Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[perspectives]

Hi,

I have some questions to ask from Toni Childs' [url]Welcome to The World[/url]:http://www.metrolyrics.com/welcome-to-the-world-lyrics-toni-childs.html

A.
You will do what you do
What you choose any old timeAnd take how you take
You'll begin to find
That fight as you fight as you will in life
Solutions, confusions
Won't you take this time now

1. I think 'what you choose any old time' is a bit incomplete here. Am I right? choose any old time? what does it mean? Also, 'take how you take' is grammatically questionable, isn't it? Should it be 'take how you take it'? What does it mean at all?

2. You'll begin to find 'that fight as you fight as you will in life': isn't this sentence a bit incomplete? I know poetic license, but could you please rephrase this sentence? What does it mean anyway?

B.
We pull triggers
We play with guns
We play with shoelaces and we twist our tongues
We are kisses
We are huggs
We are the match that will light you off

I don't quite understand light you off part. Does it mean we'll burn you down, destroy you, or the contrary?

Thanks very much for your help.

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Perspectives -

'what you choose (to do)'
'any old time' = whenever you want

'take how you take' = take emotionally (things?) with little/no consideration - perhaps without giving/sharing emotionally in return (?)

2- Perhaps reading it differently will help....so-

'you'll begin to find that'

'fight as you fight' = fight as much/ however

'as you will in life' = to fight is inevitable (?)

What do you think the song is about?
We can continue from there, if you like.

Philo

[perspectives]

Hello Philo,

'take how you take' part: persoanlly, I think it means people can take whatever they want but
at the same time they'll have to take responsibility for the outcome of what they've done.

'Fight as you fight as you will in life' part: I gathered as much as you did earlier but was not so sure of it.


I think this song talks about a bad world, seemingly without hope. But people can choose the way they want their lives to go. They can be happy (joy, bouncing on the big world ball, etc.) Or, they can play with fire (trigger/guns/shoelace) so to destroy the human race. The narrtor, be it Mother or Father, wants the child to go to sleep without worrying too much about the future to come. Though pessimistic towards the world, s/he thinks that the child has a lifelong time to figure out what the world is.
That's my 2 cents. What do you think about this song? Thanks again!

By the way, what about the match lights you off part?

ps//when listening to toni childs' predator, i found a term that is greek to me: the radio k-fu*ck. Is it a fixed term in English?

[Philo Kevetch]

My bad...though unfamiliar with the song - presumed to answer -
a quick search (lesson learned ) your take seems 'spot on'.

'the match that lights you off' = sparks/ignites your life/passion etc.

'k- f***' = cluster f****

<<www.peevich.co.uk/slang>>
<<www.urbandictionary.com>>

speaking of 'four letter' words-
in answer to your p.m.Q.....choice b) for sure! Philo

[perspectives]

But match lights you off....

Isn't 'off' an expression meaning something gone? Is it possible that we're the match that burns you down to ashes? my wild guess.

[perspectives]

I've checked those two links you posted, but I couldn't find explanations of k-f***. Is the radio of k-f*** a very common term in English? Does it mean the disturbance of a series of foul languages ringing on and on and on?

[Philo Kevetch]

When reading (some) song lyrics/poetry, there are as many possible interpretations as there are readers/readings. It is surely possible for a reader to have different interpretations depending on the readers mood at the time or with the passage of time.

All of which appears to be making your efforts at translation a bit difficult.
Add to that, that some things may just not translate very well at all and your task seems even more daunting.

A cursory search offered these possibilities -

1- Given her origins, an L.A.radio station with the call letters: KOAS
2- SXSW broadcasting

Having re-read the lyrics, another 'guess' might be -
unfiltered radio listening (esp. 'pop' etc.) can really screw with your mind.
Imagine being a young person trying to understand what it means to love/be in love and having junk like "can't live if living is without youuuu.....can't live can't live anymorrrre"!!!
Howyagonnadoit??

It is not a common expression, as far as I know, but then again....
I don't much
I do think it means 'disturbance' but more like 'static' than 'series of foul language'.

Suggestions, if I may: try
1- 'cluster f*** at <<urbandictionary>> again
2- <<lyricsmode.com/lyrics/+/toni_childs/predator>>
register and post your thoughts/discussion at the bottom of the page
who knows??...Ms. Childs herself may respond.

In closing (from the other thread)...
Sometimes.....the meaning is easier to interpret -
"love is just a four letter word" is clearly choice (b) Philo

[perspectives]

Hi Philo,

I agree with you that there're a lot of interpretations when reading works of art. Thank you very much for your detailed explanations of my questions. I'm much obliged to you. I'll look the phrase up once again according to your suggestion. Thank you so much!!

[redset]

A lot of radio stations in America are named after a four-letter code, usually starting with K or W - they often pick one that sounds like a name, for example KROQ is pronounced 'K-Rock' and they play rock music. I'm assuming the lyrics here are about a metaphorical radio station called KFUK (or hey maybe KFUQ ) that's broadcasting into the singer's head, coming in loud and clear and messing with her (?) mind ('*beep* with her head' as it says in a previous line).

Also what you said about 'lights you off' - we often use 'off' to mean something's started happening or moving, for example an insult can set someone off (make them start shouting or complaining a lot), or at the start of a race the announcer might say "and they're off!" When I read 'the match lights you off' I assumed it was like a firework, lighting the rocket with a match and watching it fly.

[perspectives]

Thanks, redset. Your answer does clear a lot of puzzles off my mind. Thank you for your explanations. Much appreciated. So can I read the 'raido of kfu**' as something metaphorically messes the mind of the narrator? Thanks again.

[redset]

You've heard of voices in someone's head, right? Not necessarily hearing someone else talking, but the idea of thoughts and worries appearing in your head. You might want to believe things are ok, but your mind might be thinking 'what if it isn't, what if these bad things are true' and so on.

She's saying it's like that, as though there's a radio in her head and it's picking up a station called KFUQ, broadcasting all these messages that are messing with her mind and causing problems (and she's called the radio station that name because those are the kinds of messages she's getting, 'f***ing with her head').

So basically something's causing problems that are giving her troubling thoughts, she's likening it to a radio broadcasting messages into her head (they're coming in loud and clear), and she named the station to make it clear what effect those messages are having on her