'Sleep on the Floor' by The Lumineers is the third song in their very famous storyline, "The Ballad of Cleopatra", which contains songs from their album "Cleopatra" and follows the story of a taxi driver named Cleopatra (duh!).
The video begins with The Lover whispering “If we don’t leave now, you may never make it out” into Cleopatra’s ear and leaves as she stands in the middle of the living room of her parents’ house hosting a funeral reception for her dead father (“ 'Cause if we don't leave this town, we might never make it out”). The song is narrated by Schultz from the point of view of The Lover. Cleopatra, who is a 25-year-old here, steps out of her body and follows her heart and the man she loves which is an alternate reality she wants to live in.
They get into a cab whose taxi driver is – (guess who?) a middle-aged Cleopatra (seriously, who else?). They buy some stuff and leave the town in a second-hand car to travel to unknown places. On their way, they stop to watch the sunset and end up stargazing.
This is the first time ever our protagonist has traveled to a city and she is absolutely amazed to see it. The Lover thinks of it as the perfect moment to get down on one knee but she thinks of it as a joke and later asks him if he was serious.
During their journey, they go through their ups and downs; they argue and then they make up and their car breaks down but then they get through that too. All of this somewhat symbolizes the rollercoaster relationship they have with each other.
They meet a stranger and get invited to his house to stay the night; they share stories with each other. They travel and see new places and are so lost in their dream world that they can’t even imagine what it would be like to live a normal life with regular jobs.
“And when we looked outside Couldn't even see the sky”
They meet with a friend and decide to stay the night at his place and there’s a party going on where they finally meet The Lumineers.
Our protagonist and her lover realize how much they are in love with each other and this time, she is the one who suggests that they get married right then and there. She is living in the moment and is very clear about what she needs to do. They get dressed to have a backyard wedding with their friend officiating it.
They have their first dance as a married couple silently in a living room with earphones on and a bunch of drunk people sleeping around. This a dream come true for them.
When they finally decide to call it a night and our protagonist lays down to sleep, we are taken back to her parents’ house and to the day her father died. We finally realize that she never even left the town with her lover and was just imagining all the things she could’ve done and had if she did leave the town with him. Just then our narrator, Schultz repeats
“'Cause if we don't leave this town We might never make it out”
giving us a hint of what the future holds for Cleopatra.
Fun fact: The song begins with Schultz singing “Pack yourself a toothbrush dear” but the couple forgets to pack their toothbrush as is evident from the video.
great job!!
👍