Just wondering if anyone else noticed this... "Like a patient on a table"... an allusion to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot? ("Like a patient etherized upon a table")
I'm pretty sure Love Song is all about these inhibitions keeping this guy from finding love and in We Used to Wait, Win sings "I'm gonna write a letter to my true love/I'm gonna sign my name" but all of these modern "conveniences" keep him from pursuing the scenario he desires, just like Prufrock. Just a thought.
Wow. I just went to check these lyrics and I think you're absolutely right. That is my FAVORITE poem - I can recite the first 40 or so lines from memory.
Wow. I just went to check these lyrics and I think you're absolutely right. That is my FAVORITE poem - I can recite the first 40 or so lines from memory.
There is definitely a strong resemblance between the writing here with it's uncertainty and timidness.
There is definitely a strong resemblance between the writing here with it's uncertainty and timidness.
I can't get enough of this group...good thing I'm seeing them at MSG tonight.
I can't get enough of this group...good thing I'm seeing them at MSG tonight.
The line "Like a patient on a table" immediately reminded my of Prufrock, very cool I'm not the only one :D
The line "Like a patient on a table" immediately reminded my of Prufrock, very cool I'm not the only one :D
After re-reading Prufrock I noticed some other similarities. The first three verses have the same number of lines (12,2,8). The two-line-verse is repeated two times (In the room the women come and go; Talking of Michelangelo. VS Now our lives are changing fast; Hope that something pure can last)
After re-reading Prufrock I noticed some other similarities. The first three verses have the same number of lines (12,2,8). The two-line-verse is repeated two times (In the room the women come and go; Talking of Michelangelo. VS Now our lives are changing fast; Hope that something pure can last)
One other interesting thing is that Prufrock talks himself in the singular form ("And in short, I was afraid") and switches in the last few lines to plural ("Till human voices wake us, and we drown"). Similarly, this song has quite a distinct transition between the singular and plural form.
I'm impressed. There are other lyrical allusions sprinkled throughout The Suburbs (the most obvious being the first line of "Ready To Start") but it's somehow reassuring to know that even one as "obscure" as this one isn't going unnoticed. What an album (can I still call it that?) this is.
I'm impressed. There are other lyrical allusions sprinkled throughout The Suburbs (the most obvious being the first line of "Ready To Start") but it's somehow reassuring to know that even one as "obscure" as this one isn't going unnoticed. What an album (can I still call it that?) this is.
Just wondering if anyone else noticed this... "Like a patient on a table"... an allusion to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot? ("Like a patient etherized upon a table") I'm pretty sure Love Song is all about these inhibitions keeping this guy from finding love and in We Used to Wait, Win sings "I'm gonna write a letter to my true love/I'm gonna sign my name" but all of these modern "conveniences" keep him from pursuing the scenario he desires, just like Prufrock. Just a thought.
Wow. I just went to check these lyrics and I think you're absolutely right. That is my FAVORITE poem - I can recite the first 40 or so lines from memory.
Wow. I just went to check these lyrics and I think you're absolutely right. That is my FAVORITE poem - I can recite the first 40 or so lines from memory.
There is definitely a strong resemblance between the writing here with it's uncertainty and timidness.
There is definitely a strong resemblance between the writing here with it's uncertainty and timidness.
I can't get enough of this group...good thing I'm seeing them at MSG tonight.
I can't get enough of this group...good thing I'm seeing them at MSG tonight.
I hadn't noticed that before, but now I can totally see it. Kudos to you! I really need to read Prufrock again - it's one of the few poems I like.
I hadn't noticed that before, but now I can totally see it. Kudos to you! I really need to read Prufrock again - it's one of the few poems I like.
The line "Like a patient on a table" immediately reminded my of Prufrock, very cool I'm not the only one :D
The line "Like a patient on a table" immediately reminded my of Prufrock, very cool I'm not the only one :D
After re-reading Prufrock I noticed some other similarities. The first three verses have the same number of lines (12,2,8). The two-line-verse is repeated two times (In the room the women come and go; Talking of Michelangelo. VS Now our lives are changing fast; Hope that something pure can last)
After re-reading Prufrock I noticed some other similarities. The first three verses have the same number of lines (12,2,8). The two-line-verse is repeated two times (In the room the women come and go; Talking of Michelangelo. VS Now our lives are changing fast; Hope that something pure can last)
One other interesting thing is that Prufrock talks himself in the singular form ("And in short, I was afraid") and switches in the last few lines to plural ("Till human voices wake us, and we drown"). Similarly, this song has quite a distinct transition between the singular and plural form.
I'm impressed. There are other lyrical allusions sprinkled throughout The Suburbs (the most obvious being the first line of "Ready To Start") but it's somehow reassuring to know that even one as "obscure" as this one isn't going unnoticed. What an album (can I still call it that?) this is.
I'm impressed. There are other lyrical allusions sprinkled throughout The Suburbs (the most obvious being the first line of "Ready To Start") but it's somehow reassuring to know that even one as "obscure" as this one isn't going unnoticed. What an album (can I still call it that?) this is.