Why it’s negotiations and love songs
Before you rip into me about my absolute lack of knowledge about poetry, I don’t usually go this much into depth when I analyze a poem. Think of the single line of poetry as a jump off point for this post.
Negotiations and love songs are often mistaken for one and the same.
This line comes from a Paul Simon song called “Train in the Distance.” This is, in fact, one of my favorite lines from any Paul Simon song. Why? I actually didn’t know until I decided to sit down and write this post. The line is actually quite clear, if a little vague in its actual intention. I think, though, is this: what we believe are confessions of love are actually negotiations to keep us tied down to the place we are.
The mistake that I usually make with this line is that I believed the person who is masking the negotiation as a love song knows of his deception. Of course, this isn’t always the case. Couldn’t someone convince himself that he could not live without another simply because he has grown comfortable in his current state of affairs. Could this person fool themselves into believing that they are, in fact, madly in love with another? It is probably so.
But what, then, are love songs? Love songs are sometimes pleads, other times praises, other times filled with confusion centering around another person. Could a love song be about something mundane? I’m not sure if the world would enjoy that, or even consider it a “real” love song. After all, we want to be filled with passion and desire for the rest of our lives; we simply don’t want to settle into marriage and then think of our spouse more of a “friend” than a “lover.” Or worse, we resent them for the rest of our lives. Neither is particularly romantic. So we stick to love songs that make fireworks and bunnies and kittens in open fields. Or something like that.
Perhaps, though, love songs can be deceiving. Is romance a measure of passion in a love song? Maybe not. True love doesn’t need fireworks that make you see various cute animals all of the time. Well, not for me, anyway. Just some of the times. So perhaps the negotiation that a passionate love song makes, the one that is mistaken for true love, is no more real than the love between actors on the big screen.
Posted on March 24th, 2007 by Joy
Filed under: Couples, Love, Paul Simon, Romance
That is a great line. It makes so much sense!
Nya…^^
that was so deep that i didn’t understand. ha.
bye joy.
Sorry about the short response, it took me a while to think about it (my dear nunnery is correct).
I’m no poet, don’t know it *dry laughter* but I agree with the idea that love songs are pleas, often centering around another person. Well, at least mine are. Assuming of course, that one can consider them songs, which of course, should that happen, music as we know it would be forever destroyed.
I guess it is true that the music I listen to glorify those firework romances that no one in their right minds could ever pull off. And I suppose that does in fact affect me such that I expect more from something that isn’t…that. Although, to put all the blame on the song would be wrong, being as it’s my own thoughts that matter anyway.
nya
Well sometimes we’re driven by our emotions that when we listen to songs wether its about love or pain of loving.. its translated by what we feel… and forgot wat the songs are trying to tell us..