| Guster – X-Ray Eyes Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I think this is a great breakup song, worked very well for me in high school. While i agree with comments made, i think this also speaks to how looking back on a relationship can change its meaning and worth to a great extent. The retrospective lyrics of 'i looked at her with xray eyes, and she looked like she was not even there' can help heal many wounds from a failed relationship, or even open new ones from one that had been perceived to be a good. great song. | |
| Paul Simon – Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Although a valient effort by Sir Larrikin, I don't think people have looked deep enough here, or perhaps they are looking too deep. This song is about what almost every song is about - Love. "as if everybody knows what I'm talking about... talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes." Who knows what diamonds on the soles of a person shoes means? Everybody knows love. As his entire Graceland albulm, this song is heavily influenced by the South African culture Simon observed while working there. He choses the perfect metaphore to describe the polar opposite positions of being in and out of love; the diamond trade. The diamond trade in S Africa created apartheide, setting up two of the most diametricaly opposed socio-economic classes in the modern world. As Sir Larrikin picked up on, this theme heavily influences the song. And while simon uses this metaphor for wealth, he means wealth of love. He starts by identifying our two characters, the rich girl and the poor boy. The rich girl has diamonds on the soles of her shoes. To pick this apart, we physically interact with our world most frequently with our feet. Everywhere we go, our feet are the part of us that have constant contact, that provide the most constant source of interaction with our physical envronment. If one has diamonds as the filter to their environment, it is like saying you see the world with rose colored glasses. Everywhere you go, your interaction is done through the diamonds on your shoes, and diamonds as a symbol of wealth, happiness and love mean you are interacting with your world through a constant 'happy' filter, you have a skip to your step, you are happy. Constrast this with the poor boy who is emptry as a pocket. he has nothing, saying he is empty as a pocket doesnt only imply that he is poor of material value, but that he is poor of spirit, of soul, of love. 'People say shes crazy/ she's got diamonds on the soles of her shoes/ well thats on way to lose these walking blues/ diamonds on the soles of your shoes.' now of course its easy to say that being right will get you through the 'walking blues', but also think of how it feels to be in love. being in love makes you happier, the birds chirp, the shines. The feeling of being love can make you 'walking blue' go away, to give you a vibrancy to life that is hard to achieve otherwise. Also note the term 'walking' blues - walking as an interaction medium, this means you have the blues with what you are interactiing with, in this case life. The pocket and the cars keys, leading to 'youve taken me for granted/ because i please you/ wearing these diamonds'. The man who poor in love has taken advantage of his relationship with this women, becuase she loves him, will sacrifice for him, and he does not appreciate or reciprocate the feeling. The teaspoon and the wave are referances to opposites again, but of volume (in re: to water, teaspoon small, wave=ocean=large). changes clothes, puts on afteshave, to compensate for his ordinary shoes. This works too - he has to cover up and componsate when the two of them go out because he is not in love with her, and needs to put on an act or project the image that he is. here's the homerun: "And she said honey take me dancing But they ended up by sleeping In a doorway By the bodegas and the lights on Upper Broadway Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes " They go out dancing, glitzy, fun, extravagent, but then end up completely broken down by 'sleeping in a doorway', but this build up to breakdown has created a new situation in the song "Wearing diamonds on the soles of THEIR shoes". This build up to breakdown journey has left them both in love, the boy has fallen in love with the girl, and they are ultimately happy because they are content to sleep in a doorway, like a common homeless man in new york city. He then ties it back to himself 'people say im crazy/ ive got diamonds on the soles of my shoes'. Perhaps this is a personal story of one his relationships, the journey one goes on in the endeavor of love. I believe his repeating 'as if everyone would know what im talking about' is strong evidence, as everyone does know about love to some extent, but who has ever walked with diamonds on the soles of their shoes? Those are my thoughts, perhaps this is the only paul simon song i feel comfortable discussion, but it is also one of my favorites because the metaphore is rich and deep, but this one i feel as if i understand. |
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