Lyrics for I Am A Rock as interpreted by kevin

I Am A Rock Lyrics
A winter's day
In a deep and dark
December,
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before,
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me,
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain,
And an island never cries.
---
"I Am a Rock" as written by Paul Simon
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing
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lila_m
04-25-2002

 Rated  +2 
The main point of this song is, avoid emotional attatchments, they only lead to sadness. The lyrics "friendship causes pain" and "If I never loved I never would have cried" express that. The song is about getting hurt once and shutting out everyone else to avoid getting hurt again.

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midnightclown
05-27-2002

 Rated  +3 
The song is about his desire to avoid pain and brokenheartedness. He doesn't want to be hurt again, so he refuses to make friends, to fall in love, he'll be a hermit. It may sound determined, but by the end of the song it's obvious it's all a lie he tells himself to get through the days. He's alone and it hurts him, but he'll tell himself he likes it that way, hoping it won't hurt so badly. The last two lines explain it; he's not a rock, he's been hurt and has cried, but will pretend not to. The "island never cries" line is possibly the most meaningful part. As he says this, he may as well be crying.

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daddysgirl
05-29-2002

 Rated  -1 
This song is exactly about what lila m said. How when you get hurt by your socalled 'friend' or 'lover' , you want to shut off the whole world around you. This song explains how you feel. You just figure, 'Hey if i never love again then i wont get hurt again.' or 'Hey if i never have friends again, I can't be backstabbed.'

I know ecactly how this feels. But , you can't just shut off the whole world around you.

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dngshouse
07-22-2002

 Rated  +1 
you guys are exectly correct. He wants to isolate himself from the rest of society. But, he is only fooling himself into thinking he can because every symbol he uses is not permanant. Walls get knocked down. You wake up from sleep. You come out of your mother womb after 9 months. Your memory will always come back. Snow melts. December is only 31 days.

He can only shut the world out for so long.

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RebelPancake
03-05-2003

 Rated  0 
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

i am a rock
i am an island

emotional detatchment. we should all be psychologists.
there's the meaning of the song. ::thumbs up::

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So_Impossible
03-30-2003

 Rated  0 
This is a GREAT SONG. I love it! It is about exactly what everyone above was saying.

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java_elf
04-09-2003

 Rated  -1 
Of course it's about a guy never wanting to be hurt again, causing him to build a wall around himself. But... I think he's trying to lie to himself, convinging himself that that's the way to go. Listen to the music, it's so bright and cheery, completely different than the lyrics, until the end, when it kinda fades away...

At least, that's what my English class came up with. ;D

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mYoOsIc Is LiFe
06-29-2003

 Rated  0 
dngshouse... so true

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bongo
05-17-2004

 Rated  -1 
I think it ends on a sad note with those last two lines. You can't get hurt without attatchments, but you can't be truley happy either.

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Jinx
06-21-2004

 Rated  +1 
wow talk about over analyzing. dngshouse do you really believe he thought about the song that deeply? do you think he used the word womb so perfectly to match his 'temporary' metaphors? Because when you read the song, it sounds more like he just used it cause it rhymed. It sounds like hes just using various imagery to describe the will to be locked up. when you think about it... what _IS_ permanent? if a rock wall isnt permanent, nothing is. i think you're looking to closely at imagery just meant to be lyrical range, not some deep meaning. bongo is right, though, the last two meanings are the key to the song. they describe what he is (the rock, the island). anyway

yea, dont overanalyze.

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1 Reply  · 
Mjollnir
09-23-2004

 Rated  0 
This song was based off of the novel "Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger, the main character Holden to be specific. Holden is on the verge of depression in the novel. He sees the adult world as "phony" and dosn't want to grow up to be just another "phony" he isolates himself from the world.

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bizzyriot
12-19-2004

 Rated  0 
JINX- quit trippin' on DNGSHOUSE, I think that was a valid observation.

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IS
01-15-2005

 Rated  0 
Do we want to be a rock?

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Spot_on_the_rug
03-28-2005

 Rated  0 
This seems kinda like a 'Phantom of the Opra' deal. He tries for love, gets shot down.

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TFFMO
04-02-2005

 Rated  0 
dngshouse, it's only in December because the Catcher In The Rye was set in December, around Christmas.

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sugarcultfan789
04-09-2005

 Rated  0 
This song gets to me. i love it.

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smokee
04-14-2005

 Rated  0 
This song I agree is about a relationship that really hurt someone and they take to isolation. However there are a lot of reasons to isolate like that. Say those who are mistreated at a young age and lose all trust for the human race. I know a woman that was molested at the age of 6. She kept it inside and told no one. At that point she isolated and later turned to drugs and alcohol. She never let anyone inside her head until the age of 40 and now they still don't get to far in. I remember being taught about this song in school way back. It's a great song!

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starangel
05-08-2005

 Rated  0 
This song is about a man trying to convince himself that he doesn't need anybody else to make himself happy, but at the end he can't live a happy life alone.
Jinx, although dngshouse's theories may not be true, a songwriter certainly does think deeply about everything that gets put into his/her songs. A lot of songs have symbolism that isn't immediately obvious, and finding it isn't overanalysing.
But... don't kill me, because obviously I like the overall meaning of the song, etc. but I don't think it's even close to their best. The alliteration is annoying and the whole song is kind of pretentious and adolescent (i should know, I am one!) and the way he reads some lines is just childish.
Sorry, but I feel that compared to other songs of his (America, The Boxer, Bridge OTW) this pales considerably in comparison.

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starangel
05-08-2005

 Rated  -1 
This song is about a man trying to convince himself that he doesn't need anybody else to make himself happy, but at the end he can't live a happy life alone.
Jinx, although dngshouse's theories may not be true, a songwriter certainly does think deeply about everything that gets put into his/her songs. A lot of songs have symbolism that isn't immediately obvious, and finding it isn't overanalysing.
But... don't kill me, because obviously I like the overall meaning of the song, etc. but I don't think it's even close to their best. The alliteration is annoying and the whole song is kind of pretentious and adolescent (i should know, I am one!) and some lines are just childish.
Sorry, but I feel that compared to other songs of his (America, The Boxer, Bridge OTW) this pales considerably in comparison.

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bugmenot
06-02-2005

 Rated  0 
Bleh, no offense but i think you're all a bit off..it seems to me that, rather than trying to convince himself that isolation is the best plan, hes thinking about it, realizing that hes wrong, and then writing a song to say hey, yeah, rocks dont feel pain and islands never cry, but theyre never happy either, so its just a good idea to be a rock or island...the way the last words are spoken seems to confirm this in my opinion. I dunno if this is right, of course, but when i was listeninging to it, i was reminded of a Modest Proposal (a good read if you havent been forced to read it by an english teacher yet: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/Courses/95c/Texts/modest.html)

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findsomepeace
08-12-2005

 Rated  0 
isn't it funny how people always say 'no man is an island', but i think it is possible to be like the person in the song, but it is a very depressing place to be.

the last two lines of the song are the most powerful. somethimes i like this song, sometimes i hate it, depending on whether it's been a good/bad day. lol

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miguel82
12-31-2005

 Rated  0 
just want to add something to some comments I read about this song: if you notice the last two lines, both music and lyrics have some irony on it. HE puts some strenght on the "and the rock feels NO PAIN!" and the guitar follows the same feeling. But right after..."and an island never cries" in a very sad, sad tone, perhaps crying? And also, the guitar loses its shine and strenght of the previous line.

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bkat004
03-05-2006

 Rated  +1 
Wow! Who needs angry nu-metal to convey the anger and depression of being hurt, when youve got, um, Simon and Garfunkel - Fabulous song!

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Geeraff
05-17-2006

 Rated  -3 
I think it means that we can't have joy and happiness without pain and sadness.

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trippinbtm
05-21-2006

 Rated  -1 
The musis is definitely cheery and upbeat. This is what makes me hear the song as being extremely sarcastic. It seems obvious that he knows what he's saying is wrong. He's been hurt but still knows that friendship and love are worth it.

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