At first I was definitely leaning towards the death of someones wife/mother/girlfriend, but the music video paints a clearer picture of the interpretation.
Firstly, it's useful to know that James Blunt served with the British Army in Kosovo, he was an officer in a light armoured unit used for Reconnaissance and his unit was the tip of the spear during the UN advance. His was the first unit into Pristina - it's certain that he personally experienced many of the emotions his music evokes.
When one watches the video, it is underlaid with a short sequence showing some sort of nighttime operation. The uniforms and weapons, and the dogtags around the casualties neck mark the soldiers as British Infantry. In the video a Sergeant leads his unit into some sort of structure and triggers what we now call an IED or Improvised Explosive Device. The character that James is singing from the perspective of is the first responder and he reaches the casualty quickly enough to witness his death. This is the origin of the chorus. Breaking the song down into each verse and the chorus, I'll give you my interpretation:
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again
Makes her body older than it really is
And she says it's high time she went away
No one's got much to say in this town
Trouble is the only way is down.
Down, down"
Being from a family with a long history in the armed forces the meaning of this section is all to clear to me. British Army soldiers are often deployed away from their families for long stretches of time - and there is never enough support for the wives that try and keep their families running smoothly. The accumulation of this stress can, indeed, makes someone feel older than they really are. Many service wives dream of a time they can leave the garrison towns and settle down away from Army life.
When a soldier dies, the rest of the community can often avoid the surviving family, as being part of the process of grieving underlines their own loved ones vulnerability. The Army usually pressures the wife to remove herself and any children from the community as quickly as possible for this reason.
Unfortunately for surviving family, once they are away from the military community it removes much of the pressure on the Army to help provide support to them. Coping under these circumstances is incredibly difficult, and so any change in circumstances is usually down, down, down.
"If she had wings she would fly away
And another day God will give her some
Trouble is the only way is down.
Down, down."
Here the writers are communicating the woman's desire to be out of the situation she is in - to fly away on wings. The suffering she endures arouses the sympathy of a compassionate deity. The writers liken her to an angel, but remind us that her life and her suffering are far from over.
"And they were all born pretty in New York City tonight
And someone's little girl was taken from the world tonight.
Under the Stars and Stripes"
This section is less clear to me - given the rooting of the song firmly in James Blunt's own career in the British military. Perhaps he refers here to the glamorous celebration of war in places far removed from the actual fighting - New York. The second line is more easy to interpret - the experience of losing a loved one has suppressed the little girl within the woman - in other words her joy at life and her innocence as to the evils of the world are removed. Again, the American reference may refer to the flag folding ceremony at an American military funeral - which doesn't have an analog within the British community, and ties to the New York line. Perhaps the essence of this section is to divorce the real emotional feelings and experiences of survivors from the Hollywood depictions of it.
Finally the chorus, which ought to be the emotional centerpiece of any song and certainly is in this case.
"As strong as you were, tender you go
I'm watching you breathing, for the last time
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet.
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.
I'll carry you home."
This is quite clearly the emotional reaction of a soldier to the death of a close comrade, a death that he's personally witnessed. The casualty, a strong man and a warrior - perhaps even a leader, is dying and the emotions evoked by this are the softer emotions of sadness, regret and compassion. In the video, the singer is the first responder to the casualty after the incident and he has time to see the life literally leave the casualty. 'A song for your heart' could simply mean the casualties heartbeat, but to me it refers to the singer's own immediate grieving and emotions - these fade after the death leaving the singer with a full appreciation of the context of the casualties death and, therefore, his life. This places the obligation upon the singer to carry his memory home with him - not to leave it there in that far away corner of a foreign battlefield.
He fulfills his commitment to his comrade by retrieving his personal effects and personally bringing them to the grieving woman.
Interestingly, in the video, once the singer has done so he moves away from the grieving woman himself - leaving her there on the cliff path with all the emotions these items bring to the surface again. It is clear that he has not been motivated by compassion for the survivor either - once he has fulfilled his commitment to the memory of the casualty and their shared experience he moves on with his own life, leaving her to process her grief alone.
@Apolloin the only thing i have that contradicts your interpretation is the director's choice in the music video. in fact, the director didn't even know about james' military career but chose to make a story out of that instead so it very well could be about someone grieving over a lost loved one or a woman going through anguish and james assuring her that he's going to "carry [her] home." however i do like your interpretation and it's a very sound argument, the little note that the director was the one who chose the premise and not james himself may...
@Apolloin the only thing i have that contradicts your interpretation is the director's choice in the music video. in fact, the director didn't even know about james' military career but chose to make a story out of that instead so it very well could be about someone grieving over a lost loved one or a woman going through anguish and james assuring her that he's going to "carry [her] home." however i do like your interpretation and it's a very sound argument, the little note that the director was the one who chose the premise and not james himself may bring to light a few things that were once dark.
@joshua1lx the director didn't know about Jame's background? How do you know that? That's seems a little bit hard to imagine that the director would do a pretty fair job of depicting an event that took place in Jame's life without knowing that it even happened? That's James Blunt in the video, right? So the director obviously had the opportunity to talk with him while creating the video. You're saying we know that he didn't try to make the video representative of Jame's thought / intention?
@joshua1lx the director didn't know about Jame's background? How do you know that? That's seems a little bit hard to imagine that the director would do a pretty fair job of depicting an event that took place in Jame's life without knowing that it even happened? That's James Blunt in the video, right? So the director obviously had the opportunity to talk with him while creating the video. You're saying we know that he didn't try to make the video representative of Jame's thought / intention?
I had many of the same exact thoughts, and a few others..
I had many of the same exact thoughts, and a few others..
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again
Makes her body older than it really is
And she says it's high time she went away
No one's got much to say in this town
Trouble is the only way is down, down, down"
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again
Makes her body older than it really is
And she says it's high time she went away
No one's got much to say in this town
Trouble is the only way is down, down, down"
Man, this is like a study in how to say a whole lot with a very few words.
Man, this is like a study in how to say a whole lot with a very few words.
She's isolated and in rough circumstances, caused primarily by her romantic involvement with this soldier, whom she has stayed true to, and has spent...
She's isolated and in rough circumstances, caused primarily by her romantic involvement with this soldier, whom she has stayed true to, and has spent a lot of tears over, and now the incredibly powerful presence of this soldier in her life is coming home to really haunt her hard. Her grieving process is going on for a while, and it's a thing that creates isolation; people have a hard time being around her, and. They don't know how to help her. She eventually feels compelled to leave the place where she'd been living, with the other military families, but she doesn't really have the money or the marketable skills or the emotional fortitude to make much of a go of life on her own, so her already rough circumstances are made even much, much worse.
"As strong as you were
Tender you got"
Your strong face, on your strong body, which has performed all these acts of incredible bravery and strength, had a tender expression on it as you died.
"I'm watching you breathing
For the last time
A song for your heart"
The breathing and the facial expression is like the singing of a song that expresses all the reasons for how you've lived and all you've done and how you've loved. And I'm inspired to write a song to describe it all, as you're lying here dying.
"But when it is quiet
I know what it means and
I'll carry you home
I'll carry you home"
But once the dying is done, I know what this song you're singing and that I'm writing means and the fact that I'm witnessing your death means. It means I need to visit this wife of yours, and carry this essence of you, that is in me, now, and these effects I'm finding on you, to your cherished one, to your heart's home.
"If she had wings she would fly away
And another day God will give her some
Trouble is the only way is down,down,down"
If she could escape all these awful feelings and her rough circumstances, she certainly would, and some people around try to encourage her saying that in time God will help her climb out of all this misery and despair and all her very rough circumstances, but right now, things certainly appear very grim for her, and there sure doesn't appear to be any way up or out.
"And they're all born pretty
in New York City in light"
The picture of the man's wife was kind of glamorous, and was taken in camera lighting in New York City; the address on the back of the picture was in New York City.
I think the man was a U.S. special forces soldier. They fought along aside the British in Kosovo. I've heard that sometimes some of them even fought in the uniforms of other allied forces.
I think sometimes Europeans get this impression from Hollywood that all American women are born pretty, lol. Or at least the pictures we carry of them tend to be glamorized. If a person's primary exposure to American culture consists of peripheral contact with young special forces guys.. heh, heh. It's not hard to imagine getting the impression that we're all about how pretty our wives and girlfriends are.
Looking at the picture, perhaps some thought of potential eventual romantic involvement between himself and this dead man's wife crossed his mind.
"And someone's little girl
was taken from the world
tonight..
The picture of the soldier's wife, was of a time when she was very young and pretty. The soldier seemed to love that "little girl".
This incredible loving image of her, that adorable, happy little girl,
was taken out of the world when he died.
She sure isn't that way now!
In more ways than one, he carried that little girl close to his bosom in life..
.. and carried her into death right along with him.
"under the stars 'and Stripes' "
This is the Most telling and poignant line of the song, to me.
Again, an incredible study in how to speak volumes with a very few words.
The picture shows her early life in New York City, with all the hope and glamour and light of the American Dream. And she married a Man in Uniform! Such glory and glamour. While he was alive, the hope of a bright future remained alive with him, despite the sort of meager and difficult circumstances of military life.
..but the man fought and died in the dark of night under the stars, and under the more bitter side of those sweet Stars and Stripes of America -
How many men have fought and died for the Dream of America? Some Europeans to this day think we shouldn't have fought our fight for independence. I've heard some of them call our complaint about "taxation without representation" "complete rubbish."
I don't know that Mr. Blount intends to make a political statement about the sort of tragic pointlessness of war in general and in particular of American war efforts, but. That phrase and the way he sings it could be construed that way.
Our national anthem tells the story of a night during our fight for national independence when the big lit up flag on the coast line cliffs was bombarded by cannon fire from the British fleet. It was critically important to hold up those Stars and Stripes, because as long as we did, our men would stay the course and keep fighting. So in the morning "the flag was still there" - and there was a big pile of dead men at the base of it. As men were hit and killed, others came out from cover to take their place.
They literally fought and died "Under the Stars and Stripes," like so many who came after them have, in a more figurative way. The bitter sweet and oh so pointless (from the point of view of some Europeans and many of the political left in America) bravery and passion of American fighters, fighting (from the fighter's point of view) to try to hold for ourselves and bring to the world the American Dream of freedom and liberty and self determination and so on, and prosperity through the free market and through freedom from despotism and usury and so forth.
I think his wife was living in New York City at the time when he was killed, but was fairly destitute and isolated, and made more so by his death (by the military's treatment of their widows), so she moved to a temporary shelter on the north east coast. Some people in the very small town where he ended up finding her saw him coming, as did she. They had heard something about who he was and why he was coming. He took a bit of time kind of working up the final bit of gumption to actually go to her. While doing so, in isolation, he thought about that night, when the fellow had been killed. She had a pretty good idea of why he was there and even what he had for her, but when faced with the items, it still overcame her. He had a pretty good idea that it would. And his emotions about it all were all over him, and she saw them, and him and. Neither of them could even speak. She had to fight through a lot of emotions to even take the items from him. He hadn't known the man personally, nor had he known her, so he.. felt a bit like he was invading a personal and private space, being there, as she was breaking down, and.. well.. maybe the thought crossed his mind that she might be doing that, in part, consciously or unconsciously, on purpose, in hopes of garnering sympathy, which might lead to their romantic involvement, thus helping her out of her rough circumstances. And maybe the thought crossed his mind that in doing this she was kind of dishonoring her husband, whom he had developed a level of respect for. (Despite his own similar thoughts, before actually seeing her.) And whether or not she intended it, he was finding himself having emotions of the moment for her, that he wasn't prepared for, especially given the reality of what she was like in person at that point; and the thought of actual romance with her was also pretty well barred by her obvious strong and persisting love for her deceased husband. There was no way he was going to try to compete with that. Or get involved with someone with such an enormous burden of pain, for that matter. So, while of course he might not really put major stock in any of those thoughts or feelings, they and others like them made him kind of uncomfortable, and. He stole himself and marched away, as is kind of expected of a military man delivering personal effects. As he left, his leaving left her free to break down completely, and, any little part of her that might have fantasized that he would manifest some interest in her was kind of squashed by the manner of his departure and the way it brought home the well understood reality that he wasn't at all prepared to deal with all her grief. After marching away, he looked back - this was a horror of incredible proportions. More striking to him even than the death he'd witnessed. It was probably actually primarily she and her fate who inspired the song.
Yeah, my family has a history of military involvement, too.
In any case, it's an incredibly striking song and video.
Very, very striking song and video.
Watching that video again, I keep getting struck by the way there may be so many meanings. So much meaning in so few words.
Watching that video again, I keep getting struck by the way there may be so many meanings. So much meaning in so few words.
"I'm watching you breathing for the last time"
"I'm watching you breathing for the last time"
I wonder if that chorus line has a different meaning each time it is sung!
I wonder if that chorus line has a different meaning each time it is sung!
At first it's about soldier's departure for the mission.
He loves this girl and has always been affected deeply by the emotions she expresses in the way she breathes.
He loves to just watch her breathe, sometimes, when they're alone.
And, he can tell how she's feeling, at any given moment, by how she's...
At first it's about soldier's departure for the mission.
He loves this girl and has always been affected deeply by the emotions she expresses in the way she breathes.
He loves to just watch her breathe, sometimes, when they're alone.
And, he can tell how she's feeling, at any given moment, by how she's breathing.
So he watches her breathing, sometimes, to see how she's feeling.
She's strong, and has born up under the difficulties of being married to a soldier.
But they both know this departure may be his last, and as it turns it is.
She's strong, but in that moment she's tender as she goes.
So as the man lays there dying, he's remembering their last goodbye and how he was watching her breathing at the time.
Later it's about the same thing, but the man is thinking of how her breathing will be when she hears that he has died. There is that.. joy and hope and anticipation of feeling that sense of being "home" with him present.. that he sees going on before she hears it, and he watches that breathing stop, and knows that on some level it will be the last time she ever breathes quite that way again. Then later again, it's the same thing, but on an even stronger level when she receives his personal effects.
Then it's about the singer's discovery of the dying soldier.
He's struck by the guy's obvious strength coupled with his tenderness toward his loved one, in his dying moment.
He's struck by the fact that he's found this guy who is quickly dying, but is still breathing. It's a kind of horror-filled moment, watching him breathe his last breath.
Then this picture of her that he begins carrying, with the intention of taking it to her, strikes his fancy a bit and in his mind's eye, and he watches her breathe. Her face makes it kind of obvious that she's that sort, that you can see how she's feeling from how she's breathing. So now the Singer is watching her breathe, in his mind's eye. He's imagining what it will be like to watch her breathe in person, knowing that he'll most likely never see her again, and that their meeting will pretty much end his thoughts of watching her breathing. Then when he faces her in person, he watches her breath while he's in arm's reach for the last time. Then he turns and looks at her from a distance, and watches her breathe for the last time from any distance. He knows he's watching a big part of her die.
At first I was definitely leaning towards the death of someones wife/mother/girlfriend, but the music video paints a clearer picture of the interpretation.
Firstly, it's useful to know that James Blunt served with the British Army in Kosovo, he was an officer in a light armoured unit used for Reconnaissance and his unit was the tip of the spear during the UN advance. His was the first unit into Pristina - it's certain that he personally experienced many of the emotions his music evokes.
When one watches the video, it is underlaid with a short sequence showing some sort of nighttime operation. The uniforms and weapons, and the dogtags around the casualties neck mark the soldiers as British Infantry. In the video a Sergeant leads his unit into some sort of structure and triggers what we now call an IED or Improvised Explosive Device. The character that James is singing from the perspective of is the first responder and he reaches the casualty quickly enough to witness his death. This is the origin of the chorus. Breaking the song down into each verse and the chorus, I'll give you my interpretation:
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again Makes her body older than it really is And she says it's high time she went away No one's got much to say in this town Trouble is the only way is down. Down, down"
Being from a family with a long history in the armed forces the meaning of this section is all to clear to me. British Army soldiers are often deployed away from their families for long stretches of time - and there is never enough support for the wives that try and keep their families running smoothly. The accumulation of this stress can, indeed, makes someone feel older than they really are. Many service wives dream of a time they can leave the garrison towns and settle down away from Army life.
When a soldier dies, the rest of the community can often avoid the surviving family, as being part of the process of grieving underlines their own loved ones vulnerability. The Army usually pressures the wife to remove herself and any children from the community as quickly as possible for this reason.
Unfortunately for surviving family, once they are away from the military community it removes much of the pressure on the Army to help provide support to them. Coping under these circumstances is incredibly difficult, and so any change in circumstances is usually down, down, down.
"If she had wings she would fly away And another day God will give her some Trouble is the only way is down. Down, down."
Here the writers are communicating the woman's desire to be out of the situation she is in - to fly away on wings. The suffering she endures arouses the sympathy of a compassionate deity. The writers liken her to an angel, but remind us that her life and her suffering are far from over.
"And they were all born pretty in New York City tonight And someone's little girl was taken from the world tonight. Under the Stars and Stripes"
This section is less clear to me - given the rooting of the song firmly in James Blunt's own career in the British military. Perhaps he refers here to the glamorous celebration of war in places far removed from the actual fighting - New York. The second line is more easy to interpret - the experience of losing a loved one has suppressed the little girl within the woman - in other words her joy at life and her innocence as to the evils of the world are removed. Again, the American reference may refer to the flag folding ceremony at an American military funeral - which doesn't have an analog within the British community, and ties to the New York line. Perhaps the essence of this section is to divorce the real emotional feelings and experiences of survivors from the Hollywood depictions of it.
Finally the chorus, which ought to be the emotional centerpiece of any song and certainly is in this case.
"As strong as you were, tender you go I'm watching you breathing, for the last time A song for your heart, but when it is quiet. I know what it means and I'll carry you home. I'll carry you home."
This is quite clearly the emotional reaction of a soldier to the death of a close comrade, a death that he's personally witnessed. The casualty, a strong man and a warrior - perhaps even a leader, is dying and the emotions evoked by this are the softer emotions of sadness, regret and compassion. In the video, the singer is the first responder to the casualty after the incident and he has time to see the life literally leave the casualty. 'A song for your heart' could simply mean the casualties heartbeat, but to me it refers to the singer's own immediate grieving and emotions - these fade after the death leaving the singer with a full appreciation of the context of the casualties death and, therefore, his life. This places the obligation upon the singer to carry his memory home with him - not to leave it there in that far away corner of a foreign battlefield.
He fulfills his commitment to his comrade by retrieving his personal effects and personally bringing them to the grieving woman.
Interestingly, in the video, once the singer has done so he moves away from the grieving woman himself - leaving her there on the cliff path with all the emotions these items bring to the surface again. It is clear that he has not been motivated by compassion for the survivor either - once he has fulfilled his commitment to the memory of the casualty and their shared experience he moves on with his own life, leaving her to process her grief alone.
This, again, is quite realistic.
Wow...Insightful! Well done and thanks for your work.
Wow...Insightful! Well done and thanks for your work.
@Apolloin the only thing i have that contradicts your interpretation is the director's choice in the music video. in fact, the director didn't even know about james' military career but chose to make a story out of that instead so it very well could be about someone grieving over a lost loved one or a woman going through anguish and james assuring her that he's going to "carry [her] home." however i do like your interpretation and it's a very sound argument, the little note that the director was the one who chose the premise and not james himself may...
@Apolloin the only thing i have that contradicts your interpretation is the director's choice in the music video. in fact, the director didn't even know about james' military career but chose to make a story out of that instead so it very well could be about someone grieving over a lost loved one or a woman going through anguish and james assuring her that he's going to "carry [her] home." however i do like your interpretation and it's a very sound argument, the little note that the director was the one who chose the premise and not james himself may bring to light a few things that were once dark.
@Apolloin however we both could be right ;)
@Apolloin however we both could be right ;)
@joshua1lx the director didn't know about Jame's background? How do you know that? That's seems a little bit hard to imagine that the director would do a pretty fair job of depicting an event that took place in Jame's life without knowing that it even happened? That's James Blunt in the video, right? So the director obviously had the opportunity to talk with him while creating the video. You're saying we know that he didn't try to make the video representative of Jame's thought / intention?
@joshua1lx the director didn't know about Jame's background? How do you know that? That's seems a little bit hard to imagine that the director would do a pretty fair job of depicting an event that took place in Jame's life without knowing that it even happened? That's James Blunt in the video, right? So the director obviously had the opportunity to talk with him while creating the video. You're saying we know that he didn't try to make the video representative of Jame's thought / intention?
I had many of the same exact thoughts, and a few others..
I had many of the same exact thoughts, and a few others..
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again Makes her body older than it really is And she says it's high time she went away No one's got much to say in this town Trouble is the only way is down, down, down"
"Trouble is her only friend and he's back again Makes her body older than it really is And she says it's high time she went away No one's got much to say in this town Trouble is the only way is down, down, down"
Man, this is like a study in how to say a whole lot with a very few words.
Man, this is like a study in how to say a whole lot with a very few words.
She's isolated and in rough circumstances, caused primarily by her romantic involvement with this soldier, whom she has stayed true to, and has spent...
She's isolated and in rough circumstances, caused primarily by her romantic involvement with this soldier, whom she has stayed true to, and has spent a lot of tears over, and now the incredibly powerful presence of this soldier in her life is coming home to really haunt her hard. Her grieving process is going on for a while, and it's a thing that creates isolation; people have a hard time being around her, and. They don't know how to help her. She eventually feels compelled to leave the place where she'd been living, with the other military families, but she doesn't really have the money or the marketable skills or the emotional fortitude to make much of a go of life on her own, so her already rough circumstances are made even much, much worse.
"As strong as you were Tender you got"
Your strong face, on your strong body, which has performed all these acts of incredible bravery and strength, had a tender expression on it as you died.
"I'm watching you breathing For the last time A song for your heart"
The breathing and the facial expression is like the singing of a song that expresses all the reasons for how you've lived and all you've done and how you've loved. And I'm inspired to write a song to describe it all, as you're lying here dying.
"But when it is quiet I know what it means and I'll carry you home I'll carry you home"
But once the dying is done, I know what this song you're singing and that I'm writing means and the fact that I'm witnessing your death means. It means I need to visit this wife of yours, and carry this essence of you, that is in me, now, and these effects I'm finding on you, to your cherished one, to your heart's home.
"If she had wings she would fly away And another day God will give her some Trouble is the only way is down,down,down"
If she could escape all these awful feelings and her rough circumstances, she certainly would, and some people around try to encourage her saying that in time God will help her climb out of all this misery and despair and all her very rough circumstances, but right now, things certainly appear very grim for her, and there sure doesn't appear to be any way up or out.
"And they're all born pretty in New York City in light"
The picture of the man's wife was kind of glamorous, and was taken in camera lighting in New York City; the address on the back of the picture was in New York City.
I think the man was a U.S. special forces soldier. They fought along aside the British in Kosovo. I've heard that sometimes some of them even fought in the uniforms of other allied forces.
I think sometimes Europeans get this impression from Hollywood that all American women are born pretty, lol. Or at least the pictures we carry of them tend to be glamorized. If a person's primary exposure to American culture consists of peripheral contact with young special forces guys.. heh, heh. It's not hard to imagine getting the impression that we're all about how pretty our wives and girlfriends are.
Looking at the picture, perhaps some thought of potential eventual romantic involvement between himself and this dead man's wife crossed his mind.
"And someone's little girl was taken from the world tonight..
The picture of the soldier's wife, was of a time when she was very young and pretty. The soldier seemed to love that "little girl". This incredible loving image of her, that adorable, happy little girl, was taken out of the world when he died. She sure isn't that way now! In more ways than one, he carried that little girl close to his bosom in life.. .. and carried her into death right along with him.
"under the stars 'and Stripes' "
This is the Most telling and poignant line of the song, to me.
Again, an incredible study in how to speak volumes with a very few words.
The picture shows her early life in New York City, with all the hope and glamour and light of the American Dream. And she married a Man in Uniform! Such glory and glamour. While he was alive, the hope of a bright future remained alive with him, despite the sort of meager and difficult circumstances of military life.
..but the man fought and died in the dark of night under the stars, and under the more bitter side of those sweet Stars and Stripes of America -
How many men have fought and died for the Dream of America? Some Europeans to this day think we shouldn't have fought our fight for independence. I've heard some of them call our complaint about "taxation without representation" "complete rubbish."
I don't know that Mr. Blount intends to make a political statement about the sort of tragic pointlessness of war in general and in particular of American war efforts, but. That phrase and the way he sings it could be construed that way.
Our national anthem tells the story of a night during our fight for national independence when the big lit up flag on the coast line cliffs was bombarded by cannon fire from the British fleet. It was critically important to hold up those Stars and Stripes, because as long as we did, our men would stay the course and keep fighting. So in the morning "the flag was still there" - and there was a big pile of dead men at the base of it. As men were hit and killed, others came out from cover to take their place.
They literally fought and died "Under the Stars and Stripes," like so many who came after them have, in a more figurative way. The bitter sweet and oh so pointless (from the point of view of some Europeans and many of the political left in America) bravery and passion of American fighters, fighting (from the fighter's point of view) to try to hold for ourselves and bring to the world the American Dream of freedom and liberty and self determination and so on, and prosperity through the free market and through freedom from despotism and usury and so forth.
I think his wife was living in New York City at the time when he was killed, but was fairly destitute and isolated, and made more so by his death (by the military's treatment of their widows), so she moved to a temporary shelter on the north east coast. Some people in the very small town where he ended up finding her saw him coming, as did she. They had heard something about who he was and why he was coming. He took a bit of time kind of working up the final bit of gumption to actually go to her. While doing so, in isolation, he thought about that night, when the fellow had been killed. She had a pretty good idea of why he was there and even what he had for her, but when faced with the items, it still overcame her. He had a pretty good idea that it would. And his emotions about it all were all over him, and she saw them, and him and. Neither of them could even speak. She had to fight through a lot of emotions to even take the items from him. He hadn't known the man personally, nor had he known her, so he.. felt a bit like he was invading a personal and private space, being there, as she was breaking down, and.. well.. maybe the thought crossed his mind that she might be doing that, in part, consciously or unconsciously, on purpose, in hopes of garnering sympathy, which might lead to their romantic involvement, thus helping her out of her rough circumstances. And maybe the thought crossed his mind that in doing this she was kind of dishonoring her husband, whom he had developed a level of respect for. (Despite his own similar thoughts, before actually seeing her.) And whether or not she intended it, he was finding himself having emotions of the moment for her, that he wasn't prepared for, especially given the reality of what she was like in person at that point; and the thought of actual romance with her was also pretty well barred by her obvious strong and persisting love for her deceased husband. There was no way he was going to try to compete with that. Or get involved with someone with such an enormous burden of pain, for that matter. So, while of course he might not really put major stock in any of those thoughts or feelings, they and others like them made him kind of uncomfortable, and. He stole himself and marched away, as is kind of expected of a military man delivering personal effects. As he left, his leaving left her free to break down completely, and, any little part of her that might have fantasized that he would manifest some interest in her was kind of squashed by the manner of his departure and the way it brought home the well understood reality that he wasn't at all prepared to deal with all her grief. After marching away, he looked back - this was a horror of incredible proportions. More striking to him even than the death he'd witnessed. It was probably actually primarily she and her fate who inspired the song.
Yeah, my family has a history of military involvement, too.
In any case, it's an incredibly striking song and video. Very, very striking song and video.
Watching that video again, I keep getting struck by the way there may be so many meanings. So much meaning in so few words.
Watching that video again, I keep getting struck by the way there may be so many meanings. So much meaning in so few words.
"I'm watching you breathing for the last time"
"I'm watching you breathing for the last time"
I wonder if that chorus line has a different meaning each time it is sung!
I wonder if that chorus line has a different meaning each time it is sung!
At first it's about soldier's departure for the mission. He loves this girl and has always been affected deeply by the emotions she expresses in the way she breathes. He loves to just watch her breathe, sometimes, when they're alone. And, he can tell how she's feeling, at any given moment, by how she's...
At first it's about soldier's departure for the mission. He loves this girl and has always been affected deeply by the emotions she expresses in the way she breathes. He loves to just watch her breathe, sometimes, when they're alone. And, he can tell how she's feeling, at any given moment, by how she's breathing. So he watches her breathing, sometimes, to see how she's feeling. She's strong, and has born up under the difficulties of being married to a soldier. But they both know this departure may be his last, and as it turns it is. She's strong, but in that moment she's tender as she goes. So as the man lays there dying, he's remembering their last goodbye and how he was watching her breathing at the time.
Later it's about the same thing, but the man is thinking of how her breathing will be when she hears that he has died. There is that.. joy and hope and anticipation of feeling that sense of being "home" with him present.. that he sees going on before she hears it, and he watches that breathing stop, and knows that on some level it will be the last time she ever breathes quite that way again. Then later again, it's the same thing, but on an even stronger level when she receives his personal effects.
Then it's about the singer's discovery of the dying soldier. He's struck by the guy's obvious strength coupled with his tenderness toward his loved one, in his dying moment. He's struck by the fact that he's found this guy who is quickly dying, but is still breathing. It's a kind of horror-filled moment, watching him breathe his last breath.
Then this picture of her that he begins carrying, with the intention of taking it to her, strikes his fancy a bit and in his mind's eye, and he watches her breathe. Her face makes it kind of obvious that she's that sort, that you can see how she's feeling from how she's breathing. So now the Singer is watching her breathe, in his mind's eye. He's imagining what it will be like to watch her breathe in person, knowing that he'll most likely never see her again, and that their meeting will pretty much end his thoughts of watching her breathing. Then when he faces her in person, he watches her breath while he's in arm's reach for the last time. Then he turns and looks at her from a distance, and watches her breathe for the last time from any distance. He knows he's watching a big part of her die.