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puzzling English expressions

 
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perspectives



Joined: 24 May 2010
Posts: 92

PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:29 pm    Post subject: puzzling English expressions Reply with quote

Hi,

What does 'Anyway, you're not here enough to care." mean? as in

Quote:
So you hunch your shoulders and you shake your head
And your throat is aching but you swear
No one hurts you, nothing could be sad
Anyway you�re not here enough to care


Does it mean 'you' do not deserve to be cared for? S/he uses an understatement to express that no one really cares about her/him? Or, 'you' don't care a bit about anything? They're my wild guesses. I don't know this sentence.

Quote:
you know it�s a simple game
That you play filling up your head with rain
And you know you are hiding from your pain
In the way, in the way you say your name


Could anyone help me with 'filling up your head with rain'? It's not an idiom, right? I guess it is used figuratively to mean that 'your' head is always full of 'gloom', 'sadness', etc.?

Hiding from your pain in the way you say your name? What kind of strategy is that all about? Saying out your own name can disguise your pain from other people? How ? I really don't get it. What do I miss here?

Thank you very much for your help!
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CP



Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California

PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As is often the case with song lyrics, they do not necessarily make logical sense, they do not have to be literal or accurate, and they may be open to many interpretations.

This song is Alexi Murdoch's Song for You, expressing uncertain feelings and emotions about a loved one who is not happy, it seems.

That said, "Anyway you�re not here enough to care" could mean a number of things, and probably doesn't mean just one thing. Maybe she takes drugs and is too often absent from what's going on, and therefore doesn't care. Maybe she's happy-go-lucky and carefree. Maybe she is aloof and in her own head too much. What does it mean to you?

No, "filling up your head with rain" is not an idiom, but it is a nice image, and may mean she gets too depressed or gloomy or confused or distracted, or something like that. Seems she is not clear-headed, at least.

And as for "And you know you are hiding from your pain / In the way, in the way you say your name," again, there isn't just a single, simple meaning there. It's more poetic, and open to interpretation. It might mean something different to you now than the next time you hear it--the mark of an interesting song, as far as I'm concerned.

Example: I've heard Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan many, many times since it first came out in the 1960s, and I still get new and different impressions and meanings from it when I hear it now, lo these 45 years later.

Anyway, don't be upset if you can't parse a song and give it some exact meaning. It's all right if it is a little vague or imprecise. Enjoy it for what it is.
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