter'' with me, love?}}

* [[Younger Than They Look]]: She's 25was born in 1986, but looks aboutlike tenshe yearswas olderborn in 19''76''; it's a bit difficult for some people to wrap their head around.