petersl1 wrote:i need evidence to back up my song intrepretation? God, I know why Nikki doesn't come here anymore. God forbid anyone have an opinion on anything. And God forbid that opinion be different from someone else's.
This is a joke.
Well, yeah... in her post, Sarah did say that having your own opinion is fine, but if there's no evidence in the song to back up your interpretation other than 1 or 2 lines, then it doesn't make sense to her. She's not trying to start anything either.
I'm interested by this sort of conversation, and hearing what people think about different songs. I'm even going to add an ability on bringbackthesun.com for members to post comments in the song pages. I don't really see any reason for people to be getting upset because someone else has a different interpretation than them, or disagrees with their interpretation as long as they do so respectfully, and Sarah certainly has.
Let's assume this song is about someone Raine is close to. So here we go:
A suburban man at my door
But I don’t think I’ll let him in
He wants discipline
Discipline, control over the way I live
Wants the best for me
An old school philosophy
But I can’t turn my back on him
He’s a part of me
Buy me anything but I just need a friend
I think this first verse is fairly clear that the "suburban man" is some sort of authority figure -- he wants discipline, control over the way I live, the best for me, and an old school philosophy. Sounds like someone is trying to force some "old school philosophy" on Raine and he just doesn't want it. I think the old school philosophy is Catholicism, because that fits in with the rest of the interpretation, but perhaps it could be something else. "At my door but I don't think I'll let him in?" If this is taken literally, then it could be some sort of missionary or someone going from house to house. However it could be metaphorical, and the door is Raine's ears, so to speak... he's just not going to listen to what this guy has to say. The big clue that the "suburban man" is Raine's father would be the lines "he's a part of me / buy me anything but I just need a friend."
Jack Kerouac K-K-K-Kerouac
On the road and in my head
I need rrelevance, intelligence
A new tattoo a lot more sex
Broken families
A new enemy
And you will not make up for this
This suburban man he wants discipline
But I just need a friend
Now this verse is less straight-forward. I haven't read On the Road, but an editorial review from Publisher's Weekly says "First published in 1957, Kerouac's perennially hot story continues to express the restless energy and desire for freedom that makes people rush out to see the world." This fits in with the idea of Raine wanting to find his own way in the world rather than having his dad's faith force-fed to him. He doesn't see how his father's faith is relevant to his own life, and he feels that it is based on blind faith rather than intelligence, perhaps. I'm not sure how the tattoo or sex fits into it, maybe he was a rebellious kid. I'm sure whatever wild adventures Raine had when he got out to find his own way in the world left him feeling
like a whore. The rest of the verse would fit in with the song being about his father. If I remember correctly, his parents split up when he was a kid.
It’s all for you
You got me where you want
It’s all for you, oh
Just stop breaking my heart
You’re the blood of a seed and it's all that I need
Got me where you want
It’s all for you, oh
You got me, oh, you got me
Most of the chorus, on its own, could be interpreted to be about basically anyone that Raine is close to. But one line especially doesn't really fit in if you're to believe it is about Chantal: "you're the blood of a seed and it's all that I need." What exactly is the blood of a seed supposed to be? It could be a fancy way of saying that you're my father, that my genes come from your blood and your body. This is the only thing I've ever been able to come up for that line.
I just don't see very much backing up the idea that the song has anything to do with Chantal, there isn't very much in the song to back that up that I'm aware of. I think that's all Sarah was saying.
