I thought it would be fun to take some particularly well crafted lyrics, and discuss them as if they were poetry, you know, meanings of certain lines, etc. Let's start with this one:

Stay (Faraway, So Close) - U2

Green light, Seven Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change
Dressed up like a car crash
Your wheels are turning but you're upside down
You say when he hits you, you don't mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive
Hey babe, is that what it is


Red lights, gray morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depends on who's around
You used to stay in to watch the adverts
You could lip synch to the talk shows


And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing


If I could stay...
Then the night would give you up
Stay...and the day would keep its trust
Stay...and the night would be enough


Faraway, so close
Up with the static and the radio
With satellite television
You can go anywhere
Miami, New Orleans
London, Belfast and Berlin


And if you listen I can't call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout, I'll only hear you


If I could stay...
Then the night would give you up
Stay...then the day would keep its trust
Stay...with the demons you drowned
Stay...with the spirit I found
Stay...and the night would be enough


Three o'clock in the morning
It's quiet and there's no one around
Just the bang and the clatter
As an angel runs to ground


Just the bang
And the clatter
As an angel
Hits the ground

Dude, don't get me wrong.......I appreciate that you are trying to drum up discussion in a new way.

But this is going to go over like a fart in church here.......

I really only expect discussion from LFV and Swigg on this, which is fine by me. Just thought it might be interesting to get different takes on a few songs.

Feel free to delete it snce you've already crapped on my parade.

I quite like this idea. I pitched something like this to my AP Lit teacher last year, since we were doing poem annotations and no one was really trying anymore.

EDIT: I'll get cracking on these once I"m a bit more awake... I love the idea, though.

Around 1983, my big brother submitted the lyrcis to Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" to his high school Lit teacher and he received a A+

But yes...there are so many deep meaningful lyrics out there. For instance, take "On the Rag" by the Mentors.

(cue up the church fart)

-----------------------------------
My bitch is on the rag
Bloody cunt is such a drag
My bitch is on the rag
Oh she's such a nag

Ran and jumped and splashed in her bed
Then I noticed the sheets were all bloody red
I was chowin' down and somethin' tasted weird
Ran to the mirror saw blood on my beard

My bitch is on the rag
Bloody cunt is such a drag
My bitch is on the rag
Oh,oh,oh she's such a nag

Then she said she wanted to ball
I said shut up bitch and take a midol
She insisted on having sex
Spread her legs and saw a kotex

My bitch is on the rag
Bleeding hole is such a drag
My bitch is on the rag
Oh,oh,oh she's such a nag

She was bitchy and causing a fuss
It's an added problem between us
Water build up what a drag
I know this bitch is on the rag

When this bitch is on the rag
I love to say things and I love to brag
Usually sex is such a gas
But this time,I'm crammin' it up her ass yeah

My bitch is on the rag
Bleeding twit is such a drag
My bitch is on the rag
Oh,oh,oh she's such a nag

On the rag,what a drag,on the rag,what a drag
She's on the rag,she's on the rag,she's such a nag

Yeah eS, that's a good one. GG Allin is another of my favorite poets.

I really enjoy the "dressed up like a car crash" being so closely followed by "when he hits you", as it immediately continues the car metaphor while you're realizing what the song is really about. The "wheels turning but you're upside down" serves as a sadly absurd image to show that she thinks she's still on the road of life, but she's in a ditch and can't get anywhere. Really just very effectively sad lyrics, and the use of the negatives "when i touch you, i don't feel you" etc., help elevate the mood.

You know, I'm not completely sure what the song is about. It obviously has some reference to domestic violence, but I half way think the chick digs it. It gives me the feeling of some girl who was wholesome and beautiful in high school, but then hooked up witht he wrong trailer trash guy and is now a frazzled meth-head. Hints the "Angel hits the ground" line.

I'm not crapping on your parade, I think it's a cool idea.

I just didn't think that there would be much interest.

In fairness, there isn't much interest...in this board. I'm not expecting a 10 pager or anything, but I like it so far, well, except for eS' contribution.

That's what I like about looking at poems/ lyrics...everyone can take a different tack. I hadn't really looked at it that way, but now that you say it, I can definitely see it. The idea, maybe, of a life that went the wrong way. I've got some good Pink Floyd lyrics I'll post in a little while.

I get the idea that he's writing about a girl who likes to wallow in her own misery. So much that she actually seeks it out. Hence the vampire or victim line. It's a lack of maturity on her part. She wants attention, so she does things like buying cigarettes when she doesn't even smoke, just so she can think that the clerk at the 7-11 thinks she's a bad girl.

And he's the unlucky bastard who wants to help her out of it, even though she doesn't want out.

FREE FOUR- Pink Floyd

The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime
You suffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself 'till you die

Life is a short, warm moment
And death is a long cold rest
You get your chance to try
In the twinkling of an eye
Eighty years, with luck, or even less

So all aboard for the American tour
And maybe you'll make it to the top
And mind how you go
I can tell you, 'cause I know
You may find it hard to get off

You are the angel of death
And I am the dead man's son
And he died like a mole in a fox hole
And everyone is still in the run
And who is the master of fox hounds?
And who says the hunt has begun?
And who calls the tune in the courtroom?
And who beats the funeral drum?

The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime
You suffle in gloom in the sickroom
And talk to yourself 'till you die

I particularly like the first verse:

"Green light, Seven Eleven
You stop in for a pack of cigarettes
You don't smoke, don't even want to
Hey now, check your change"

Those lines are so literal, almost John Mellencamp-like. Paints a perfect picture. I take it she's getting the cigarettes for the scumbag she's been shacked up with, since she doesn't smoke. I can see her hair all messed up from rolling out of bed, probably got on flip-flops and sweat pants, and nervously digging through her bag to pay the casheir.

"Dressed up like a car crash
Your wheels are turning but you're upside down"

Then the great imagery comes in. "Dressed up like a car crash" is just a reference to her physical appearance. It's painful, but you can't help but look at her. The beautfully weaved with the car crash image, "Your wheels are turning but you're upside down." She frantic, active, busy, but it is getting her nowhere, both in her search for change, and in life.

"You say when he hits you, you don't mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive
Hey babe, is that what it is"

This is where it gets both interesting and confusing for me. It seems to me that the narrator is familiar with her. Maybe he crushed on her in high school. He sees her all run down and bruised, so he reaches out to help her. I can't tell if she says she doesn't mind the abuse because - a.) she's just putting off this guy who she use to know, and really doesn't want to be bothered by, or - b.) she's actually one of those people who gets off on pain.

I say we either hold off on new songs for a little while, or create a new thread to avoid confusion. Either way, cool lyrics. I don't know that particular Floyd song, which will make it more fun to dig into.

No problem, didn't mean to muddle things up.

In a lot of ways, the U2 song is more about the narrator than the girl. His frustration with not being able to help her is palpable, and you get the feeling that everything he does is met with resistance or simply fails. He can stand outside the house and watch her get hit, watch her waste her days away watching TV, but he can't save her, as much as he wants to.

Damn my internet!

That's a very good point.

The line from the chorus is "If I could stay..."

Maybe he's come to her place to stage this big rescue. She wants no part of it and demands that he leave. He says if he could stay, he could help her, but she isn't wanting to be helped.