| Mew – Cartoons and Macrame Wounds Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's OK, all you need is love, risks be damned. | |
| Elliott Smith – Needle in the Hay Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think most of the other allusion, allegory, and metaphor in the song is fairly transparent, but I think the haystack charm is somewhat confusing, so I thought I'd take a shot a it. This interpretation probably has a one-in-five chance of being right, so don't take it as gospel truth. If the song refers to the common metaphor of the needle in the haystack, then the needle represents someone or something lost. We also see that this "lost" soul is rejecting Christianity, or religion in general by referencing the fact that he won't pass through the eye of the needle. If we then also think about what charms people commonly wear around their neck, they commonly tie them to a larger group. Whether it be a cross to symbolize belonging to Christianity or a pendant representing ties to a family, it symbolizes the group itself. If the "lost" needle found himself lost specifically in this culture, the culture would be the haystack in our metaphor. So the haystack of the charm could be religion, a family, or wider society in general. Because of the line about his clothing being a reaction to her, it makes me think that the charm is more of a reference to society in general, as clothing choice is influenced to a larger degree by social association than religious or familial associations. I would love to hear thoughts about this imagery, as it is odd and interesting. P.S. - Smith refers to the third person character going downstairs (to get the drugs), and the first person character "taking the cure," so it is clear that they are the same and the second person character is the straight-edge character (straight-edge because of the complaint that she "know(s) what he did" in reference to the call to the drug dealer). Therefore, the second-person character would not be partaking in drugs, nor carrying a pendant that contained drugs (at least the type of drugs he's doing). |
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