| Sara Bareilles – King of Anything Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Love this song, but I interpret it differently than everyone else who's posted about it so far. I think, in the vein of "Love Song" and "Bottle It Up," Sara's singing about her relationship to the music industry, but cleverly veiled in a song that could most definitely be about a romantic love ("Love Song" being about her frustration with the music industry and "Bottle It Up" about the feeling she had once she signed with a major label and hit it big). I think she's singing about the way some industry higher-ups might talk down to her and try to influence decisions about her image. The first verse about a conversation over coffee really strikes me as one of those business casual meetings with powerful people, where you hear out their ideas -- "You've got opinions man / We're all entitled to them / But I never asked / So let me thank you for your time / And try not to waste any more of mine / Get out of here fast" > those lyrics could easily be about a meeting like that. More specifically, when I hear this song, I think of the music industry trying to make Sara more mainstream and "pop"-y. There just such a power imbalance in the song, and it seems like its more than a verbally abusive relationship (though it could be, of course), but someone actually trying to control her future/career ("You're so busy making maps"). And in the past (like she sung in "Love Song") she just would take it ("All my life I've tried to make everybody happy while I just hurt and hide / Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide.") Stylistically, the song really reminds me of "Love Song" -- to me, it's about her taking back power and writing the kinds of songs she wants to write, but cleverly disguised as, well, a love song. |
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