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Phil Collins – Another Day In Paradise Lyrics 13 years ago
This song is very meaningful to me and speaks to me. This song is about the unfortunate truth about society. Phil Collins is saying in this song that instead of helping others in need, we, especially Americans, don't help the poor developing countries, and even our own people in need. Rather than give to the needy and help with real life problems, we live in our own little worlds, where everything is perfect for us. We have homes, water, food, and even get to buy things we want, rather than need. In fact, everyone buys things they want, but they never need it. In developing countries, they don’t even have shelter. Many people live in the streets or the wild. Many people also don’t even have a clean supply of water. They are forced to drink the contaminated water flowing in rivers. The thing that makes me feel bad is how these people thank God every single day for being alive instead of dead. This makes me think that many of these people die, and those who don’t die feel lucky. To them, we are paradise. And that is what this song is mainly about. How they think our lives are paradise compared to theirs. I think it is extremely depressing to know that while we live in comfortable, warm houses, they live terrible lives.

“Oh, think twice, it’s another day for you and me in paradise.”

This part of the song states how we forget and never realize how lucky and fortunate we are to have the things we have, while there are other people who don’t even have enough to live.

From a biblical aspect, the lyrics may mean to help one another, for God is watching us, and he will reward us for our kindness, because in God’s eyes, we are all one in the same. This is because we are one in the same. Back then, people never realized this and started discriminating and treating each other differently by the way we looked. That is why many people in the world today live the way they do.

This song shows quite a bit of symbolism. The man represents us, the Americans, or maybe just the people . The woman represents the developing countries and/or the poorer people in society.

“She calls out to the man on the street
‘Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?’

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there”

In this part of the song, the woman (developing countries) is asking the man for help. Even though she is asking for help, he just keeps walking on, as though she doesn’t exist.


“She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
Can't walk but she's trying

(Chorus)

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place
'Cos she didn't fit in there”


In this part of the song, the man is considering helping her, but he doesn’t want to sacrifice his own possessions to help out somebody else. To the man, money is everything. Without money, there is no happiness. The man would even die to save his money, but that is kind of ironic since he wouldn’t be able to use it as a ghost, so there would have been no point in dying in the first place. Anyways, I say to man, “WAKE UP CALL!” Money isn’t everything. If you have some, give some to those who need it. Why get the things you want when you can help those who NEED the money to get the things they NEED?

There is always a constant phrase being said. This phrase “Think about it” is telling us that we should think twice about our selfish actions. An easy way to “Think about it” is by putting yourself in their shoes. According to the book “To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a quote that states, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Basically, consider yourself in the position of these people. Wouldn’t you want help if you lived the way they do today? In life, one of the most important things is to keep “Thinking about it.”

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