"Wonderwall" by Oasis is one of my favorite songs ever. It might be because the band no longer exists (sibling rivalry, you know), or it might be because it's the only video on YouTube I've ever seen where every single comment has at least one hundred likes (the top one has over 40,000). Or it could be because of this verse, which I'm going to analyze as poetry:
Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now
Gallagher is using iambic foot here (ex. backbeat the word was on the street) to create his own unique rhythm. His first person point of view suggests that he's speaking from his own experiences and telling the story from his own perception. He describes the supposed perception of her feelings in a metaphor of "the fire in your heart is out." And, in case you were wondering, Urban Dictionary supplied this:
That's cool that you chose this song to analyze as poetry! I wonder if the band knew about this definition of wonderwall when they wrote the song..interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat's great to analyze song lyrics as poetry, which they are. It also helps us to remember that "lyric" poetry is tied to a tradition of music and also the personal point of view, as you underscore in your analysis.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard the term "wonderwall," but it's an apt term. It reminds me of the concept of "the doors of perception" -- a line from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" that was used for the title of Aldous Huxley's 1954 novel about self-transcendence via drug trips (which, in turn, was the basis of Jim Morrison's name for his band, The Doors, which also aimed at a kind of transcendence through rock music). Literature gets associated with music or drugs precisely because it does provide the opening allowing glimpses to a reality beyond.
The dissection of music lyrics is my favorite kind of poetry analysis. When you have to pair meter and rhyme, and pull it off successfully, people are automatically impressed. But--if within that coupling--you add a message or deep meaning, it becomes that much more impressive.
ReplyDeleteI love this song...I never thought to break it down with poetic rhythm. Actually I have never done that for any song, but it sounds like fin and it would help me understand poetry more.
ReplyDelete@Professor Burton
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poUdwBcnesI
Terrible audio quality cover of "Wonderwall" by ... the Doors of Perception!