Drink Deep Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Through bramble and briar
Under ash and oak
I went to find the hidden folk
They gave me gowns and riches
Cut gold thread with their teeth
Every night I went to see them
No, I did not sleep
And every cup they brought to me
Oh, you know I dared
[Chorus]
Drink deep
Drink deep
[Verse 2]
My eyes began to hollow
My skin began to fade
What I thought was a night was a thousand years
What I thought was a sip was a thousand tears
But still, they said
[Chorus]
Drink deep
Drink deep
[Verse 3]
Like a thread that they spun
Was a woman's hair
And the gowns stitched from her tenderest flesh
And the cup that they brought
Up to my lips
I realised I drank of myself
[Chorus]
Yеs, it came from me
It was made from mе, ah
Still I drank deep
Still I drank deep, ah
[Outro]
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
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Drink Deep Song Meaning (Florence + The Machine)
Background and Context
On the album "Everybody Scream", Florence Welch steps into a more stark, mystical, and folkloric terrain, exploring themes of mortality, feminine power, ritual, and the physical cost of creativity. In interviews, Welch has explained that the record came from navigating both external pressures, such as the music industry and fame, and internal reckoning, including loss and healing.
"Drink Deep" occupies this space as one of the album’s richest myth-laden excursions, conjuring a journey into faerie-realm hospitality, the indulgence of that hospitality, and the slow realization that giving in has a cost.
Storytelling and Emotional Terrain
The opening lines, "Through bramble and briar / Under ash and oak / I went to find the hidden folk," invite a mythic quest. The narrator enters a strange, liminal world. They are offered gowns and riches, and every night they "went to see them." This is not a whimsical fairy tale; the hidden folk are potent and otherworldly, and their hospitality comes with a price.
In the second verse, the toll becomes clear: eyes hollow, skin fading, the night stretching into a thousand years, a sip turned into a thousand tears. The chorus, "Drink deep / Drink deep," initially seems an invocation of boldness, of willing surrender, but beneath it lies a warning. In the third verse, the allegory deepens: the thread the folk spun was "a woman’s hair," the gowns "stitched from her tenderest flesh." The cup brought to the narrator’s lips is revealed to be made of the narrator: "Yes, it came from me / It was made from me … Still I drank deep." The narrator has consumed herself, offering herself up willingly or unwittingly.
This self-surrender is the heart of the emotional message. The seductive promise of transcendence or escape is revealed as self-erasure. The act of drinking deep becomes a tragic act of consumption of the self, evoking themes of ambition, sacrifice, metamorphosis, and the cost of both artistic and personal surrender.
Representation for the Artist and Audience
For Florence Welch, whose career interweaves theatricality and personal vulnerability, "Drink Deep" can be read as a metaphor for the collision between creative surrender and loss of self. The hidden folk may symbolize the music industry, the mythos of the artist, the audience’s gaze, or internal ambition. The gowns and riches represent the trappings of success, while the nightly visits represent performance rituals. The price is the dissolving of identity, as captured in the lines "I realised I drank of myself."
For listeners, the song offers a reflection on what is given away in pursuit of belonging, transcendence, or creative fulfillment. The fairy-tale framing allows for mythic identification, letting the audience feel the lure of the otherworldly, the intoxicating promise of escape, and the emotional cost of surrendering too much. The song is atmospheric yet quietly brutal, blending beautiful imagery with a sense of self-erasure.
Conclusion
"Drink Deep" stands out on "Everybody Scream" as a haunting parable of desire and consumption, of offering and loss. With folklore-laden imagery, Welch renders the internal as external myth: walking through bramble and oak becomes walking through ambition; gowns and cups become symbols of what is offered; and drinking deep becomes a reckoning with what is sacrificed. The song invites the audience to feel both the rapture and the ruin, the promise and the price.
For those drawn to storytelling in song, "Drink Deep" offers a powerful blend of ritual, revelation, and emotional gravity, framing personal struggle in mythic terms and exploring the cost of losing oneself in the pursuit of something more.
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FAQ Section
Who sung the song "Drink Deep" by Florence + The Machine?
The song "Drink Deep" was sung by Florence + The Machine.
Who wrote the song "Drink Deep" by Florence + The Machine?
Florence Welch & Danny L Harle.
Who produced the song "Drink Deep" by Florence + The Machine?
Florence Welch, Aaron Dessner & Danny L Harle.
Music Video
Song Details
Artist: Florence + The Machine
Album: Everybody Scream
Genre: Rock
Language: English
Released: October 31, 2025
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