tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post4020603444926586608..comments2024-02-05T15:01:44.563-05:00Comments on Cleveland Poetics: a place for cleveland's writers and readers: Metaphors in Popular Musicmichael salingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14717310933948991992noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-69082339595603737692011-12-05T21:45:01.133-05:002011-12-05T21:45:01.133-05:00Really? Amazing; it seemed so quintessentially Le...Really? Amazing; it seemed so quintessentially Lennon.<br /><br />For a bizarrely continued metaphor, I've always liked <i>Ladies love outlaws like babies love stray dogs. Ladies touch babies like a banker touches gold. Outlaws touch ladies somewhere deep down in their soul."</i><br /><br />(actually, I'd always heard that second line as "...like a bad man touches gold," a line which google tells me is incorrect, but I like my version much better; it continues the metaphor instead of branching out.)Geoffrey A. Landishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04518496779546782434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-45337058512789284742011-12-04T22:15:43.470-05:002011-12-04T22:15:43.470-05:00First of, While My Guitar Gently Weeps is Harrison...First of, While My Guitar Gently Weeps is Harrison's song, not Lennon's. And it's an excellent use of personification. <br /><br />I think Paul Simon has a ton of great similes and metaphors. Bridge over troubled water is a good one (and no, not sexual).<br /><br />Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" is certainly sexually tinged, especially the Big Mama Thornton version, which is a little more raunchy than Elvis's cleaned up RCA version.pottygokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03530399360457624135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-30895860995371879282011-12-03T15:29:12.675-05:002011-12-03T15:29:12.675-05:00Well, one of my favorites is John Lennon's &qu...Well, one of my favorites is John Lennon's "While my guitar gently weeps," and that's not about sex, I don't think. Or if you're going for simile, there's "like a bridge over troubled waters" (well, maybe you could build a case that it really is about sex on that fact that the next line is "I will lay me down.")<br />--how about "You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine."?Geoffrey A. Landishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04518496779546782434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-43675163543782051322011-12-03T13:22:31.878-05:002011-12-03T13:22:31.878-05:00Okay, so I've been digging and doing research,...Okay, so I've been digging and doing research, and I wonder if metaphors in music tend to center around one thing, include Springsteen's entry above: sex.<br /><br />I've been listening to back episodes of Matt the Cat's "Juke in the Back," and I've noticed that if one takes and object and can make it about sex, no matter how ludicrous or blatant the metaphor, and puts a halfway decent beat behind it, the record magically is a hit. Oh, and metaphors about larger women--even better. <br /><br />I wonder if that should be a separate post--what are great sex metaphors in poems and music? Or great sex poems in general.pottygokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03530399360457624135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-75108163153114614682011-12-03T13:14:18.217-05:002011-12-03T13:14:18.217-05:00Well, I think what Bruce is shooting for is that h...Well, I think what Bruce is shooting for is that he wants to light a fire (probably metaphorical, as in his other songs "Fire" or "I'm On Fire") but can't because no one will invite his "spark" (i.e. nobody wants to bang him). Then, of course, he mixes the metaphor with western cliches, implying that not only is his gun for hire (sexual metaphor) but then returns to his original thought of being alone, in the dark.pottygokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03530399360457624135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5641117771707843067.post-88511873444676812012011-12-02T17:42:33.317-05:002011-12-02T17:42:33.317-05:00Well, I'll make a nomination for worst use of ...Well, I'll make a nomination for worst use of metaphor, and/or imagery, Bruce Springsteen. Guy can't stick to the same metaphor for two lines running. <br />"Can't light a fire, can't light a fire without a spark.<br />This gun's for hire, even if it's just dancing in the dark."<br />Huh?Geoffrey A. Landishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04518496779546782434noreply@blogger.com