It seems that there’s terms for almost anything that’s done in writing, and I was wondering if anyone knows if there’s terms for what I describe.
In some songs and poems, the author will substitute the antonym for effect in a position where either a cliche or rhyme lends itself naturally to a particular word.
Both these examples aren’t quite perfect, but there the ones that made me think of this (these lyrics may only be mostly correct):
In ‘San Francisco (Nights?)’ by the Animals
Cops eyes are filled with hate
(On a warm San Francisco night)
Heavens above! He’s on a street called love
In a song by Van Morrison (sorry, don’t know the name of it):
Turn up the radio
Turn down the light
So we can get on down to what’s wrong.
With the Van Morrison song, I could almost imagine the phrase continuing as “what’s wrong and what’s right”. This could then be a different technique, i.e. leaving out what might be obvious. Of course, it might not be obvious to everyone, but often the lines do feel incomplete and we mentally fill them in.
e.g. from Ben Folds Five’s “Brick”
Driving home to her apartment
For the moment we’re alone
And she’s alone
And I’m alone
Now I know it -
(I sometimes fill in a “we’re alone” after the last line, then think about its absence)
And if there isn’t a word for this, maybe this can just become a thread where you bring up more examples.
panama jack
Tonight we drank in parking lots
and why do we drink I guess we do it 'cause –
-Dar Williams