We all have a particular song that baffles us. Confuses us. Makes us wake up despairing in the night with the sort of existential ennui that is only too prevalent in arty French films.
I’ve got a couple; anyone else care to share? (NB: I’ve got tons of pop-up blockers, so I’m praying the links below are reasonably pop-up free. If not, I heartily apologize.)
- Kanye West’s “Through the Wire”, which is a moving song about West’s serious car accident that caused him to have his jaw wired shut. As a matter of fact, at the time the song was actually recorded, his jaw was still wired shut. The song is worth hearing just for the opening lines:
However, what I find really problematic are the following lines:
Um. What? I don’t understand. At all. Are Jamaicans particularly prone to blood clots? Is “Jamaican, man” used simply because it’s a fair-to-middling rhyme for “make a band”? I’m so confused!
- Rufus Wainwright’s “Greek Song”, which, incidentally, is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. Don’t you just wish someone would tell you, “Your body heals my soul?”
I don’t know…I don’t get it, though. The opening lines are obviously a conversation between RW and a fellow during a Greek holiday. RW is being seductive (“you who were born with the sun above your shoulders”) and the fellow is being bisexual and aloof (“you turn me on, you turn me on, but so does she”). Then we get to
at which point we no longer intrude upon the privacy of these nice young fellows, and Rufus belts out the immortal lines,
I confess myself baffled. Any reasonable explanations?