| Harvey Danger – Problems And Bigger Ones Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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This is a song about a tumultuous divorce involving multiple children ending in siblings being divided, told from the point of view of one of the children. Harvey Danger has a habit of including references in their songs, and I find that knowing the references--if you can spot them--helps in understanding the content of their songs. The opening lines refer to the United States' civil war, a war mythologized in the U.S. as literally pitting brother against brother. "Look away" is a repeated refrain from the de facto anthem of the southern states during the war, but the line may specifically be referring to a historical-fictional novel from the 1970s called "Look Away!" taking place during the war about two brothers in the north whose lives were largely molded by a tyrannical father, with circumstances compelling one to move south and join the Virginia Military Institute, thus the line "Cross through the border states to the wrong side, look away Virginia". The war becomes an analogy for what is happening in this family, where children are being compelled into choosing sides (eg. which parent they want to live with). The bridge names a Bob Dylan song, which is (I believe) about divorce. The child is declaring that he (or she) is being strong through this, or perhaps simply does not understand the emotions going on between the parents, and the line "most likely you'll go your own way, and I'll go mine" takes on a new meaning in the context of the child's meditation of it. For evidence that the song is from a child's perspective, see the lines "The man was very helpful but I knew he wouldn't stay; There used to be a baby but the baby went away", which could only come from a child, trying to make sense of what is happening. I feel the rest of the lyrics are pretty straight forward, but I do want to parse the chorus: "Forswear what you undergo" is another way for the child to say to the parent "please stop" or "don't do this". With "You wanted to go alone though; I never said no" (emphasis on "you"), the child is telling the parent that the parent is the one that wanted to go it alone (and leave the rest of the family behind), not the child, and the child never said no to the parent leaving on their own, i.e. allowing the child to stay with his other siblings and the other parent. "I never said no" may carry a double meaning in that the child acquiesced to the parent's wishes to leave the rest of his family with the parent, and regretted it once they had left. It's heartbreaking but courageously poignant in teaching who the biggest victims of family separations are, especially when the parents fail to put the children's best interests first. I feel like HD's "Wrecking Ball" is a follow up to this song and explores how these traumas can carry with the child into adulthood. |
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