serenade me with rocks, love
Thursday, June 28th, 2012 03:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
erikaSerenade me with rocks, love
serenades are typically sweet and soft, but the narrator would rather have rocks-- rocks symbolizing the truth, maybe, or being stoned to death
No lullabies through the locks, love
lullabies are sung sweetly and softly, like a mother crooning to her child, but again, the narrator is shutting 'love' out (could also be a reference to locks of hair, as when holding someone smaller close)
I locked myself in with the band
again, shutting everything else out
But the music's never loud enough
he can't drown out the truth, or/and he can't get the beat to the dance (turning the volume up so people can feel the beat is done for dancing, especially difficult dances)
Decibels in the belfry
reference to 'bats in the belfry' and of course 'decibels' is a term for how loud something is—being able to hear something from the top of a church tower
Hey what the hell if it helps me
i'd go crazy if it would help
I put a whip to the kick drum
i'd rather destroy the implements of music than have to continue on like this—kick drum is usually the bass drum, and the narrator obviously wants the beat louder, using torture implements to augment his strength,
as if he'll understand it, comprehend it, be able to dance it if the beat's louder, but he can't
But the music's never loud enough
see above
Chorus: So you're gonna have to show me
the narrator is admitting he can't do this on his own
How that dance is done
dances are typically performed with partners, but...
The one where somebody leaves someone
this particular 'dance' is supposed to be done alone, and the narrator doesn't understand it or know it well enough to perform it
My orchestra is gigantic
the larger the orchestra, the more difficult it is for them to play together and/or play quietly
This thing could sink the Titanic
iceberg/Titanic reference: Titanic was referred to as unsinkable until something unexpected happened (the iceberg) and then the structure of the Titanic contributed to its own downfall
this line could be referencing the size of the orchestra, and probably is, but it could also have a double-meaning, which seems likely: the impact of the relationship's ending was something unexpected, cold, and quite possibly abetted by the structure of the individuals
in addition, the relationship ending is compared to a large scale tragedy
And the string section's screaming
a la Psycho, where just the soundtrack is enough to explain that something awful has happened
Like horses in a barn burning up
the listeners don't really need this horrific image, but it adds to the tragedy: a horse's scream is gutteral and very, very sad
He plays pianos with fistfuls
at this point in time, the narrator shifts to third person—possibly trying to distance himself, or a sign that the narrator has shifted because the original narrator is incapable of describing these events—might be the source of this 'rumor' as mentioned in the title
Of broken Belvedere crystal
Belvedere is a pattern used in antique dinnerware, generally heirlooms which can be emotionally significant—the narrator's implying that this ending is worse than destroying a precious heirloom, or at least equivalent
the two lines taken together seem to show that 'he' is so distraught that even though the crystal would be cutting his hands, and you can't play piano properly with fists (dissonant chords, not really musical), it doesn't matter because all that 'he' wants is to play loud enough to forget what happened or at least stop thinking about it, which is exactly what the next two lines indicate:
And he's trying to forget you
But the music's never loud enough
[chorus]
He's impaling the front row
the sound is so dramatic that it's traumatic
Fighting fires with arrows
fire—desire? love? or tragedy?
arrows—Cupid's arrow? or murder weapon?
the ambiguity in this line is what's most prominent: you can't fight literal fires with arrows, so the narrator can't figure out what he's trying to destroy
And he'll act like he forgot you
'he' will act like it, which obviously means it isn't true—people don't have to pretend that they feel something if it's the truth
But the music's never loud enough
'he' can't forget, all of his old coping mechanisms aren't working
[chorus]
The title of this song is Rumors, by Josh Ritter. (youtube link, download link).
I can't decide if the titular Rumor is the iceberg that broke the relationship, or if it's the rumor that results in the shift of perspectives seen in the verse change. Having listened to quite a few of Ritter's songs (and from the plural in the title), I'm guessing it's both.
As I said before, Josh Ritter is a horrible, horrible man (for conveying these emotions so well) who sings incredible songs.
serenades are typically sweet and soft, but the narrator would rather have rocks-- rocks symbolizing the truth, maybe, or being stoned to death
No lullabies through the locks, love
lullabies are sung sweetly and softly, like a mother crooning to her child, but again, the narrator is shutting 'love' out (could also be a reference to locks of hair, as when holding someone smaller close)
I locked myself in with the band
again, shutting everything else out
But the music's never loud enough
he can't drown out the truth, or/and he can't get the beat to the dance (turning the volume up so people can feel the beat is done for dancing, especially difficult dances)
Decibels in the belfry
reference to 'bats in the belfry' and of course 'decibels' is a term for how loud something is—being able to hear something from the top of a church tower
Hey what the hell if it helps me
i'd go crazy if it would help
I put a whip to the kick drum
i'd rather destroy the implements of music than have to continue on like this—kick drum is usually the bass drum, and the narrator obviously wants the beat louder, using torture implements to augment his strength,
as if he'll understand it, comprehend it, be able to dance it if the beat's louder, but he can't
But the music's never loud enough
see above
Chorus: So you're gonna have to show me
the narrator is admitting he can't do this on his own
How that dance is done
dances are typically performed with partners, but...
The one where somebody leaves someone
this particular 'dance' is supposed to be done alone, and the narrator doesn't understand it or know it well enough to perform it
My orchestra is gigantic
the larger the orchestra, the more difficult it is for them to play together and/or play quietly
This thing could sink the Titanic
iceberg/Titanic reference: Titanic was referred to as unsinkable until something unexpected happened (the iceberg) and then the structure of the Titanic contributed to its own downfall
this line could be referencing the size of the orchestra, and probably is, but it could also have a double-meaning, which seems likely: the impact of the relationship's ending was something unexpected, cold, and quite possibly abetted by the structure of the individuals
in addition, the relationship ending is compared to a large scale tragedy
And the string section's screaming
a la Psycho, where just the soundtrack is enough to explain that something awful has happened
Like horses in a barn burning up
the listeners don't really need this horrific image, but it adds to the tragedy: a horse's scream is gutteral and very, very sad
He plays pianos with fistfuls
at this point in time, the narrator shifts to third person—possibly trying to distance himself, or a sign that the narrator has shifted because the original narrator is incapable of describing these events—might be the source of this 'rumor' as mentioned in the title
Of broken Belvedere crystal
Belvedere is a pattern used in antique dinnerware, generally heirlooms which can be emotionally significant—the narrator's implying that this ending is worse than destroying a precious heirloom, or at least equivalent
the two lines taken together seem to show that 'he' is so distraught that even though the crystal would be cutting his hands, and you can't play piano properly with fists (dissonant chords, not really musical), it doesn't matter because all that 'he' wants is to play loud enough to forget what happened or at least stop thinking about it, which is exactly what the next two lines indicate:
And he's trying to forget you
But the music's never loud enough
[chorus]
He's impaling the front row
the sound is so dramatic that it's traumatic
Fighting fires with arrows
fire—desire? love? or tragedy?
arrows—Cupid's arrow? or murder weapon?
the ambiguity in this line is what's most prominent: you can't fight literal fires with arrows, so the narrator can't figure out what he's trying to destroy
And he'll act like he forgot you
'he' will act like it, which obviously means it isn't true—people don't have to pretend that they feel something if it's the truth
But the music's never loud enough
'he' can't forget, all of his old coping mechanisms aren't working
[chorus]
The title of this song is Rumors, by Josh Ritter. (youtube link, download link).
I can't decide if the titular Rumor is the iceberg that broke the relationship, or if it's the rumor that results in the shift of perspectives seen in the verse change. Having listened to quite a few of Ritter's songs (and from the plural in the title), I'm guessing it's both.
As I said before, Josh Ritter is a horrible, horrible man (for conveying these emotions so well) who sings incredible songs.
