| Mat Kearney – What's a Boy To Do Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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To me, this song is clearly about homosexuality, and despite the fact that a lot of his fans will be staunchly against this interpretation, let me try to make my case: "three long years wondering" in the first verse is a reference to the self realisation "I guess I'm looking for the right way to do this" is a reference to coming out and the fear it entails the bit about young boys taking a shot and stoning is a reference to homophobic violence "the kind of love that comes and goes when there's company coming round" is a reference to a closeted homosexual love being hidden in front of others Daddy looking down his nose is quite self explanatory, a reference to a parent not approving of his sons homosexuality "I've looking round for someone to tell me who I am" references the difficulties in realising that you are homosexual in a heteronormative society, where you may not know any homosexuals to help you understand what you are feeling "He kept saying I was too young" - this is a reference to the common reaction of many parents upon their child coming out, that they're too young, it's a phase etc the part about words sticking around 20 years down is another reference to homophobic bullying "What's a boy to do when there's no man at home" - all his struggle is made worse when he's single then there's a reference to spinning the bottle - "a bottle spinning round the room", and then he lands on Missy, but when kissing her he realises how it does nothing for him and it was a last ditch attempt to force himself to be heterosexual - "trying to find the light switch in the dark" and then he commits suicide and finally it asks "what's the son of man and a boy to do, what's the son of man and a boy to you" which is essentially a rhetorical question making a point against homophobia, how it "didn't need to be like this", etc. The song doesn't mean that Mat himself has to be gay, lots of singers sing stories that aren't necessarily a personal experience. But to me this song can clearly be interpreted in this way, and the interpretation as I've outlined above makes more sense to me than the others I've read here. |
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| Saving Jane – from the sky Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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To me this song is really obviously about coming out (as a homosexual), being kicked out of the parade is a reference to the St Patrick's Day parades where homosexuals were kicked out, "couldn't bend to fit myself inside the lines / and have wasted all this time just trying" - reference to attempting to lead a hetereosexual life, "They're so convinced that everything is black and white / That we are wrong and they are right" is a reference to the heteronormative society, and the entire verse "To lose the mask you always hid yourself behind To live a life of your design To say what's really on your mind To come out of the dark and shine" makes it even more obvious, if it needed to be. "everything you are is beautiful" just underlines the point. I know that some people will probably disagree with me here, but I can't see how this song could realistically be read in any other way when there are so many references! |
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