| The English Beat – Save It For Later Lyrics | 7 years ago |
|
D. Wakeling has said it’s about transitioning from teenage years to adulthood and trying to find one’s place in a messed up and sometimes confusing world. I think the opening reference to the number, “two dozen” (24), is the storyteller’s age and not necessarily meant to be a quantification of lovers, reasons, or anything else, although Wakeling’s use of dual meanings opens the door to parallel interpretations. Why 24? Twenty-one is the legal age but considered by most adults to still be a kid. At 24, one is a grown man or woman, in keeping with Wakeling’s theme of one’s coming-of-age. At 24, many have been in long term relationships and one partner (usually the girl) starts thinking about permanent commitment and the marriage ultimatum ensues. A guy of that age is generally less into settling down and more about having fun and sex, a “dirty lover”. A lot of guys allow themselves to be pulled reluctantly into marriage by the ultimatum. He’s not going to be a sucker for such a demand but never the less he wants to remain in the relationship the way that it is. He tells her you can “cry, cry” all you want but he doesn’t want another mother-figure in his life. The phrases, “Just hold my hand ‘til I come… to a decision on it.” and “Save it for later” are all at once an ironic admission that he does, in fact, need a mother to hold his hand, and double entendre (cum, fellator) hinting at the storytellers underlying shallow motivations that explain his delay tactics to stave off the marriage ultimatum. He knows that, eventually, he will be unable to stall forever and that he’ll be found out as having used her all along, being nothing more than a dirty lover. He’s knows he’s not the man his woman thought he was and that she’ll leave when he refuses to commit. He says by leaving she’s let him down but that’s one side of the story. You sense he may be in denial and subconsciously aware that he’s not doing the right thing. |
|
| Little Feat – Willin' Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Aside from the obvious references to truck driving, outlaw way of life (drugs, smuggling) and the scars one gets in that profession, it's really interesting that Lowell George references the cities Tucumcari and Tonapah in his alliteration. According to Indian legend, (look up Tucumcari on Wiki) Tonapah and Tocom were two braves vying for the hand of Indian princess Kari, and leadership of the tribe. Kari was in love with Tocom but Tonapah won the battle when they fought to the death. Kari then took the life of Tonapah before taking her own life. The story plays out as a tragic love triangle and quest for power in which all players lost everything. This sheds some light on the tie-in with Dallas Alice: lost love, lost opportunity and running away from life's troubles. The protagonist cannot go back to Dallas and can only move on by doing the things that he knows how to do, drive trucks, smuggle and self-medicate to ease the pain. By reitterating that he is "willin", the protagonist ackowledges that his life choices that led him to this point were of his own free will, that he accepts responsibility for his condition and knows the rough road that lies ahead of him is because of the choices he has made. | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.