FLORENCE + T HE MACHINE’S ‘ DANCE FEVER ‘ SENTENCE STARTERS
taken from the 2022 album. feel free to change pronouns, etc.
‘ we’re always arguing about whether to have children, about the world ending, and the scale of my ambition, and how much is art really worth? ’
‘ how much is art really worth? ’
‘ the very thing you’re best at is the thing that hurts the most. ’
‘ you need your rotten heart. your dazzling pain, like diamond rings. ’
‘ i need to go to war to find material to sing. ’
‘ i am no mother. i am no bride; i am king. ’
‘ i need my golden crown of sorrow, my bloody sword to swing, my empty halls to echo with grand self-mythology. ’
‘ a woman is a changeling, always shifting shape. ’
‘ just when you think you have it figured out, something new begins to take. ’
‘ i never knew my killer would be coming from within. ’
‘ i was never as good as i always thought i was, but i knew how to dress it up. ’
‘ i was never satisfied. ’
‘ it never let me go, just dragged me by my hair. ’
‘ sometimes, i wonder if i should be medicated. if i would feel better just lightly sedated. ’
‘ i can’t control it. ’
‘ i’m on fire, but i’m trying not to show it. ’
‘ i’m always running from something. ’
‘ i push it back, but it keeps on coming. ’
‘ being clever never got me very far. ’
‘ it’s all in my head. ’
‘ you’re too sensitive. ’
‘ “you’re too sensitive,” they said. ’
‘ okay, but let’s discuss this at the hospital. ’
‘ for a moment, when i’m dancing, i am free. ’
‘ is this how it is? is this how it’s always been? ’
‘ is this how it’s always been? to exist in the face of suffering and death, and somehow still keep singing? ’
‘ don’t you wanna call it off? ’
‘ there’s nothing else that i know how to do but to open up my arms and give it all to you. ’
‘ i’m freaking out in the middle of the street. ’
‘ i don’t know how it started. i don’t know how to stop it. ’
‘ something’s coming. ’
‘ i danced myself to death. ’
‘ this is the end. ’
‘ do they speak to you? cause they speak to me, too. ’
‘ you said that rock and roll is dead. but is that just because it has not been resurrected in your image? ’
‘ i’ve never really been alive before. i always lived in my head. ’
‘ sometimes it was easier to be hungover and half-dead. ’
‘ i’m back in town. why don’t we go out? ’
‘ why don’t we go to that ninth street diner? ’
‘ why don’t we go out to that ninth street diner and carry on slowly, torturing each other? ’
‘ i came for the pleasure, but i stayed for the pain. ’
‘ if you get spat on, that’s just your big city baptism. ’
‘ why don’t we go out and never go to sleep? ’
‘ we’ll throw our dreams out, let them pile up on the streets. ’
‘ i thought that i was here with you, but it was always just an empty room. ’
‘ when someone looks at me with real love, i don’t like it very much. it makes me feel like i’m being crushed. ’
‘ is this something that you would like to discuss? ’
‘ it’s good to be alive. ’
‘ it’s good to be alive, crying into cereal at midnight. ’
‘ if they ever let me out, i’m gonna really let it out. ’
‘ oh god, you’re gonna get it. ’
‘ you’ll be sorry that you messed with this. ’
‘ remember being in that basement? ’
‘ everyone treated us like little pets. ’
‘ tell me it’s not over yet. ’
‘ in my darkest fantasies, i am the picture of passivity. ’
‘ i’m suppressing all my private rage. ’
‘ when i decided to wage holy war, it looked very much like staring at my bedroom floor. ’
‘ i may not look like much… ’
‘ i met the devil, you know. he gave me a choice: a golden heart, or a golden voice. ’
‘ did you miss me? ’
‘ did you walk on water just to kiss me? ’
‘ come and get me. ’
‘ drag me out, destroy me. ’
‘ i’ve been expecting you. ’
‘ i’m ready. ’
‘ deliver me the bad news. ’
‘ am i your dream girl? ’
‘ do you think of me in bed? ’
‘ you could never hold me. ’
‘ make me evil, then i’m an angel instead. ’
‘ at least you’ll sanctify me when i’m dead. ’
‘ did i disappoint you? ’
‘ do i just remind you of every girl that made you mad? ’
‘ make me perfect, make me your fantasy. you know i deserve it, so take it out on me. ’
‘ i am nobody’s moral center. ’
‘ all the things that i ran from, i now bring as close to me as i can. ’
‘ why don’t you give me a call? ’
‘ yes, i’ll take it all. ’
‘ all this work has gone to waste. ’
‘ you made me climb, and then you shut the gate. ’
‘ i used to see the future, and now i see nothing. ’
‘ they cut out my eyes and sent me home packing. ’
‘ i pace around the kitchen for scraps of inspiration. ’
‘ i used to tell the future, but they cut out my tongue and left me doing laundry to think on what i’d done. ’
‘ i used to move into the future and bring it all back. ’
‘ they put crosses on the doors to try and keep me out. ’
‘ can you see me? ’
‘ everything i thought i knew has fallen out of view. ’
‘ can you hear me? ’
‘ there’s no one left to sing to. ’
‘ all the gods have been domesticated, and heaven is now overrated. ’
‘ you can take your complaints straight to the lord. ’
‘ i try to still look with wonder on the world as the roses bloom, though the riot van is still plainly in view. ’
‘ take me back. ’
‘ if i run fast enough, could i break apart as empires crumble and cathedrals flatten in my heart? ’
‘ bring your cigarette. ’
‘ heaven is here, if you want it. ’
‘ heaven is here. ’
‘ bring your boy. ’
‘ bring your bottle. ’
‘ i went to the water, drank every drop. ’
‘ i’ll turn your sea into a desert. ’
‘ yes, i’m your girl. ’
‘ if it glitters, i’m going. ’
‘ time stretches, endless. ’
‘ you know i always get my man. ’
‘ i couldn’t help it. ’
‘ i let it get in: the helpless optimism of spring. ’
‘ the world’s bent double from weeping, and yet the birds begin to sing. ’
‘ i’m not bad. i’m not good. ’
‘ i made myself mythical, and tried to be real. ’
‘ we practice resurrection every night, raising the dead under the moonlight. ’
‘ you’re a perfect pearl hung in the sky. ’
‘ there is no bad, there is no good. ’
‘ kiss my face and tell me that i’m the chosen one. ’
‘ a generation soaked in grief, and now we’re drying out and hanging on by the skin of our teeth. ’
‘ i never thought that it would get this far. ’
‘ sometimes, i see so much beauty, i don’t think that i can cope. ’
‘ i was always able to write my way out. ’
‘ now i find that when i look down, every page is empty. ’
‘ there is nothing to describe, except the moon still bright against the worrying sky. ’
‘ tell me where to put my love. do i wait for time to do what it does? ’
‘ i don’t know where to put my love. ’
‘ when it came, it was stranger than i had ever imagined. ’
‘ all my friends are getting ill. ’
‘ my arms emptied, the skies emptied, the billboards emptied. ’
‘ have i learned restraint? ’
‘ am i quiet enough for you yet? ’
‘ you said this could have been the best thing that ever happened to you… so you decided not to do it. ’
‘ you come back every summer like a carnivorous flower, and i stare at your hands in the heat, and i think they are the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. ’
‘ if i was free to love you, you wouldn’t want me, would you? ’
‘ unavailability is the only thing that turns you on. come here, baby, tell me that i’m wrong. ’
‘ come here, baby. tell me that i’m wrong. ’
‘ i’ve blown apart my life for you. ’
‘ break me, shake me, devastate me. ’
‘ i don’t love you. ’
‘ i let it burn, but it just had to be done. ’
‘ i’m in ruins, but is it what i wanted all along? ’
‘ they dressed me and they put me on a plane. ’
‘ i pressed my forehead to the floor and prayed for a trapdoor. ’
‘ i’ve been here many times before. ’
‘ if i make it to the morning… ’
‘ i should come with a warning. ’
‘ if i make it to the stage, i’ll show you what it means to be saved. ’
‘ i told the band to leave without me; i’ll get the next flight. ’
‘ i’ll see you with elvis if i don’t survive the night. ’
‘ after every tour, i swear i’ll quit. ’
‘ the call, it always comes. ’
‘ i’m still afraid. i’m still crazy. ’