| Television – Venus de Milo Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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You know, I'm not sure that anyone here has this completely yet, so here are my thoughts. I may be reading too much into the lyrics, but if I'm not, this is a really excellent bit of poetry by Verlaine. Basically, I see this as a fleeting teenage romance / coming of age story. I get a lot of this from the refrain: "Falling into the arms of Venus de Milo." Venus is the god of love, so falling into her arms seems like a pretty obvious metaphor for falling in love. However--and this is where things get really cool--the statue Venus de Milo doesn't have arms. So I submit that this is actually a metaphor for falling in love when there's really nothing there. Sounds depressing, right? Well, not at all, actually. To the shock of the backup singers, the speaker did not "feel low" about this. In the end, he "stood up and walked out the arms" of Venus without much of a problem. So this failed romantic experience didn't hurt him really, and the tone of these lyrics is not bleak. But the experience did change him, as I think the verses show. This is also where the "coming of age" part comes in. The first two verses seem like a depiction of falling in love for the first time set against the grandeur of New York City. The world is alive, it's "thin" and waiting to be grasped, the feeling has a druglike effect, and it's all shared with another person. Sounds like a first love to me. But as we know from the chorus, this is going to come to an end soon. The statue has no arms. The third verse is the really interesting one here. I think the first two lines basically describe the relationship ending. Things change quickly. It hurts, but it doesn't really HURT. His heart doesn't really ache. And now, along comes "Richie." It seems probable that this is Richard Hell, but what really matters is that this is a good pal of the speaker. Richie wants to go out, hit the town, dress up like cops, have some fun. But something's holding the speaker back, namely the profundity of the emotional experience he has just had. He doesn't have the same taste for immature antics he once did. A turning point has been reached in his life, and he can't go back. He's just been in and out of the arms of Venus de Milo! How could he return to playing dress-up? So that's the coming of age bit. This is already a remarkable song. The guitar parts are ridiculously cool, as we always see in Television songs, Tom Verlaine just oozes swagger in his vocals, and the rhythm section is tight. But if I'm right about the lyrics, and I think there's a good chance I am, this song becomes almost transcendent. It's a relatable story, extremely well-told, with a brilliant central metaphor (the arms of Venus de Milo). Where did this come from? I'm just in awe. |
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| Television – See No Evil Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| My interpretation is a little different than what's been said so far. I think the argument is that all of what we describe as "evil" can be explained by somebody wanting something very badly, which the speaker sympathizes with ("I understand all destructive urges") and so he does not see this as evil. After all, what he wants, he wants now. He can't control himself when faced with urges, and he doesn't see himself as evil, so nobody is. | |
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