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| re: Looong Total Eclipse Of The Heart dissection | |
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Klasien 07:45 am UTC 09/20/07 |
| In reply to: | Looong Total Eclipse Of The Heart dissection - Willis 02:36 am UTC 09/20/07 |
| Nice analysis! I think you are not far from it... but bear in mind that Jim has said Total Eclipse was written with Wuthering Heights in mind? So I think it is not so much the fact that she wakes up and realizes no one will find her, but that she has lost the love of her life because she was too scared to take her chance when she had it! Or is it not even she? I always find that part of the lyrics work best for my idea of Cathy, and part best for Heathcliff, and some of it applies to both... In a way... this is the most gender confused song ever... K. > A Total Eclipse of the Heart > Or > "The One" that never came. > > I tend to over analyze music. Specifically lyrics. I > need to find out what a song is about, what the intentions > were in writing it. What's the underlying theme? Why was > it written? Who was it written for? What was the mood > the artist had when the idea was conceived. I've been > doing this for as long as I've been listening to music. > There are not that many artists that I find this to be > very challenging. But, there are a few that are very > special to me. It's not always their musical ability that > sticks with me, it's their mind. Their expression. > > One of the saddest musical memories I had was finally > "getting" Doug Hopkins songs off Gin Blossoms "New > Miserable Experience" Pieces of the Night, Hey > Jealousy, Lost Horizons, Hold Me Down, and the saddest pop > song, Found Out About You. By the time I fully realized > that his words were about a loveless, addiction-filled > downward spiral of a life, Doug had killed himself. > > Not sure what this has to do with my post other than after > hearing the news, I wasn't surprised. The signs were as > clear as day and all over the radio. I felt I understood > the man. At least in my head. > > That brings my to Jim. Much of Jim's work doesn't need to > be looked at very deeply. I feel that the stories and > themes are fairly straightforward, and even he has made > mention in his blog that "they're just words". But, there > are some songs that stick out like a sore thumb to me. To > mention a few Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, It Just > Won't Quit, and... > > Total Eclipse of the Heart. > > I realize this is a VERY PERSONAL song to many reading, so > only treat this as my opinion and my perspective. > Something just clicked with me about this recently. > > Just for fun, I searched around. There are many different > interpretations of this song. Some think it's a song > about a former lover. Some about drug addiction. Some > think it's the greatest love song of all time and play it > at their weddings. To many couples, it's "their song". I > don't think it's a happy love song at all. I think it's a > no love song. > > From the clanking piano in the beginning it screams > loneliness. "Turn Around" A voice calls to the woman. > She knows this voice. She has been alone, without a love > to share for what seems like forever. Maybe it has been > forever. Since the few brushes with love in her past > she's been with the only person she can trust. Herself. > Romance has not happened for her in a very long time, so > she has been focusing on everything but. A women with the > definite "who needs love" attitude. A strong woman. On > the outside. > > But at night she dreams, wonders, calls for her lover. > The lover that hasn't shown up yet. The true love she > waits for, and is ashamed to wait for, because she's > waited so long. "Every now and then I get a little bit > lonely and you're never coming around" > "Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the > best of all the years have gone by" > If he shows up now, will she be the attractive and special > thing she once was. > > And at times she thinks she's cracking, going nuts, > falling apart. "Turn around Bright Eyes" She hears him > call. Bright Eyes, he calls. Is he calling for that > young, hopeful thing she once was? Is that what the > fantasy man still sees in her now? > > So, deep down she's not this stubborn person people pass > on the street. > "Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I > dream of something wild" > > But, she can go on. Who needs love? Well dammit, she > does. > > She goes home alone to love in the dark. By herself. And > every now and then the built up emotion becomes too much. > And she cries to the lover in her head, the one that > understands her, cries for him to please take form, and > please be real. And it would be great, it would be love: > > "And I need you now tonight > And I need you more than ever > And if you'll only hold me tight > We'll be holding on forever > And we'll only be making it right > Cause we'll never be wrong together > We can take it to the end of the line > Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time > I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark > We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks" > > But, it's just a dream. Snapping out of it, she realizes > it's fiction. She'll never be found by anyone even close > to the ideal in her head. Loveless forever. "Forever's > gonna start tonight" > > She continues to form her ideal even further. He'd be a > man like her, who'd never be the man he strived to be. But > would be a hidden magical treasure of sorts. No one as > wondrous. Excepting; he'd do anything for her. Why not. > It's her dream. > > If the real lover would only come. Where's her "The One" > He still hasn't come. > > In the outside world, she used to feel love. She used to > be bright. Her heart is blackened out. She feels she > simply cannot find "The One" and has reverted to dreaming > up fantasies. The beating red heart is now a blackened > shell: > > "Once upon a time there was light in my life > But now there's only love in the dark > Nothing I can say > A total eclipse of the heart" > > And starting tonight, as she says every night, a forever > of loneliness will start. > > > > Role reverse the male and female roles and there you go. > > Again, the above is ONLY MY PERSPECTIVE. And probably > makes little sense. > > > > | |
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