Skinny Love - Bon Iver

(I am aware that this is one of the most popular indie songs, but I have to say it is filled with rich content and I quite enjoy it.)

come on skinny love just last the year
pour a little salt we were never here
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

In the first line the narrator uses the phrase skinny love, which could literally be taken as a thin person the narrator is in love with, but I believe it is referring to a relationship that is lasting for only a short period of time. When the narrator says come on, it shows he is trying to encourage his partner to make the relationship last longer. The use of pouring salt is similar to what one would do to heal a wound, so the narrator is trying to make things better between the two of them. The narrator indicates there was a struggle or some sort of fight because of the "sink of blood and crushed veneer."

i tell my love to wreck it all
cut out all the ropes and let me fall
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
right in the moment this order's tall

I think that the narrator is daring his lover to break his heart and ruin everything between them. The narrator uses the words ropes and fall, which seems like she is a puppeteer who can control his every move, and he would fall without her. He shows his seriousness to his order of cutting off their relationship by saying it is tall and implies that there is a lot riding on her actions.

i told you to be patient
i told you to be fine
i told you to be balanced
i told you to be kind
in the morning i'll be with you
but it will be a different "kind"
i'll be holding all the tickets
and you'll be owning all the fines

The first four lines seem to be referring to previous conversations the narrator and his lover have had. When he says he will be with his lover in the morning, he is saying that no matter how many times he is hurt by her he will always be there for her. However, this time is different, and he shows that by saying it will be a different "kind". The quotations indicate that kind is not taken literally, and almost has a cynical tone to it.

come on skinny love what happened here
suckle on the hope in lite brazziere
my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
sullen load is full; so slow on the split

The narrator is trying to mend the relationship with his encouraging use of come on. When he says suckle on the hope, he means for her to hold onto hope so they can work through their problems. Sullen load is full refers to the fact that he has been brooding a lot and their inevitable split is long and painful.

i told you to be patient
i told you to be fine
i told you to be balanced
i told you to be kind
now all your love is wasted?
then who the hell was I?
now i'm breaking at the britches
and at the end of all your lines

It is interesting that the narrator put a question mark after the line now all your love is wasted. Throughout the poem he has given the impression that he is positive he has his lover all figured out, but the question mark shows he is hesitant to feel the same way in this situation. He questions his position in the whole scenario in the line after that using a question mark once again. When he says he is breaking at the britches he is expressing the fact that he is falling apart.

who will love you?
who will fight?
who will fall far behind?

He ends the song with three questions, in hopes that his lover will realize that he has always been there and truly cares about her. The last question however, is more of a foreshadowing on his lovers part that she will "fall behind" without him, and quite possibly that he will do the same without her.