Contents
- Introduction: That First Time I Heard "Anchor"
- Who Is Novo Amor?
- What Has Novo Amor Said About "Anchor"?
- Breaking Down the Lyrics: A Deep Dive
- What Fans Think the Song Means
- How "Anchor" Relates to My Song "Son"
- Other Songs That Share a Similar Vibe
- Conclusion: Why "Anchor" Still Holds Me
I still remember the first time I heard Anchor by Novo Amor.
It was one of those late night Spotify rabbit holes, and I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular.
Just had a guitar nearby, a half written idea in front of me, and that restless creative itch that usually means something's about to land.
Then Anchor came on.
Everything else kind of paused. I wasn’t even sure what the lyrics meant at first, but I felt them. That falsetto, the stillness, the ache.
It was like someone had quietly cracked something open in me without asking for permission.
It stuck with me. Not just as a song I loved, but as a reference point. A feeling. It shaped the way I approached writing Son. Not trying to be clever or polished, just honest. Raw. Still. Full of care.
And it's stayed with me ever since.
Who Is Novo Amor?
Novo Amor is the musical project of Welsh multi instrumentalist Ali Lacey. His music lives in the space between folk and ambient, known for falsetto vocals, delicate layers, and a deep emotional pull that feels both expansive and intimate. His songs often sound like they were written at the edge of a forest or in the memory of a relationship you never quite let go of.
With "Anchor", Novo Amor crafted something that feels timeless and untethered, floating just beneath the surface of grief, love, and surrender.
What Has Novo Amor Said About "Anchor"?
In a few interviews and through fan Q&As, Lacey shared that "Anchor" was written during a period of emotional instability, revolving around the process of holding on and letting go. In a 2015 interview with Consequence of Sound, the song was described as a reinterpretation of the selkie myth, a creature who leaves the sea, only to eventually return, leaving someone behind.
Lacey confirmed this visual metaphor was intentional. "It felt like a metaphor for a relationship where one person is never really 'of this world,' or never fully yours." He never spells it all out, but you get the sense the song is both a goodbye and a prayer.
Breaking Down the Lyrics: A Deep Dive
"Took the breath from my open mouth / Never known how it broke me down"
The song begins with a metaphor for emotional disarmament. There's a suddenness here, an intimacy that's gone too quickly, a love that shakes your foundation. The breath being taken feels like both awe and loss.
"Shook the best when your love was home / Storing up on your summer glow / You went in search of someone else"
These lines feel like mourning a season. Like remembering the best of someone when they were present, only to watch them drift in search of another shore. The phrase "summer glow" evokes warmth, nostalgia, and the fleeting nature of joy.
"Your tears a sea for me to swim"
This metaphor is one of the most haunting. To swim in someone else's sorrow is to be consumed by their absence, by their emotional storm. There's something biblical in it, almost echoing "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls" (Psalm 42:7). It's that idea of being submerged in love and loss all at once.
"They taught the hand that taut the bride / Both our eyes locked to the tide"
This is perhaps the most mysterious line. The bride imagery suggests union, promise, maybe even a future imagined. But "locked to the tide" hints at inevitability, as if even in closeness, they were destined to be pulled apart. Tides, like time, pull without asking.
"Anchor up to me, love"
Here's the plea. It's the heart of the whole song. To "anchor up" is to settle, to stay, to hold fast. But it also implies choice. "Choose me. Root yourself here." There's a longing in the repetition that feels sacred.
And it reminds me so much of Hebrews 6:19. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." The anchor is more than stability. It's hope. It's belonging.
Check Out My Top 10 Songs Similar to 'Anchor'
What Fans Think the Song Means
Fans have built entire theories around the anchor novo amor lyrics meaning. On Reddit, one post describes it as "the emotional documentation of watching someone fall out of love with you but not being able to stop loving them."
Others see the song as representing grief, possibly the death of a loved one. Some TikTok creators have interpreted it through the lens of emotional codependency, being stuck in someone else's pain.
Another Reddit user wrote, "To me it sounds like a slow letting go. Not out of anger, but out of inevitability. A quiet surrender."
And that feels right. It's not a breakup anthem. It's the sound of acceptance breaking your heart in the kindest way.
How "Anchor" Relates to My Song "Son"
When I was writing Son, I kept coming back to this feeling of being deeply connected to someone, even as distance, emotional or physical, begins to widen. For me, that someone was my mother. And while Anchor may lean more toward a romantic tone, the emotional DNA is shared.
"Cause in this moment / I am your Son / You are my Mom / And I feel you waiting for..."
Just like Anchor, Son is about emotional presence in the face of absence. About waiting. About aching for connection. About trying to say "stay" when you don't have the words.
"Sunrise over like a dog with no bone / Another morning and she wakes up alone"
It's loneliness from both sides. In Anchor, that loneliness is infused with regret and tenderness. In Son, it's maternal, protective, unresolved. Both tracks share a softness, a vulnerability that doesn't try to fix anything, only witness it.
Songs That Share a Similar Vibe
If you found yourself undone by Anchor, these songs might speak to the same part of you:
- Holocene – Bon Iver
- Blood Moon – Josiah and the Bonnevilles
- Like Real People Do – Hozier
- Saturn – Sleeping At Last
- The Mountain – Logan Ransley (my own track that echoes those same questions of longing and stillness)
All of these songs dwell in the tender tension of presence and absence, of love held loosely.
Why "Anchor" Still Holds Me
I come back to Anchor again and again. Sometimes when I'm writing. Sometimes when I just need to feel less alone in my longing. It doesn't demand anything of you. It just gently offers its hand.
There's a reason the anchor novo amor meaning continues to resonate. Because we all want something to tether us. Whether it's to a person, a memory, or a hope.
For me, songs like this don't give answers. They give permission. To feel. To wait. To reach. To write.
And maybe that's all we ever needed.
