| James Blunt – Out Of My Mind Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Check this out: http://stagehymns.blogspot.com/2005/12/james-blunt-out-of-my-mind.html | |
| James Blunt – Out Of My Mind Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I think I've got it! It seemed so abstract to me at first. I decided to dive into the lyrcis and to see what I have found. I started by evaluating the events he is describing. It all seems frozen in time. It's not a journey that developes over time so much as it is a transcendent moment. He seems to frequently describe such moments. After all, the song "beautiful" is about one moment where he saw an ex-girlfriend while walking by. Since it is written in free verse, with rhyme used looselyin most places and sparingly when it is strong, it occurred to me that the rhyme was used for a reason. The words he is saying in strong rhyme are all tongue-in cheek. This makes them sound very trite and shallow, which they are intended to be. He's saying, "Nothing's wrong, nothing changes...etc." The rest of the song is in his true voice, not some robotic rhyme. I started to set the scene he is describing. He is on stage. He doesn't fit in with the crowd or the surroundings. There is an organ-grinder and monkey present, who apparently do fit in. This could only mean that the surroundings are very cheesy and fake. It's a puppet show of some sort, and James Blunt is the puppet. The organ griner's monkey is sitting on his shoulder, and he finds it touching. The organ grinder is waiting to "get" James in some fashion. Now that we have set the scene, we can delve further (or farther?) into the song. James says that his pantomime performance helps everyone know what is real. Now we have to look at his situation to see if we can draw the meaning from all the undefined variables still floating around. The organ-grinder sets the beat that he dances or performs to, and may well represent the music industry, churning out music without any art to it whatsoever. The "pet monkey" of the music industry represents the fans of music who simply eat up everything the industry gives them. At this point, though, the monkey is paying attention to James Blunt, sitting on his shoulder. He is currently popular in our culture, and mtv and vh1 currently give him airtime. James Blunt is a real musician, one with messages he clearly intends to get across in order to help other people "know what is real". He says that he may be a puppet for the world, but he is not bound to it, and he doesn't give his entire being to it to be violated - thus, "I won't be your concubine. I'm a puppet, not a whore." He explains that he just needs to be on stage and in thsi show so that he can be seen. He is sacrificing his will in order to get his message through to the world. He asks the person he is directing this at to do several things: 1) "Hold my eye and know what it means." This is James' way of saying to see as he sees; to look through his eyes at this crazy situation. 2) "Will you be a friend of mine to remind me what is real?" This seems obvious enough. 3) "Hold my heart and see that it bleeds." Here he is saying that it pains him to do what he is doing. He is being vulnerable, and his heart is in someone else's hands. After asking for these things, James tells us that he's out of his mind. He's beating his head against a wall, trying to get through to the world, and it's driving him crazy. That's the point that he draws to. |
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| James Blunt – Out Of My Mind Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| I'm trying to pick the words apart and read this from the inside out. I feel like his message is so simple, but just beyond my grasp at the moment. I think I'm just going to get in better reading shape before I come back to this, and try again to read into what he means. | |
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