Soul Sienna's Submarine Lyrics Meaning & Analysis

Unlocking the Depths of Soul Sienna's "Submarine"

If you've found yourself replaying Soul Sienna's "Submarine," captivated by its raw emotion but wrestling with its layered imagery, you're not alone. This isn't just another love song; it's a masterclass in poetic vulnerability. After analyzing every lyric and its emotional resonance, I've decoded how Soul Sienna transforms personal longing into universal art. You'll discover exactly how water metaphors, spatial symbolism, and sensory details create its haunting power.

Water as Emotional Landscape

Soul Sienna doesn't use water casually. The "Submarine" title and ocean imagery ("beach in the winter when the waves were mad," "down by the water crystal clear") function as psychological symbols. Water represents both emotional depth and instability. The submarine metaphor suggests submerged feelings, while turbulent waves mirror relationship chaos. This duality is key to understanding the song's tension—the narrator is both immersed in love and drowning in memories. Notice how "crystal clear" water contrasts with "mad" waves, reflecting love's shift from clarity to turmoil.

Physical Spaces as Emotional Distance

The lyrics meticulously map emotional distance through physical locations:

"Under your eyelids": Intimacy and inescapable presence
"Rooftop in the freezing cold": Devotion bordering on self-destruction
"Outside your door": Limbo and waiting
"Creek in the floorboards": Haunting memories in familiar spaces

Each location signifies a different relationship phase. The rooftop scene shows vulnerability through sensory details ("freezing cold"), while the doorstep echoes past closeness ("like I did in December"). Spatial repetition creates a cyclical feeling of trapped memories.

The Ghost of "Would Have Been"

The recurring phrase "would have been cute" reveals the song's heartbreaking core. It’s not about present love but mourning lost potential futures. The verses detail imagined scenarios:

And I smile. And I think of  
all the times we had  
...would look just like you  
with a temper like you.

This shift from past memories ("times we had") to hypotheticals ("would look just like you") exposes grief for what never materialized. The specificity—"jumping in the pool like you," "sing to all your pets"—makes the loss tangible.

Sensory Anchors in Memory

Soul Sienna grounds abstract emotions in visceral details:

Touch: "Held me close," "pulling out my hair"
Sound: "Creek in the floorboards," implied songs
Temperature: "Freezing cold" contrasting "beach" warmth
Sight: "See your face in the forest disappears"

These sensory hooks make memories feel immediate. The "creek in the floorboards" isn't just a sound; it’s a trigger for visceral recollection, demonstrating how sensory cues anchor emotional trauma.

Your Lyric Analysis Toolkit

Apply these techniques to decode any emotionally complex song:

Map recurring symbols (e.g., water=emotion, forests=uncertainty)
Track location shifts to reveal relationship dynamics
Flag conditional language ("would," "could") for lost futures
List sensory details to find emotional anchors
Compare opening/closing imagery (here: eyelids → disappearing face)

Pro Tip: Pair this analysis with Phoebe Bridgers' "Moon Song" or Bon Iver's "Holocene" to study similar themes of haunting memory.

The Heart of Submarine's Haunting Power

Ultimately, "Submarine" resonates because it captures love’s ghost—the persistence of absence in everyday spaces. Soul Sienna shows us that the deepest grief lives in mundane details: a stair creak, a borrowed sweater, a pet’s name. This transforms personal pain into a mirror for listeners’ own submerged heartbreaks.

Which lyric fragment lingers in your mind longest? Share your interpretation—the most haunting lines often reveal our own unspoken stories.