breakinglight11 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
breakinglight11) wrote2008-08-05 08:28 am
breakinglight11) wrote2008-08-05 08:28 am
"The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars
I have always been one who enjoys puzzling out the meaning and story in songs.
A song I've been listening to a lot lately is The Kill, by 30 Seconds to Mars. A typical sort of song for me, a rock song with a male vocalist with a tone that is angry, intense, and has something to do with love.
What I loved about it was the conflict-- it spoke to me about a man who is torn between wanting to rip this girl out of his life entirely and to keep pursuing her no matter how badly it hurt him. It sounded to me like he was considering allowing himself to do something to follow one path or the other, comparing it to something that would take him down the other path. The close juxtaposition and alternation suggested it was something he couldn't even help himself from doing, that he was hurt and furious but couldn't bear to tear himself away from her, that he couldn't keep either thought from his mind no matter how hard he tried. Look at the first couple stanzas, and see how he alternates between wanting to give in and wanting to get out:
What if I wanted to break? (give in)
Laugh it all off in your face? (get out)
What would you do?
What if I fell to the floor? (give in)
Couldn't take this anymore? (get out)
What would you do?
Then we get to the chorus, or at least what I thought it was:
Come break me down
Marry me, marry me
I am finished with you
I loved the "Marry me, marry me," part because it reinforced the dichotomy. You destroy me but I want to let you, I want to be with you forever, I want to be done with you forever. I loved the desperation and intensity of it, the warring of the emotions and the way he could not stop himself. When I found out it was actually "Bury me, bury me," I was kind of disappointed. I mean, it's still cool, but it doesn't contribute to the theme I thought was there. It doesn't exactly screw up the back and forth, the switching between the one piercing emotion and the other, but it doesn't reinforce it as much.
I always like song lyrics better before I really know what they are.
The other part I like is this:
What if I wanted to fight?
Beg for the rest of my life?
The tragic desperate romantic in me who adores both love and suffering is drawn to this bit. I like the notion of that kind of unshakeableness-- I will beg, and if you will never have me, then I will keep on begging for the rest of my life. I like the problem, the question, that presents: what would you think, if I told you that I am ready to beg for the rest of my life?
Heh. Maybe not the deepest song I could be picking at, but it's one that speaks to me.
What I loved about it was the conflict-- it spoke to me about a man who is torn between wanting to rip this girl out of his life entirely and to keep pursuing her no matter how badly it hurt him. It sounded to me like he was considering allowing himself to do something to follow one path or the other, comparing it to something that would take him down the other path. The close juxtaposition and alternation suggested it was something he couldn't even help himself from doing, that he was hurt and furious but couldn't bear to tear himself away from her, that he couldn't keep either thought from his mind no matter how hard he tried. Look at the first couple stanzas, and see how he alternates between wanting to give in and wanting to get out:
What if I wanted to break? (give in)
Laugh it all off in your face? (get out)
What would you do?
What if I fell to the floor? (give in)
Couldn't take this anymore? (get out)
What would you do?
Then we get to the chorus, or at least what I thought it was:
Come break me down
Marry me, marry me
I am finished with you
I loved the "Marry me, marry me," part because it reinforced the dichotomy. You destroy me but I want to let you, I want to be with you forever, I want to be done with you forever. I loved the desperation and intensity of it, the warring of the emotions and the way he could not stop himself. When I found out it was actually "Bury me, bury me," I was kind of disappointed. I mean, it's still cool, but it doesn't contribute to the theme I thought was there. It doesn't exactly screw up the back and forth, the switching between the one piercing emotion and the other, but it doesn't reinforce it as much.
I always like song lyrics better before I really know what they are.
The other part I like is this:
What if I wanted to fight?
Beg for the rest of my life?
The tragic desperate romantic in me who adores both love and suffering is drawn to this bit. I like the notion of that kind of unshakeableness-- I will beg, and if you will never have me, then I will keep on begging for the rest of my life. I like the problem, the question, that presents: what would you think, if I told you that I am ready to beg for the rest of my life?
Heh. Maybe not the deepest song I could be picking at, but it's one that speaks to me.