Yes vs. Alfred Lord Tennyson

In My Humble Opinion
1

Sadly not the most mismatched ‘who would win this fight’ ever. A friend of mine has just broken up with his GF of some time and is pretty broken up about it. I’m struggling to give any sound advice without falling back to cliché.

Although written about a dead friend, the now cliché line from Tennyson reads;
“I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”

Whereas the band Yes in the 1983 song Owner of a Lonely Heart counter with;
“Owner of a lonely heart
Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than - a
Owner of a broken heart
Owner of a lonely heart”

Who is right (and what approach should I take with my friend?)?

2

I agree with Tennyson.
I’m not sure what the song is trying to say.

3

The problem with Tennyson is that “most” and “lost” don’t rhyme. On the other hand, rhyming “heart” with “heart” is pretty lame. I give it to Tennyson, although your friend may not appreciate the cliché.

4

Gah! How’d I mess up the poll for this? Mods, any help?

Anyway, the two stand in direct contradiction - Tennyson’s being that at least you’ve loved, whereas Yes saying that being an owner of a lonely heart is much better than an owner of a broken heart. I.e., might as well not have bothered because the pain of the breakup is not worth it.

5

That is allowable in the Romantic style.

Bear in mind that while he has such beautiful imagery as “To rust unburnished, not to shine in use”, and “Drunk delights of battle with my peers, far on the ringing plans of windy Troy”, he also brought us “Tirra Liraa by the river sang Sir Lancelot.” :slight_smile:

6

I side with Tennyson. Better to grieve than to regret, and better fond memory than emptiness.

7

I should add that Tennyson would have written much better Country and Western songs too.

8

The mind boggles, however one spells it.

:slight_smile:

9

I believe that the chorus to “Owner” is more a representation of the song’s subject trying to convince himself that it’s better to be lonely than hurt, the rest of the song seems to be encouraging him to go for it (“Take your chances win or lose her.”)

10

God dammit. Now every verse of poetry I ever hear it going to be followed by mental ‘Yes’ orchestral hit.

And no, I didn’t steal the joke from MST3K. It’s HOMAGE.

–
Come to think of it, come to think of it, the vast majority of poetry would be improved by this.

11

Just read Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses”

12

“Most” and “lost” might rhtme. You never can tell how a Brit is going to pronounce something.

The Yes lyrics make me think of the Aztecs, since I’m reading Aztec, by Gary Jennings, right now. It would indeed be a lonely heart that was just ripped out of the chest cavity.

13

You just had to pick just about the worst Yes song to quote!

14

Borrowed from my contemporaneous take on the YES song:

It depends on which is more recent; broken heart or lonely heart.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence cliche, in other words.

Tennyson? I got nothing. I did like the graphite rackets better than the wood, but I haven’t played since about the time “Owner of a Lonely Heart” was popular.