Allusion, Ambiguity, & Allegory

Allusion:

Hallelujah ~ Jeff Buckley
(originally by Leonard Cohen)

Well, I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do you?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there is a god above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

"Hallelujah" uses multiple Bible allusions throughout its lyrics. The first verse alludes to the story of King David, and the second to the story of David and Bathesba, then Sampson and Delilah. And of course, "hallelujah" is a very religious term alluded to a lot in this song, but with a different connotation than may be used in church.

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Ambiguity:

You Found Me ~ The Fray
I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where you been?", He said, "Ask anything"

Where were you, when everything was falling apart?
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait, where were you, where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

But in the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not and who I want to be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait, where were you, where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

The early morning, the city breaks
And I've been calling for years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages, you never sent me no letters
You got some kind of nerve taking all I'm worth

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Where were you, where were you?

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait, where were you, where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

Why'd you have to wait, to find me, to find me?

This song uses ambiguity because it is one of those songs that is open to interpretation. Some may find it to be about depression ("lost and insecure, you found me, you found me/Lying on the floor"). Some may find it to be a conversation with God. Or some could find it to be about heartbreak. Either (or any other) way the song was written as, the song is definitely ambiguous (in a good way) because it allows the listener to interprete and relate to the song on their own personal level.

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Allegory:

Viva La Vida ~ Coldplay
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

This song is an allegory because, literally, it is telling the story of a fallen leader of the past (probably Napoleon) who has fallen from power and is dying. It is allegorical because it can actually be applied to any leader who once had a lot of power but has now fallen, even on a scale much smaller than literally "ruling the world" like Napoleon. It could even be applied to someone who has fallen in love.

Simile & Metaphor

Simile

The next two songs have similes in them: comparisons using the words "like" or "as."

Angel ~ Leona Lewis

This song uses a couple different similes, all to show how much the singer loves her man:

• The first is "We're like Romeo and Juliet." This is kind of straightforward, it is comparing her relationship to that of the famous literary characters Romeo and Juliet. (This is an allusion as well, but also kind of a cliche.)


• The next simile is "Like the tallest mountain or the widest sea/Nothing's big enough to hide us." This is comparing her love to mountains and seas, by way of how big it is. Mountains and seas are both pretty big, and she is using this to show just how much she loves this guy.


• The last simile in this song is "And I don't want to go to sleep, 'cause you were like a dream." This is comparing her love (again), this time to a dream. He is so perfect, and their relationship is so perfect, she feels like she is dreaming.

Lyrics

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Holiday ~ Allison Iraheta

There are two similes in this song. They come in the lines "Oh life has changed like a holiday/Feels so d*** good like Hollywood." They are both comparing life to something that is supposed to be great: a holiday, and Hollywood. The meaning of this is to show how great her life is now that she is done with this guy. She's going to "shove this life in [his] face." Life is great without him.

Lyrics

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Metaphor

The following two songs employ metaphors: comparisons not using "like" or "as."

No Parade ~ Jordin Sparks

There is one example of a metaphor in this song that is very poetic: "Before I knew it we were dust." This metaphor directly compares a couple that is broken up to dust. This one line actually kind of captures the essence of the entire song, which is about a break-up that went quietly, without flashing lights or a parade (figuratively speaking). The couple's relationship is compared to dust - it just kind of disintegrated. There was no huge explosion or fight, they just kind of grew apart. It snuck up on them, they weren't expecting it, but it happened. And before they knew it, they were dust. Just. . .gone.

Lyrics

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Barriers ~ David Archuleta
This song uses an extended metaphor that compares conflicts in a relationship to different kinds of barriers, such as mountains and walls. They come between the two people and make their relationship difficult such as mountains and walls can make traveling to the other side difficult. Over the course of the song, the singer describes how they are building these barriers, then trying to get through them, but not succeeding, and eventually giving up because there are just "too many barriers."
Excerpts:

• "I keep hitting this wall/It's never gonna fall/And we're still broken/This mountain we've been trying to climb/It's never ending"
• "All we're doing is building walls/And now there's too many barriers"
• The bridge: "Just too many barriers/That we keep running into/Been trying, but we just can't break through/I know I'm gonna keep wishing I was with you/But we just gotta stop"

Lyrics

Irony

Please Don't Leave Me ~ P!nk
This song uses situational irony because the narrator starts off by saying how she hates this guy: "I don't know if I can yell any louder/How many times have I kicked you out of here?/Or said something insulting?" So the expected result is that this is going to be a break-up song, because that is what the lyrics imply. Contrary to the expected result, the chorus goes on to say "please don't leave me," because she loves him and cannot live without him. Because this is not expected, this song is situationally ironic.
Lyrics

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Smile ~ Lily Allen
This song has situational irony because the singer starts singing about her cheating boyfriend and how she was devastated at first ("I just sat by myself all day"). But then the tables are turned: he wants her back and she just smiles at his pain ("When I see you cry/It makes me smile"). This is kind of an unexpected twist. Another way that this song is ironic is that the lyrics are kind of depressing/disturbing: they're about cheating and laughing at people's tears, etc. But the music is all upbeat and happy-sounding, so there is a definite contrast there.
Lyrics

Paradox

Gravity ~ Sara Bareilles
The main essence of this song is that the singer wants to get away from a man -maybe she is in a bad relationship, or maybe (and this is my personal interpretation) the relationship is over and she needs to move on- but in any case, she can't because she keeps "falling into his gravity." Paradox comes into play in the lines "you hold me without touch/you keep me without chains." Both of these contradict themselves: how can you hold something without touching it? How can you keep something from leaving without some sort of chain? (It doesn't have to physically be a chain.) Yet somehow they both still make sense. Another paradox comes in the next line, "I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain." Rain is water, and you need water to drown. How can you not feel the rain if you are drowning in it? Another paradox comes in in the second verse, specifically in the phrase "fragile strength." "Fragile strength" is an oxymoron because being fragile and being strong are opposites. Yet somehow, in the context of this song, this line as well makes sense. This song if you just listen to it, makes perfect sense, but when you really look at the lyrics, becomes extremely confusing due to all the paradoxes. That's not a bad thing, though, actually I think that that is the exact essence of the relationship Sara is trying to convey with this beautiful song.

Lyrics