As has been stated many times, this song is about dealing with his record executive. But I think the story does not end there.
In the first verse, he's waiting. He's growing impatient with the nonsense and bureaucracy and the entire process. He's so annoyed that he wants to quit and do something else with his life - a rash decision like throwing his guitar out the window.
In the chorus, he contemplates whether he would actually enjoy watching the career he has worked toward crumble.
This is all pretty simple and I think everyone can probably agree up to this point. However, the second verse is where he tries to calm himself down, reassess his anger, and take a step back from the situation.
In the second verse, he mentions garbage trucks and taxi cabs being unable to reach him. If he weren't in this office right now, he would have a different career altogether - one which would place him way down there (literally and figuratively) with the banal and riff-raff. He's inconvenienced by the situation he's dealing with, but he's also starting to realize that he has things pretty good "up" on the 32nd floor.
And that brings us to "the way you treat me lightly only slightly brings me down a lot". It's a beautiful line full of contradiction and emotion. He wants the person to pay attention to him; he wants to throw a temper-tantrum about it. But he's realizing that this life he's living, even though the current situation is enraging, is what he wants, and there are certain compromises he must make.
"I don't think that I'll ever be the same." It's a humble realization that there are people and processes bigger than you, that you can't have a big head and demand attention all the time, and that you are small no matter how big you think you are.
I like your interpretation quite a lot, but not so much the way you reassure yourself that everyone agrees with it (sort of like your description is simply the "correct" one).
I like your interpretation quite a lot, but not so much the way you reassure yourself that everyone agrees with it (sort of like your description is simply the "correct" one).
I agree that the guitar is a self-referential metaphor, but it is common to anyone who would be performing a song written for guitar -- not to people with high-rise recording contracts in particular.
I agree that the guitar is a self-referential metaphor, but it is common to anyone who would be performing a song written for guitar -- not to people with high-rise recording contracts in particular.
Antidecontstructionalist arguments aside, I think any work of art deserves to be interpreted beyond the confines of the artist's personal contexts.
Antidecontstructionalist arguments aside, I think any work of art deserves to be interpreted beyond the confines of the artist's personal contexts.
As I say though, I like your interpretation a lot, and I think your narrative really fits the poem well.
As has been stated many times, this song is about dealing with his record executive. But I think the story does not end there.
In the first verse, he's waiting. He's growing impatient with the nonsense and bureaucracy and the entire process. He's so annoyed that he wants to quit and do something else with his life - a rash decision like throwing his guitar out the window.
In the chorus, he contemplates whether he would actually enjoy watching the career he has worked toward crumble.
This is all pretty simple and I think everyone can probably agree up to this point. However, the second verse is where he tries to calm himself down, reassess his anger, and take a step back from the situation.
In the second verse, he mentions garbage trucks and taxi cabs being unable to reach him. If he weren't in this office right now, he would have a different career altogether - one which would place him way down there (literally and figuratively) with the banal and riff-raff. He's inconvenienced by the situation he's dealing with, but he's also starting to realize that he has things pretty good "up" on the 32nd floor.
And that brings us to "the way you treat me lightly only slightly brings me down a lot". It's a beautiful line full of contradiction and emotion. He wants the person to pay attention to him; he wants to throw a temper-tantrum about it. But he's realizing that this life he's living, even though the current situation is enraging, is what he wants, and there are certain compromises he must make.
"I don't think that I'll ever be the same." It's a humble realization that there are people and processes bigger than you, that you can't have a big head and demand attention all the time, and that you are small no matter how big you think you are.
I like your interpretation quite a lot, but not so much the way you reassure yourself that everyone agrees with it (sort of like your description is simply the "correct" one).
I like your interpretation quite a lot, but not so much the way you reassure yourself that everyone agrees with it (sort of like your description is simply the "correct" one).
I agree that the guitar is a self-referential metaphor, but it is common to anyone who would be performing a song written for guitar -- not to people with high-rise recording contracts in particular.
I agree that the guitar is a self-referential metaphor, but it is common to anyone who would be performing a song written for guitar -- not to people with high-rise recording contracts in particular.
Antidecontstructionalist arguments aside, I think any work of art deserves to be interpreted beyond the confines of the artist's personal contexts.
Antidecontstructionalist arguments aside, I think any work of art deserves to be interpreted beyond the confines of the artist's personal contexts.
As I say though, I like your interpretation a lot, and I think your narrative really fits the poem well.