| Beirut – East Harlem Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Gotta love this song. As a New Yorker, I think I partly understand what he's saying. Zach Condon lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To a new yorker, going from Brooklyn all the way up to Harlem, uptown to downtown and vise-versa, almost feels like a thousand miles! I live in Brooklyn and whenever I go to the Bronx it feels like going to the other side of the world! At least in our little world of nyc. That's a more literal interpretation, but to be more figurative, I feel like he's saying how different a neighborhood it is from where Zach lives. The culture and people are a lot different. The girl he talks about lives "a thousand miles away" both literally (sort of) and figuratively. She "wilts" because Harlem is generally a poor neighborhood where crime is common. When he says "I'll never make it in time" it reminds me of taking the subway for an hour and switching between various trains to meet my friends on time who live in upper Manhattan and the Bronx (with subway delays and such on the side!) and always being late and rushing to get to the other side of the city! I think it also may have to do with the harlem renaissance as well, a time where the arts flourished in Harlem, especially in black culture. This is because because he talks about sounds and color in the song :) Just my interpretation! Its a beautiful song! |
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