Music has the ability to speak to the soul, as well as the ability to soothe it. Music is heard with the ears but truly fills the heart. A song can embody all of the feelings you can’t find the words to explain. For someone who lives and breathes a myriad of melodies, sharing a song is like giving away a piece of themselves.
This is all true for myself. A song that has moved me in such ways that I’m excited to share comes from a phenomenal, folk rock band based out of Denver, Colorado.
“Ophelia” is the first song The Lumineers have released in four years.
“Ophelia” tells a story. Lead man, Wesley Schultz, told Entertainment Weekly what that story is in detail. The song is broadly referring to those who become preoccupied with the spotlight and end up “falling in love with fame.” Schultz explains further that the spotlight is merely a moment in time. Once the moment passes, the light fades, and you’re just as quickly forgotten. Schultz said it’s about caring for the people in his life. “Ophelia” is him wondering if he and those he cares for are going to be alright in the end.
A line that conveys one of these meanings is “Heaven help the fool who falls in love.” Schultz and the band portray fame as “Ophelia,” and they’re pitying the poor souls unfortunate enough to fall for her. “And you can’t see past my blindness” is a line that acknowledges the spotlight and how it distorts the truth. Then there’s the line “that’s all she wrote.” Schultz is saying after fame, once you’re in the spotlight, that fame decides what happens to you when it disappears.
For a song that is under three minutes long, The Lumineers sure put a lot of work into it. The hook itself took four years in the making, according to EW. Schultz was quoted in an NPR article stating, “Dealing with success was actually a lot harder than dealing with failure.” This sophomore album is deep, heavy and personal. After their top selling, self-titled, debut album released in April 2012, their second album, Cleopatra, is eagerly awaited by their faithful fans.
Cleopatra is scheduled to release April 8.