Interpreting Jewel's lyrics

[DreamsLast]

This was Gary's idea, but I thought I'd start it up!

I would like to hear others' interpretation of the song "Do You Want To Play?" from the This Way album...I don't really get it. The melody and music is wonderful but I don't quite understand what it all means. Thanks for any input!!

And feel free to bring up other songs too, this will be for interpretations of all of Jewel's music.

[never.alone]

im not sure if she even knows what its exactly about
i mean i dont anything about the song
but i do know that sometimes when i write i dont always know exactly where it comes from or the meaning behind it
it just sort of comes out
so maybe that might be the case but then again i dont know anything about Jewels personal writing style and interpretation

i do love the song though! :laugh:

[Little Bird]

I moved this to the Lyrics and Tabs section coz it's more fitting in here.

I think it may help people to see the lyrics too. Here they are:

Met her on a Friday afternoon
In a neon day glow pink chiffon satin room
She never looks back
She always looked good dressed in black


O-oooo-OO-ooo
You're so special
O-oooo-OO-ooo
Who gives a*
do you want to play


She lived beneath the discount disco store
With pictures of Randy Newman scattered all across the floor
I said this place looks sort of desolate
She said are you only half-alive or have you always been this inarticulate


O-oooo-OO-ooo
You're so special
O-oooo-OO-ooo
Who gives a
O-oooo-OO-ooo
Do you want to play


Do you want to play aOHaOH
Don't think too hard
Don't think too fast
Don't ever give away
What you can't take back
Don't try and understand what you can't comprehend
Underneath the disco neon daylight chandelier
Disco deity or the chivalry
I said*.Take it back
Take it back
Take it back

=================

They don't necessarily mean a whole lot to me but I like the way they sound more so like a poem and not as a song. I was just never really fond of this song but it does have some great lines in it in terms of descriptions "neon day glow pink chiffon satin room " and "disco neon daylight chandelier "

But to me, the best line is simply "Don't try and understand what you can't comprehend "

I'd be more impressed if the the actual best line in the song "She said are you only half-alive or have you always been this inarticulate" was actually her own but Anais Nin wrote that. It's wonderful for Jewel to be so inspired by her as she is a wonderful author with sharp descriptions and imagery from her writings but in general, I see this song as a filler. With the masses of fulfilling songs in Jewel's catalogue, she could have used a more meaningful song....I think

[ItBeThatWay27]

yeah now that I am looking at the lyrics here, I think the song is pretty simple. Not much to really think about. Maybe it's about some girl who's prime time has passed her by and she's looking back on it, trying to regain that, or trying to re-live it. And the part where Jewel says "Don't think too hard, don't think too fast" is sort of Jewel's narration over this girl's story, almost like she's giving her advice through narration but after the fact. Maybe??

[greenpoet]

I agree with Gary. The songwriter , Jewel wrote a song for a lady who have passed her youth, who have lived at her prime in the mid 60's or 70's. The lady from what I understood seems to be living in the past. But the old lady was pictured as someone where she learned lessons from.
I don't know, this is where I look this song from this angle. I don't know if this is quite true with Jewel. But i wish that Jewel could give us some thoughts on her songs a little bit.:laugh:

[M€RIO]

could anyone interpret me the lyrics of last dance rodeo? i understand the chorus but what is that with all the gaslamps and thick and velvetin air? - i really like the song by the way ;-)

[ItBeThatWay27]

we've tryed to get down to the meaning of last dance rodeo before. It's really a tough one. I can't remember if the thread is still up or if it got erased a few months back.. I'll have to look and see if I could dig it up. But the topic of prostitution somehow came up in the meaning of last dance rodeo. While that's not how I like to interpret it, I think it makes sense....

[fabiojj]

IMO, Last Dance Rodeo is about what Jewel felt when she was in Alaska, performing for those drunks and old guys. She felt she was an escape for them, she brought warmth (sp?) to their hearts. When she says "she" she is refering to herself, like the guys who would go see her knew that she was no diamond but she was queen of the last dance rodeo to them. When she says "you", she refers to the guys (and also girls - maidens) watching her, they have an emptyness inside of them and they know they only need a heart to call home, but for now all they've got is Jewel's tangerine lips and lily white breats. In the end, those miners, hunters of dreams and the maidens must find a partner because it's the last rodeo.

[fabiojj]

By the way, I think LDR is one of Jewel's best lyrics ever. The CD version is perfect, really suits the song IMO.

[last_dance_rodeo]

wow, absolutely great interpretation fabio never thought of it like that but it makes perfect sense

[never.alone]

yea i was also very confused with last dance rodeo but i still loved it anyway lol alot of jewels descriptions in alot of her songs throw me off like mink clad queer etc etc....

[ItBeThatWay27]

fabiojj thats the best interpretation I've ever heard of that song. Especially since I couldnt understand how it was about Jewel, being part of the GAIW album... last time we discussed it that prostitution stuff got me all confused. Great job.

[M€RIO]

IMO, Last Dance Rodeo is about what Jewel felt when she was in Alaska, performing for those drunks and old guys. She felt she was an escape for them, she brought warmth (sp?) to their hearts. When she says "she" she is refering to herself, like the guys who would go see her knew that she was no diamond but she was queen of the last dance rodeo to them. When she says "you", she refers to the guys (and also girls - maidens) watching her, they have an emptyness inside of them and they know they only need a heart to call home, but for now all they've got is Jewel's tangerine lips and lily white breats. In the end, those miners, hunters of dreams and the maidens must find a partner because it's the last rodeo.


Wow I am very zealoused from your interpretation!!! It makes sense, :post-69220-11406689 are you an psychologist or similar =)?

[fabiojj]

^^ lol... I too did not quite get LDR for a long time. I think I started to get it when I read Jewel saying LDR was the song on GAIW that referenced to when she used to perform in Alaska and then I just started figuring it out, I guess, hehe...

[ItBeThatWay27]

can psychologists interpret stuff really good? I'll have to force my wife to lsiten to LDR and find out I guess....

[DreamsLast]

My hubby studied psychology and the first night we met he told me exactly what my personality is. It put me in a pre-mature identity crisis.....but he was right. His dream job was to be a FBI profiler, he would've been great! :-) One of his fav books is "How To Read A Person Like A Book". Heck, he could've written the book himself!! They have a sixth sense about things like this...

[ItBeThatWay27]

i have that on an audio book but I've never listened to it, I keep meaning to

[M€RIO]

can psychologists interpret stuff really good? I'll have to force my wife to lsiten to LDR and find out I guess....


^^ have you asked her allready, it would be really interessting.

It would be nice to hear a interpretation of serve the ego =)

[ItBeThatWay27]

no I forgot to ask her but when we get a minute together (our schedules are completely opposite) and she feels like listening to music, I will ask her to listen and interpret. :)

[ItBeThatWay27]

ok I need some help w/ enter from the east. This song never really appealed to me that much, and while Spirit is my fav album, this song never really clicked for me. But I know a lot of people love this song so can someone interpret it for me???????

[M€RIO]

ok I need some help w/ enter from the east. This song never really appealed to me that much, and while Spirit is my fav album, this song never really clicked for me. But I know a lot of people love this song so can someone interpret it for me???????

:omg::omg::omg: enter from the east is one of my alltimefavorites!!!! But i think because of its veeeeeeery melancholic melodie, i could cry when i hear that song and her voice really gets tearied (which i love)!! but the lyrics are not so sad as the melodie. hm I cant write my interpretation about the lyrics of it in english i think.

Lyrics

I went out a-wandering
Beneath an unknown sky
The heavens all shook violently
He caught my eye
Strange fruit fell
It struck me to the core
My heart became a single flame
It wanted nothing more
Stranger, enter from the East
Stranger, step inside this place
Oh, and own me, own me
The clock became a bullet hole
Cruel and unkind
It hurt me with its second hand
Alone another night
Stranger, enter from the East
Stranger, step inside this place
Blue, is that you?
Well, don't bother knocking on my door this time
Blue, go be true for someone else
There's no room inside this heart of mine
My heart has four empty rooms
Three wait for lightning and one waits for you
I must have you all to myself
Feel the full weight of your skin
I'll hollow out my insides
To place you in
Stranger, enter from the East
Stranger, step inside this place
Oh, and own me, own me

[ItBeThatWay27]

well maybe you can post your interpretation and then ask for someone to translate?? Kiera maybe?

when I try to interpret it, I get stuck on STRANGE FRUIT b/c that is a term from back in the days of slavery they used to use to describe the practice of lynching and burning African Americans.

I am confused......

[Little Bird]

I think this is a very transitional song. I don't even feel Jewel is talking about a person here but an emotion with other feelings leading to it. It is a dusky song. Not quite dark but get's lighter in the end.

I think the following lyrics are relatively self explanatory:
The clock became a bullet hole
Cruel and unkind
It hurt me with its second hand
Alone another night

When you're down, you almost want to time to stand still. In this case, I feel Jewel is feeling similar and time is getting away from her.

[ItBeThatWay27]

I dont get the bullet hole thing....

[greenpoet]

I haven't heard the song itself but the lyrics are so brave to tell... I don't want to tell what I think because I came from old school. I am not that brave to tell.

[fabiojj]

Jewel is melancholic here. She goes out for a walk and she sees a man who catches her eye. She instantly fell for him (not him the person, but him the idea of having someone), her heart became a flame, she wanted love. She then wants a stranger to enter in her life and step inside her heart. The time passes by cruely because she doesn't have anyone to love or love her, and she still longs for someone to enter into her life and fill that void in her heart. But instead of a loving man, what comes knocking on her door is once again the Blue, the loneliness, the depression of being alone, but she's tired of being blue already, she wants it to go find someone else's heart because hers is now eagerly waiting for someone to fill 1/4 of her heart, since the other 3/4 are to be filled with lightening. She's now ready to love again. At the end she desperately shows she'll do anything to have the kind of love she wants, she'd hollow herself out if she had to just to let the man she loves in.

I think that's basically it!

[Little Bird]

I dont get the bullet hole thing....
Well what is a bullet hole? It is the product of a gun shot. Usually this is interpretted as fatal but it could be seen as pain, injury...hurt even.

"The clock became a bullet hole"

Time in itself has hit her like a gun shot, leaving a bullet hole, a wound, an injury, causing pain, hurt or as she states, it is 'cruel and unkind'. It hits more severe than saying a blow or push or smack. Bullet hole is more serious and instills a greater impact.

[Little Bird]

I absolutely adore your interpretation Fabio. It's so spot on and so obvious when you put it so eloquently.

[ItBeThatWay27]

yeah it is pretty clear now. I just have to go back and listen now :)

[greenpoet]

Good interpretation, Fabiojj.. I'm glad you posted it. Now I like the song. Now, I have a different perspective with it. Thank you, now I have a deeper appreciation. I think your interpretation is nearer to who she really is. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[ItBeThatWay27]

^^ have you asked her allready, it would be really interessting.

It would be nice to hear a interpretation of serve the ego =)

I had her listen to it yesterday (LDR not Serve the Ego) and she was mainly like "why are you asking me to do this?" ha ha. She just said it's basically about some guy who wants this woman in the bar. She made it sound all simple but I told her it's still a little confusing...

[M€RIO]

:banana:thx for asking your wife and nice greetings to you 2 :wave9bm1:

[007]

Gary, if you don't mind my asking, what part of the ole Rebel state do you hale from? Just curious.

From another rebel,

Jones
"The Lonely Angel"

[wackyoverkhaki]

But I never knew it was you who was breaking my heart
I thought you had to love me
But you did not

Yes a heart can hallucinate
If it's completely starved for love
It can even turn monsters into
Angels from above

You forged my love just like a weapon
And you turned it against me like a knife
You broke my last heartstring
You opened up my eyes

And it seems in "Only One Too" she is singing about a slimeball that's two-timing her. Who could that be (that is if the song is even autobiographical)?

[kjm030584]

For some reason I always thought that part was about what happened to her fanbase after 0304 came out.

[wackyoverkhaki]

For some reason I always thought that part was about what happened to her fanbase after 0304 came out.

That makes sense.

[strengths.with.faults]

For some reason I always thought that part was about what happened to her fanbase after 0304 came out.

wow that DOES make sense.. I've never thought of it that way..

[juel]

Do you also talk about Jewels poems here? 'cause I'd love to hear your interpretation of "I Don't Suppose Raindrops" :)

[last_dance_rodeo]

I'll have to go back and read that one

[artistindisguise]

there are some lines in the "me" poem on the pieces of you booklet...

I've cheated on boyfriends
I've owned fake ID
I faked flirtatious French accents


i always read them and think "haha wow jewel."