Pop music often has very negative connotations. When people think “pop” they often think only of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, artists whose voices are not much better than the average person’s, who’s lyrics lack any depth or meaning, and who only became famous because of their good looks and choreographed dance moves. There is a completely different side of pop music that is often left unnoticed. There is a whole segment of pop music that is less mainstream- where the artists write their own lyrics and play their own instruments, and where appearance matters little and depth and content makes all the difference. Through this project I would like to explore this “other side” of pop music- to listen to the songs, read the lyrics as poetry, explicate them and understand the poet’s intent, and to determine what makes these songs poetry and distinguishes them from the other, more superficial, side of pop music.
HALLELUJAH
By: Rufus Wainwright
Song: Click on Rufus Wainwright- Hallelujah.mp3
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics:
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Hallelujah%20LYRICS.doc
This is one of my favorite songs. I recommend listening to the song first before reading the lyrics to get a feel for the tone and mood. You can hear the pain and desperation in the singer’s voice and it puts the song in perspective. My understanding of the song is that it is a about a man who falls completely in love with a girl and holds her onto a pedestal. She is "above him" in a sense and she toys with him to make sure that he knows that she holds the power in the relationship. He becomes consumed by her and eventually, she breaks his heart and in doing so, she completely shatters his ego until he feels that he has nothing left except pain and memory of what his life was before her and how she took over his life. His new thoughts of love consist not of the joy it brought him, but rather the pain. The song has a subtle biblical reference to the story of David. This reference is an allusion to David’s harp playing and how he was chosen to succeed King Saul. In the first line of the song he says, “I’ve heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the lord but you don’t really care for music, do you?” This is describing his complete desperation. He is willing to do anything to please this girl, but she simply does not care for anything that he is able and willing to do for her so he wishes that he could have some secret skill or talent that would be pleasing to her. When he says, “She tied you to a kitchen chair; She broke your throne; she cut your hair” he is referring to a complete destruction of his own ego and sense of himself by this girl. Later in the song he says, “I've seen your flag on the marble arch, Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.” This is describing the way that she dealt with him, as a conquest. And now that she has defeated him, she’s done with him, listing him as merely another one of her victories. For him, their love meant more; she was never just a girl that he wanted to conquer. This leaves him defining love as “cold and broken.”
The most obvious trait that this song has that is characteristic of poetry is its rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme in this song is very clear and consistent, aabccd for each verse. What is interesting and unique about it is that B in the first verse rhymes with B in the rest of the verses and D is always “hallelujah.”
ROMEO AND JULIET
By: DIRE STRAITS
Song: Click on Dire Straits- Romeo and Juliet.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Romeo%20and%20JulietLYR.doc
This song alludes to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In this song, the singer treats Romeo and Juliet like eral people and shares his opinion on what he imagines their feelings to be and simplifies it. He begins the song by laying out the scene in the thrid person, much like what would happen in the opening of a play. He describes Romeo as “love struck” and says that he was “laying everybody low” with his sad love song. Juliet seems less mellow and sad. She also seems somewhat uninterested in Romeo’s sadness. Nonchalantly she says, “Hey! It’s Romeo! You nearly gave me a heart attack!... Hey, la, my boyfriend’s back!”
After the first verse the singer switches to Romeo’s voice. After Juliet says, “Anyway, what you gonna go about it?” it appears that she exits the scene, and the rest of the song is Romeo’s soliloquoy. It is Romeo speaking to Juliet and telling her his feelings, but by the way he’s speaking it is obvious that she isn’t there to listen. He compares their relationship to gambling and says, “the dice were loaded from the start and I bet.” In this comparison he explains that the reason their relationship failed was nothing other than poor timing. This hints that he’s willing to gamble again and that he wants another shot at their relationship.
In the next verse he describes their backgrounds explaining that they grew up in different families and on different streets, both equally “dirty” and “mean.” Herehe is referring to the Capulets and Montagues. He reminds her of how he helpsed her get away from her family and become her own person and now she treats him as if he was “just another one of [her] deals.” In the next verse he continues this thought saying that she is falling for the gifts that her new boyfriends give her and believing in their promises but that what they had was deeper. He reminds her of how she “used to cry” when they made love, promising to love him forever and yet now she thinks of him as nothing more than a character she “used to have a scene with.”
He concedes all of his faults, saying that “[he] can’t do the talk like the talk on T.V. and [he] can’t do a love song like the way it’s meant to be. [He] can’t do everything.” He then gives her hope by promising that, despite this, he “would do anything for her.” In this verse Romeo’s pain and desperation are really shown. Without Juliet he feels empty and he is unable to “do anything except be in love with [her].”
This song is very unique in that it takes the classic love story between Romeo and Juliet, and while keeping some of the plot the same, he distorts other parts of it. Rather than the love between both Romeo and Juliet being strong and worth dying for, this powerful love comes only from Romeo. Juliet seems much more superficial. My impression of this song is that he chose these two famous characters and twisted their story to show a lack of hope for everyone else. It is as if he is trying to tell us, if Romeo and Juliet can’t make their relationship work, no one can. The song was written to show a man’s perspective (not necessarily the authors but just a man in general) which was shaped by a past relationsip in which he fell in love with a girl and felt alone in his feelings.
YOU AND I BOTH
By: Jason Mraz
Song: Click on Jason Mraz- You and I Both.m4a
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/You%20and%20I%20Both%20LYRICS.doc
This song demonstrates an optimistic view of a break up. This is clear from the beginning of the upbeat tune. In the fourth line of the song Jason Mraz tells the girl he is singing to (his ex-girlfriend) that “[He’s] taking [her] advice and [he’s] looking on the bright side and balancing the whole thing.” This is his way of telling her that he is not grieving over their breakup, and he’s doing well. Before this line he concedes that “things are going to happen naturally” and, in a relationship, you can’t try to control or force things. Instead, you have to just let the relationship take its course and accept it and embrace it for what it was. Jason shows his acceptance of the relationship what he says that dawn “brings another day to sing about the magic that was you and me.” This shows that not only has he accepted their breakup, but it’s left him with so many positive feelings and thoughts or “words” that he wants to sing about. His desire to sing is an expression of his comfort and contentment with their breakup.
At the very end of the song the music slows down and in a somber voice Jason sings, “And it’s ok if you had to go away but just remember that telephones, well, they work in both ways. But if I never ever hear them ring…” and then he pauses. This hints that perhaps his optimism is a front, that in fact, he really is upset about the breakup and is just trying to hide it. Then he goes on and the beat livens and he sings, “If nothing else, I’ll think the bells inside have finally found you someone else and that’s ok because I’ll remember everything you sang.” This shows that he was just trying to deceive her and his optimism was not a façade and he really is doing fine.
This poem has a rhyme scheme, although it is very unconventional. There is a lot of internal rhyme such as in the sixth line where it says, “the bright light turned to night.” There are also two parts where there is consonance and assonance, respectively: in the line “over numbers, unencumbered numbered words” and in the line “With this silence brings a moral story more importantly evolving is the glory of a boy.” The final part of the song shows why it is so important that this song be heard rather than read and the importance of the music and its role in the mood and tone of the song. If you are unable to hear his tone of voice and the change in music when he sings this last verse it does not make as much sense and it is not nearly as effective at conveying his message.
RUN
By: Snow Patrol
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/RunLYR.doc
This song is about a boy and girl who are in a relationship that they both know will never work. In this song the boy finally voicing these thoughts and is calming the girl and assuring her that they will be fine and everything will work out. In the first verse he sings, “I’ll sing it one last time for you then we really have to go, you’ve been the only thing that’s right in all I’ve done.” In this line we see that he has made numerous mistakes but falling in love with her was the best thing that has ever happened to him. He is reassuring her of his love for her but is telling her that it will be the last time he does that because they have to end their relationship. When he says, “Light up, light up” he is telling her to relax and try to take it easy, despite how hard it is. He then says, “Louder, Louder” as if talking to himself, telling himself that he needs to build up the courage to speak loudly and tell her that they need to break up. He continues this thought when he says, “I can hardly speak I understand why you can’t raise your voice to say.” Here he is saying that it it is nearly impossible for him to say this to her and he understands why she has never tried, but one of them needs to stand up and say it and put an end to their relationship because it can never work. When he sings the lines, “Have heart, my dear, We’re bound to be afraid even if it’s just for a few days,” he is telling her to be strong, that they will both have a hard time getting over eachother and moving on but that breaking up is the right thing to do.
There is a rhyme scheme in this song, although it is very inconsistent. In some verses it is abbc, and in others it is aabc, or aaab.
ANGEL
By: Dave Matthews Band
Song: Click on Dave Matthews Band- 08 Angel.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/AngelLYR.doc
This song, like “Romeo and Juliet,” compares love to gambling, in this case a game of cards. The man singing this song is describing his love for a girl who he is either no longer with or perhaps a girlfriend that he is detached from. No matter how hard he tries or how well as he “plays his cards” he still can’t get on without her. In the line, “It’s lonely far from you even when you’re right by me” he describes how even when they are physically near each other, when she isn’t close to him emotionally (or in a relationship with him) he’s lonely. He describes the way that he chases after her “[begging] like a child for [her] candy” and how no matter what she wants to do or who she wants to be to herself and everyone else, to him, she is an angel. In the last verse he says, “Watch the deck, count your cards, makes no sense that I’m always losing when you’re gone.” In this verse he describes how he’s doing everything right but still can’t win. One reason that this song is a poem is the use of tenor and vehicle. The tenor seems to be either an attempt to get back into a relationship with an ex-girlfriend or an attempt to get his girlfriend to open up to him and want to spend time with him. The vehicle is a game of cards. The vehicle is used in a less metaphoric way than it often is because throughout the song there are direct references to the tenor. The poem starts of with a clear rhyme scheme of aabb, but then it fades away. It returns in the next verse with c(off)cc, and then disappears again. This type of rhyme scheme, one that was obviously intentional but lacks any sense or continuity, is common in Dave Matthews songs. The way that I interpret it is as if he’s trying to catch your ear with the rhyme, and to let you know that it’s poetry, but once he’s caught your attention, rhyming seems less important and his concern shifts to making sure you understand his message clearly.
DESPERADO
By: The Eagles
Song: Click on The Eagles- Desperado.mp3
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/desperado%20LYR.doc
This poem is sung to a desperado, telling him to give up his lifestyle and “let somebody love [him].” A desperado is an outlaw, someone who lives on the edge. In this song, the singer is acknowledging the sad and lonely life of a desperado and telling him that it’s ok to retreat to a normal life. He asks, “Why don’t you come to your senses? You’ve been out riding fences for so long now.” In this line he’s saying, you’ve been living your life on the edge for long enough, why don’t you just accept that you’re lonely and give up your wild life? Later in the song he continues this thought and says, “You ain’t gettin’ no younger.” The reference to gambling comes up again in this song when he says, “Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able. You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet." Diamonds are beautiful and appealing and out of reach. This line is referring to reaching beyond one’s limits and failing to see the good things right in front of you. The line that affects me most is, “Your prison is walking through this world all alone." In this line, the true pain and difficulty of being on the run are truly evident. Although he’s not in prison where he belongs, he has his own prison, which is his solitude. The end of the song shows that despite the hard times there is still hope in the line, “It may be rainin’ but there’s a rainbow above you.” A rainbow is a common form of hope because it marks the end of the rain and hardship. Although a rainbow is often used as an allusion to false hope, I believe that in this line it is not meant this way.
The vehicle of this song is an outlaw, a man on the run. The vehicle is the life of a rock band. A member of the Eagles, Glenn Frey, once said “We saw the analogy between outlaws and a rock and roll band” and that was the theme of the song and the album which is also titled “Desperado.” The life of a rock band, much like the life of a Desperado, is lonely and sad. They were constantly on the road and never had a chance to settle down or form any serious relationships. The lines reffering to being “out riding fences” and “come down from your fences” refer to a cocaine addiction. The phrase “come down from the fence” is commonly used in reference to kicking a cocaine addiction. Living on the road and dealing with the stress and loneliness of touring and being a rick band, many artists develop drug addictions. In this song, the Eagles are explaining that their life is far from perfect, and they know that it could be much easier if they would give up being a rock band.
RAIN CITY
By: Turin Brakes
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Rain%20CityLYR.doc
This is a song about feeling trapped during hard times. In the second line of the song, the singer tells about how he dreamt that “both [his] arms were broken.” This feeling symbolizes helplessness. He elaborates in the next few lines when he sings, “Help me now or hold me down; I feel my world is tumbling.” In the next lines we learn why he feels so debilitated: a love that he cannot let go of. When he says, “Nature’s cruel; she laughs at me” he is describing the rain which is nature’s way of being “cruel” and “laughing at [him].” He later describes the rain “[coming] down like a victory in sheets of shining memory.” This statement is a description of memories filled with hard times and sorrow that consume him. In the last lines of the song he says, “It rains so slowly in the city where I’m from.” This last statement again describes his feeling of an inability to escape the rain. When it “rains so slowly” it means that the rain doesn’t stop and the hard times to not stop. The reason I believe that this is a poem is the way in which the rain is used. Rather than the rain simply adding on to the singer’s misery, for the singer, nature (specifically, the rain) has a will. In the line, “The rain comes down like a victory,” it is as though the rain itself is defeating him rather than the relationship.
FOOLISH GAMES
By: Jewel
Song: Click on Rufus Jewel- Foolish Games.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics:
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Foolish%20GamesLYR.doc
This song is about a girl who is hopelessly in love with a boy and is looking for something in return from him, but he gives her nothing. In both long verses she describes how he appears to her and her utter fascination with him. She tells of how he “took his coat off and stood in the rain” while she “watched from [her] window.” This is a beautiful opening of the song because it truly captures her feeling of being outside of him and never being able to penetrate his feelings. She says how she “always felt [she] was outside looking in on [him].” In the last line of this verse she says that he had “nothing to say besides some comment on the weather.” In this line we can see his complete apathy for her feelings. We see this again in the second verse when she explains how he would talk over coffee about his “philosophies on art” and his “loved ones” while she “clumsily strummed [her] guitar.” Again we see how his lack of interest in her or their relationship have weakened her and made her feel inferior to him. In the following lines she seems to gain some strength, and rather than being submissive and broken, she yells at him saying, “Guess I’ve mistaken you for somebody else, somebody who gave a damn.” After this sudden burst of strength, she retreats back to her feeble, sorrowful cry and repeats how he is “tearing [her] apart” and “breaking [her] heart.”
I chose this song to close with because it reminds me of the first song I chose, “Hallelujah” by Rufus Wainwright. In that song, we see the desperation of a man and his love for a woman who gave him nothing in return. This song by Jewel has the same desperation, yet it reverses the roles of the man and the woman. I thought it was important to acknowledge both sides and I feel that it is very representative of pop music and the way that it has influenced modern poetry. Modern poetry has grown to cover a range of topics and issues, tones and points of view. Stereotypes have faded and the poet is now able to express his true feelings without worrying about who he is offending or being judged for it. With changing times have come a newfound openness and acceptance for varied opinions. This poem and “Hallelujah” demonstrate this, two different points of view on the same topic.
As I’ve attempted to show in the songs that I’ve chosen and my explication and analysis of them, there are definitely some pop artists who are poets, and pop songs that deal with more than clichéd, forced topics. Some songs have real depth and evoke feeling from the listener. These songs represent a new branch of modern poetry. Through song, poets have been able to express themselves without worrying that people will necessarily think it reflects on their lives. With written poetry, one can’t help but want to associate the meaning of the poem with the life of the poet. This desire to find deeper meaning in songs relative to the poet’s life somehow fades away in pop music, leaving the poet more willing to write whatever he or she wants. With this new freedom has come a whole new branch of poetry; Poetry that lacks convention or stereotype and is simply free form. In poems set to music, there is no pressure to use rhyme scheme or alliteration, to follow a certain type of meter or form, or to discuss appropriate topics in order to be classified into “Carpe Diem” poetry or any other categories. The only necessity is for it to be appealing to the ear. While many of the songwriters still choose to employ some of these techniques, there is much less pressure to use them. Oftentimes people don’t take time to listen closely to the lyrics of poems, which takes even more pressure off of poets. But I’m sure that it’s nice for them to know that to some, their songs are viewed as more than just something pleasant to listen to, but rather a truly beautiful form of poetry.
HALLELUJAH
By: Rufus Wainwright
Song: Click on Rufus Wainwright- Hallelujah.mp3
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics:
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Hallelujah%20LYRICS.doc
This is one of my favorite songs. I recommend listening to the song first before reading the lyrics to get a feel for the tone and mood. You can hear the pain and desperation in the singer’s voice and it puts the song in perspective. My understanding of the song is that it is a about a man who falls completely in love with a girl and holds her onto a pedestal. She is "above him" in a sense and she toys with him to make sure that he knows that she holds the power in the relationship. He becomes consumed by her and eventually, she breaks his heart and in doing so, she completely shatters his ego until he feels that he has nothing left except pain and memory of what his life was before her and how she took over his life. His new thoughts of love consist not of the joy it brought him, but rather the pain. The song has a subtle biblical reference to the story of David. This reference is an allusion to David’s harp playing and how he was chosen to succeed King Saul. In the first line of the song he says, “I’ve heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the lord but you don’t really care for music, do you?” This is describing his complete desperation. He is willing to do anything to please this girl, but she simply does not care for anything that he is able and willing to do for her so he wishes that he could have some secret skill or talent that would be pleasing to her. When he says, “She tied you to a kitchen chair; She broke your throne; she cut your hair” he is referring to a complete destruction of his own ego and sense of himself by this girl. Later in the song he says, “I've seen your flag on the marble arch, Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.” This is describing the way that she dealt with him, as a conquest. And now that she has defeated him, she’s done with him, listing him as merely another one of her victories. For him, their love meant more; she was never just a girl that he wanted to conquer. This leaves him defining love as “cold and broken.”
The most obvious trait that this song has that is characteristic of poetry is its rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme in this song is very clear and consistent, aabccd for each verse. What is interesting and unique about it is that B in the first verse rhymes with B in the rest of the verses and D is always “hallelujah.”
ROMEO AND JULIET
By: DIRE STRAITS
Song: Click on Dire Straits- Romeo and Juliet.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Romeo%20and%20JulietLYR.doc
This song alludes to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In this song, the singer treats Romeo and Juliet like eral people and shares his opinion on what he imagines their feelings to be and simplifies it. He begins the song by laying out the scene in the thrid person, much like what would happen in the opening of a play. He describes Romeo as “love struck” and says that he was “laying everybody low” with his sad love song. Juliet seems less mellow and sad. She also seems somewhat uninterested in Romeo’s sadness. Nonchalantly she says, “Hey! It’s Romeo! You nearly gave me a heart attack!... Hey, la, my boyfriend’s back!”
After the first verse the singer switches to Romeo’s voice. After Juliet says, “Anyway, what you gonna go about it?” it appears that she exits the scene, and the rest of the song is Romeo’s soliloquoy. It is Romeo speaking to Juliet and telling her his feelings, but by the way he’s speaking it is obvious that she isn’t there to listen. He compares their relationship to gambling and says, “the dice were loaded from the start and I bet.” In this comparison he explains that the reason their relationship failed was nothing other than poor timing. This hints that he’s willing to gamble again and that he wants another shot at their relationship.
In the next verse he describes their backgrounds explaining that they grew up in different families and on different streets, both equally “dirty” and “mean.” Herehe is referring to the Capulets and Montagues. He reminds her of how he helpsed her get away from her family and become her own person and now she treats him as if he was “just another one of [her] deals.” In the next verse he continues this thought saying that she is falling for the gifts that her new boyfriends give her and believing in their promises but that what they had was deeper. He reminds her of how she “used to cry” when they made love, promising to love him forever and yet now she thinks of him as nothing more than a character she “used to have a scene with.”
He concedes all of his faults, saying that “[he] can’t do the talk like the talk on T.V. and [he] can’t do a love song like the way it’s meant to be. [He] can’t do everything.” He then gives her hope by promising that, despite this, he “would do anything for her.” In this verse Romeo’s pain and desperation are really shown. Without Juliet he feels empty and he is unable to “do anything except be in love with [her].”
This song is very unique in that it takes the classic love story between Romeo and Juliet, and while keeping some of the plot the same, he distorts other parts of it. Rather than the love between both Romeo and Juliet being strong and worth dying for, this powerful love comes only from Romeo. Juliet seems much more superficial. My impression of this song is that he chose these two famous characters and twisted their story to show a lack of hope for everyone else. It is as if he is trying to tell us, if Romeo and Juliet can’t make their relationship work, no one can. The song was written to show a man’s perspective (not necessarily the authors but just a man in general) which was shaped by a past relationsip in which he fell in love with a girl and felt alone in his feelings.
YOU AND I BOTH
By: Jason Mraz
Song: Click on Jason Mraz- You and I Both.m4a
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/You%20and%20I%20Both%20LYRICS.doc
This song demonstrates an optimistic view of a break up. This is clear from the beginning of the upbeat tune. In the fourth line of the song Jason Mraz tells the girl he is singing to (his ex-girlfriend) that “[He’s] taking [her] advice and [he’s] looking on the bright side and balancing the whole thing.” This is his way of telling her that he is not grieving over their breakup, and he’s doing well. Before this line he concedes that “things are going to happen naturally” and, in a relationship, you can’t try to control or force things. Instead, you have to just let the relationship take its course and accept it and embrace it for what it was. Jason shows his acceptance of the relationship what he says that dawn “brings another day to sing about the magic that was you and me.” This shows that not only has he accepted their breakup, but it’s left him with so many positive feelings and thoughts or “words” that he wants to sing about. His desire to sing is an expression of his comfort and contentment with their breakup.
At the very end of the song the music slows down and in a somber voice Jason sings, “And it’s ok if you had to go away but just remember that telephones, well, they work in both ways. But if I never ever hear them ring…” and then he pauses. This hints that perhaps his optimism is a front, that in fact, he really is upset about the breakup and is just trying to hide it. Then he goes on and the beat livens and he sings, “If nothing else, I’ll think the bells inside have finally found you someone else and that’s ok because I’ll remember everything you sang.” This shows that he was just trying to deceive her and his optimism was not a façade and he really is doing fine.
This poem has a rhyme scheme, although it is very unconventional. There is a lot of internal rhyme such as in the sixth line where it says, “the bright light turned to night.” There are also two parts where there is consonance and assonance, respectively: in the line “over numbers, unencumbered numbered words” and in the line “With this silence brings a moral story more importantly evolving is the glory of a boy.” The final part of the song shows why it is so important that this song be heard rather than read and the importance of the music and its role in the mood and tone of the song. If you are unable to hear his tone of voice and the change in music when he sings this last verse it does not make as much sense and it is not nearly as effective at conveying his message.
RUN
By: Snow Patrol
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/RunLYR.doc
This song is about a boy and girl who are in a relationship that they both know will never work. In this song the boy finally voicing these thoughts and is calming the girl and assuring her that they will be fine and everything will work out. In the first verse he sings, “I’ll sing it one last time for you then we really have to go, you’ve been the only thing that’s right in all I’ve done.” In this line we see that he has made numerous mistakes but falling in love with her was the best thing that has ever happened to him. He is reassuring her of his love for her but is telling her that it will be the last time he does that because they have to end their relationship. When he says, “Light up, light up” he is telling her to relax and try to take it easy, despite how hard it is. He then says, “Louder, Louder” as if talking to himself, telling himself that he needs to build up the courage to speak loudly and tell her that they need to break up. He continues this thought when he says, “I can hardly speak I understand why you can’t raise your voice to say.” Here he is saying that it it is nearly impossible for him to say this to her and he understands why she has never tried, but one of them needs to stand up and say it and put an end to their relationship because it can never work. When he sings the lines, “Have heart, my dear, We’re bound to be afraid even if it’s just for a few days,” he is telling her to be strong, that they will both have a hard time getting over eachother and moving on but that breaking up is the right thing to do.
There is a rhyme scheme in this song, although it is very inconsistent. In some verses it is abbc, and in others it is aabc, or aaab.
ANGEL
By: Dave Matthews Band
Song: Click on Dave Matthews Band- 08 Angel.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/AngelLYR.doc
This song, like “Romeo and Juliet,” compares love to gambling, in this case a game of cards. The man singing this song is describing his love for a girl who he is either no longer with or perhaps a girlfriend that he is detached from. No matter how hard he tries or how well as he “plays his cards” he still can’t get on without her. In the line, “It’s lonely far from you even when you’re right by me” he describes how even when they are physically near each other, when she isn’t close to him emotionally (or in a relationship with him) he’s lonely. He describes the way that he chases after her “[begging] like a child for [her] candy” and how no matter what she wants to do or who she wants to be to herself and everyone else, to him, she is an angel. In the last verse he says, “Watch the deck, count your cards, makes no sense that I’m always losing when you’re gone.” In this verse he describes how he’s doing everything right but still can’t win. One reason that this song is a poem is the use of tenor and vehicle. The tenor seems to be either an attempt to get back into a relationship with an ex-girlfriend or an attempt to get his girlfriend to open up to him and want to spend time with him. The vehicle is a game of cards. The vehicle is used in a less metaphoric way than it often is because throughout the song there are direct references to the tenor. The poem starts of with a clear rhyme scheme of aabb, but then it fades away. It returns in the next verse with c(off)cc, and then disappears again. This type of rhyme scheme, one that was obviously intentional but lacks any sense or continuity, is common in Dave Matthews songs. The way that I interpret it is as if he’s trying to catch your ear with the rhyme, and to let you know that it’s poetry, but once he’s caught your attention, rhyming seems less important and his concern shifts to making sure you understand his message clearly.
DESPERADO
By: The Eagles
Song: Click on The Eagles- Desperado.mp3
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/desperado%20LYR.doc
This poem is sung to a desperado, telling him to give up his lifestyle and “let somebody love [him].” A desperado is an outlaw, someone who lives on the edge. In this song, the singer is acknowledging the sad and lonely life of a desperado and telling him that it’s ok to retreat to a normal life. He asks, “Why don’t you come to your senses? You’ve been out riding fences for so long now.” In this line he’s saying, you’ve been living your life on the edge for long enough, why don’t you just accept that you’re lonely and give up your wild life? Later in the song he continues this thought and says, “You ain’t gettin’ no younger.” The reference to gambling comes up again in this song when he says, “Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able. You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet." Diamonds are beautiful and appealing and out of reach. This line is referring to reaching beyond one’s limits and failing to see the good things right in front of you. The line that affects me most is, “Your prison is walking through this world all alone." In this line, the true pain and difficulty of being on the run are truly evident. Although he’s not in prison where he belongs, he has his own prison, which is his solitude. The end of the song shows that despite the hard times there is still hope in the line, “It may be rainin’ but there’s a rainbow above you.” A rainbow is a common form of hope because it marks the end of the rain and hardship. Although a rainbow is often used as an allusion to false hope, I believe that in this line it is not meant this way.
The vehicle of this song is an outlaw, a man on the run. The vehicle is the life of a rock band. A member of the Eagles, Glenn Frey, once said “We saw the analogy between outlaws and a rock and roll band” and that was the theme of the song and the album which is also titled “Desperado.” The life of a rock band, much like the life of a Desperado, is lonely and sad. They were constantly on the road and never had a chance to settle down or form any serious relationships. The lines reffering to being “out riding fences” and “come down from your fences” refer to a cocaine addiction. The phrase “come down from the fence” is commonly used in reference to kicking a cocaine addiction. Living on the road and dealing with the stress and loneliness of touring and being a rick band, many artists develop drug addictions. In this song, the Eagles are explaining that their life is far from perfect, and they know that it could be much easier if they would give up being a rock band.
RAIN CITY
By: Turin Brakes
Lyrics: http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Rain%20CityLYR.doc
This is a song about feeling trapped during hard times. In the second line of the song, the singer tells about how he dreamt that “both [his] arms were broken.” This feeling symbolizes helplessness. He elaborates in the next few lines when he sings, “Help me now or hold me down; I feel my world is tumbling.” In the next lines we learn why he feels so debilitated: a love that he cannot let go of. When he says, “Nature’s cruel; she laughs at me” he is describing the rain which is nature’s way of being “cruel” and “laughing at [him].” He later describes the rain “[coming] down like a victory in sheets of shining memory.” This statement is a description of memories filled with hard times and sorrow that consume him. In the last lines of the song he says, “It rains so slowly in the city where I’m from.” This last statement again describes his feeling of an inability to escape the rain. When it “rains so slowly” it means that the rain doesn’t stop and the hard times to not stop. The reason I believe that this is a poem is the way in which the rain is used. Rather than the rain simply adding on to the singer’s misery, for the singer, nature (specifically, the rain) has a will. In the line, “The rain comes down like a victory,” it is as though the rain itself is defeating him rather than the relationship.
FOOLISH GAMES
By: Jewel
Song: Click on Rufus Jewel- Foolish Games.mp3 http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/
Lyrics:
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/ageline/Foolish%20GamesLYR.doc
This song is about a girl who is hopelessly in love with a boy and is looking for something in return from him, but he gives her nothing. In both long verses she describes how he appears to her and her utter fascination with him. She tells of how he “took his coat off and stood in the rain” while she “watched from [her] window.” This is a beautiful opening of the song because it truly captures her feeling of being outside of him and never being able to penetrate his feelings. She says how she “always felt [she] was outside looking in on [him].” In the last line of this verse she says that he had “nothing to say besides some comment on the weather.” In this line we can see his complete apathy for her feelings. We see this again in the second verse when she explains how he would talk over coffee about his “philosophies on art” and his “loved ones” while she “clumsily strummed [her] guitar.” Again we see how his lack of interest in her or their relationship have weakened her and made her feel inferior to him. In the following lines she seems to gain some strength, and rather than being submissive and broken, she yells at him saying, “Guess I’ve mistaken you for somebody else, somebody who gave a damn.” After this sudden burst of strength, she retreats back to her feeble, sorrowful cry and repeats how he is “tearing [her] apart” and “breaking [her] heart.”
I chose this song to close with because it reminds me of the first song I chose, “Hallelujah” by Rufus Wainwright. In that song, we see the desperation of a man and his love for a woman who gave him nothing in return. This song by Jewel has the same desperation, yet it reverses the roles of the man and the woman. I thought it was important to acknowledge both sides and I feel that it is very representative of pop music and the way that it has influenced modern poetry. Modern poetry has grown to cover a range of topics and issues, tones and points of view. Stereotypes have faded and the poet is now able to express his true feelings without worrying about who he is offending or being judged for it. With changing times have come a newfound openness and acceptance for varied opinions. This poem and “Hallelujah” demonstrate this, two different points of view on the same topic.
As I’ve attempted to show in the songs that I’ve chosen and my explication and analysis of them, there are definitely some pop artists who are poets, and pop songs that deal with more than clichéd, forced topics. Some songs have real depth and evoke feeling from the listener. These songs represent a new branch of modern poetry. Through song, poets have been able to express themselves without worrying that people will necessarily think it reflects on their lives. With written poetry, one can’t help but want to associate the meaning of the poem with the life of the poet. This desire to find deeper meaning in songs relative to the poet’s life somehow fades away in pop music, leaving the poet more willing to write whatever he or she wants. With this new freedom has come a whole new branch of poetry; Poetry that lacks convention or stereotype and is simply free form. In poems set to music, there is no pressure to use rhyme scheme or alliteration, to follow a certain type of meter or form, or to discuss appropriate topics in order to be classified into “Carpe Diem” poetry or any other categories. The only necessity is for it to be appealing to the ear. While many of the songwriters still choose to employ some of these techniques, there is much less pressure to use them. Oftentimes people don’t take time to listen closely to the lyrics of poems, which takes even more pressure off of poets. But I’m sure that it’s nice for them to know that to some, their songs are viewed as more than just something pleasant to listen to, but rather a truly beautiful form of poetry.
posted by AmandaG123 at 3:05 PM
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