Metaphor In Songs

Diana Hacker talks about metaphors in her book, A Writers Reference. She says in a metaphor the like or as is omitted and implied . . . and a mixed metaphor is when two or more images are paired that don't necessarily make sense. Songwriters use this method of phrasing lyrics all the time to create images and tell a story. In the case of the song, "Big Black Car," by Gregory Alan Isakov, he writes images which essentially juxtaposition of himself to a beautiful girl.We get phrases like, "you were a dancer, I was a rag," taking a traditionally beautiful image and comparing it with something that we consider dirty. He uses traditional metaphor as well saying things like, "hope was a letter."

you were a phonograph, i was a kid
i sat with an ear close, just listening
i was there when the rain tapped her way down you face
you were a miracle…i was just holdin your space
well time has a way of throwing it all in your face
the past, she is haunted, the future is laced
heartbreak, ya know, drives a big black car
swear i was in the back seat, just minding my own
and through the glass, the corn crows come like rain
they won’t stay, they won’t stay
for too long now
this could be all that we know..
of love and all.
well you were a dancer, i was a rag
the song in my head, well was all that i had
hope was a letter i never could send
love was a country we couldn’t defend.
and through the carnival we watch them go round and round
all we knew of home was just a sunset and some clowns
well you were a magazine, i was a plane Jane
just walking the sidewalks all covered in rain
love to just get into one of your stories
just me and all of my plane Jane glory

Reversing the Structure

Diana Hacker, in A Writers Reference, talks about the idea of simplified structure within an authors writing: The rule states, RuleW2-d if the structure of a sentence is needlessly indirect, try simplifying it, look for opportunities to structure the verb. Today in class I was thinking about the idea of comparing sentences and I thought about how musicians take what could be complex sentences and make them concise ultimately conveying a stronger meaning and/or connection with their audience. So, for this blog instead of making the structure of phrases in songs more simplified I thought I would work the other way to show what the sentences might have looked like with a more literal meaning and why the simplified meaning makes more sense. The song I choose to do is by Elliot Smith and its called Waltz #2, I am only going to do the first stanza of the song, but I am sure you'll get the idea.

The Original

first the mic then a half cigarette
singing Cathy's clown
that's the man she's married to now
that's the girl that he takes around town
she appears composed, so she is, I suppose
who can really tell
she shows no emotion at all
stares into space like a dead china doll

My Complicated Rewrite

I step up to the microphone and then I sing a song, followed by the lighting of my nicotine-induced need for an artificial stick of paper made of chemicals and tobacco.

At the microphone on the stage I sing a song originally written by The Everly Brothers.

Later on I see a past lover with the man she is wed to now. My ex-lover is on his arm appearing composed, and I guess she is, but no one can tell; she appears depressed, scatterbrained.

 There is nothing wrong with either writings, but if you listen to the song, the small and short phrases Elliot Smith uses let the listener draw their own conclusions and assumptions, ultimately making the words more powerful.

                                                                                   The Rest of the Lyrics

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

now she's done and they're calling someone
such a familiar name
I'm so glad that my memories remote
'cause I'm doing just fine hour to hour, note to note
here it is the revenge to the tune
you're no good
you're no good, you're no good, you're no good
can't you tell that it's well understood

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

I'm here today and expected to stay on and on and on
I'm tired, I'm tired

looking out on the substitute scene
still going strong
XO, mom, it's ok, it's alright, nothing's wrong
tell Mr. Man with impossible plansto just leave me alone
in the place where I make no mistakes
in the place where I have what it takes

I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow
I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow
I'm never gonna know you now
but I'm gonna love you anyhow

 

Song To Woody

In keeping with the beautiful language motif, I was listening to the song "Song to Woody" by Bob Dylan. As I was listening I was reading the lyrics, I got to thinking about how Dylan used names in his song like Woody Guthrie, Cisco, Sonny and Leadbelly. Dylan is directly speaking to these guys and using their names in the song. I think that the song and its lyrics are just beautiful, but then I thought about what a statement of respect Dylan was probably offering to these men by including, not just alluding to their names. All the names are of musicians that probably meant something to Dylan and it's just so cool to see him using them in his song. The grammar rule that applies here is of course using proper nouns and capitalizing to show use. On English-club.com the rules is stated: We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a proper noun (name). This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. It's a pretty simple rule, but to me, using these names in the song signifies importance I think. We grow up hearing and using this rule, but something really struck me while I was reading the lyrics. The names are important to Dylan, and the capitalization almost alludes to them being important. Its an interesting point of respect for a song writer to do so.


I'm out here a thousand miles from my home
Walking a road other men have gone down
I'm seeing a new world of people and things
Hear paupers and peasants and princes and kings.

Hey hey Woody Guthrie I wrote you a song
About a funny old world that's coming along
Seems sick and it's hungry, it's tired and it's torn
It looks like it's dying and it's hardly been born.

Hey Woody Guthrie but I know that you know
All the things that I'm saying and a many times more
I'm singing you the song but I can't you sing enough
'Cause there's not many men that've done the things that you've done.

Here's to Cisco and Sonny and Leadbelly too
And to all the good people that traveled with you
Here's to the hearts and the hands of the men
That come with the dust and are gone with the wind.

I'm leaving tomorrow but I could leave today
Somewhere down the road someday
The very last thing that I'd want to do
Is to say I've been hitting some hard travelling too.

Anonanimal

So, in actually applying grammar usage rules to the beautiful language motif through music and everyday life that I have been on, I was listening to the song called, “Anonanimal” by Andrew Bird. I knew that the lyrics really were beautiful but I also realized that there was a sentence that had alliteration to it. Alliteration defined by Grammar-monster.com is defined as - Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial letter in successive words; it is done for effect. In the case of this song it not only improves a flow and rhythm, but it makes me really think about how Andrew bird can play with language and create such meaning with such random words. The constant repetition of the ‘A’ in this line, which appears throughout the whole song is a constant rhythm of thought. I don’t know exactly what I think about the line, but I know that it’s beautiful and makes sense within the context of the song.

 “Anomalous appendages Anon-animal Anon-animal” 

 I see a sea anemone
The enemy
See a sea anemone
And that'll be the end of me.

While the vicious fish was caught unawares in the tenderest of tendrils
Underneath her tender gills

I will become this animal
Perfectly adapted to the music halls
I will become this animal
Anomalous appendages
A non-animal

Hold on just a second
Don't tell me this one you know
I know this one I know this song
I know this one I love this song
Hold on just a second
Don't tell me this one you know
i know this one I know this song
I know this one I love this song
I know this one

Underneath the stalactites
The troglobites lost their sight
Uh oh

The seemingly innocuous plecostomus
though posthumus
They talk to us
They talk too much

See a sea anemone
The enemy
See a sea anemone
That'll be the end of me
Vicious fish was caught unawares
In the tend'rest tendrils
Underneath her tender gills and

I will become this animal
Perfectly adapted to a music hall
I will become this animal

Anomalous appendages
A non-animal