Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[perspectives]

Hi,

I'm asking for lyrics help. This time is Joan Baez's Love Is Just A Four Letter Word. I am puzzled by a few lines, hoping that you can enlighten me. Million thanks in advance.

1. I said goodbye unnoticed
Pushed towards things in my own games
Drifting in and out of lifetimes
Unmentionable by name
Searching for my double, looking for
Complete evaporation to the core

A. What does 'pushed towards things in my own games' mean? Does 'games' here mean 'activities', 'competitions' or 'animals'?
B. What does 'things' refer to?
C. names unmentionable? meaning names that are not able to be said out of shocks or embarrassment?
D. Why is the narrtor looking for 'evaporation'? Totally disappear? I don't understand.


2. strange it is to be beside you many years the tables turned
you�d probably not believe me if i told you all i�ve learned
and it is very very weird indeed
to hear words like forever
fleets of ships run through my mind i cannot cheat
it�s like looking into a teacher�s face complete
i cannot say nothing to you but repeat what i heard
that love is just a four letter word

A. What does 'it's like looking into a teacher's face complete' mean? Is 'complete' here an adverb like 'completely'? If not, as an adjective, what does it indicate? a teacher's learned face?

The complete lyrics come from here: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/love-is-a-four-letter-word-lyrics-joan-baez/c163f336fb8ad24748256c9c0027eed1
but I believe that one line of the last stanza is 'fleets of ships' instead of 'plead so ships'

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Perspectives -

It's almost impossible to give one simple meaning to the words/ideas in your questions - song lyrics/poetry are open to as many interpretations as readings/readers.

It's possible too that words may sometimes have been chosen simply to best complete a rhyming scheme (Q#2 cheat/complete).

That being said....here goes:

'games' - as in 'mind games'/'head games'...less than honest/sincere/open ways in which people act/interact in relation to others or (perhaps) the world in general

'things' - actions/feelings/thoughts etc. in 'my own game' - resisting playing the other persons' game

See what you can come up with for these and your other questions and we can continue from there, if you like.

Do you think the lyrics have anything to do with her relationship with Bob Dylan?

Do you know what she means by 'four letter word'?

Philo

[Philo Kevetch]

Perspectives - In response to your p.m.
Sure, I'd be pleased to continue a discussion about this song. Philo

[perspectives]

Hi Philo,

You mistook what I meant in pm.
I meant that four-letter word in that lyrics is of 2 dimensions. It could mean:
a. that love is consisted of four alphabets; it is not so holy only because it is 'love'; it is as common as any word.
b. vulgarity. Love is above mentioned sometimes is nothing but being vulgar.