August 8, 2010

• I said on here once, a year or more back, that one of my all-time top songs was "Trouble In Paradise" by Bruce Springsteen. I then proceeded to post the lyrics and left it at that.

  So, I guess just because it's late and this song is literally festering itself into my veins and also because I usually never do a post that really opens up about me except rarely (or one of my very often vague or difficult-to-articulate complaints about depression), I'll explain it a bit more.

  I guess, principally, it's like many of the other things I adore - it's a conglomerate mess of contradictions (or, more specifically in its case, unexpectations) that shouldn't work and yet do, plus it's utterly just joyful in the pleasure it provides.

  First and foremost, as the title "Trouble In Paradise" seems to imply, it's not the most uplifting song. However, if you weren't paying attention, you would think quite the opposite. The music, while simplistic, is utterly infectious. It just sounds utterly quaint and upbeat. It's the type of song I'd put on if I were languidly cleaning or cooking something in the kitchen - and enjoying every minute of it. It's just bouncy and pleasant. Really, it has the same effect that "Frankie" does (which, honestly, is really difficult to describe unless you listen to it), though Frankie has a bit more of a complicated arrangement.

  And I suppose that's what adds to my liking it. I have a thing for quaint and small (metaphorically/symbolically (as in lowered expectations for art) or literally) things which literally have no flaw. For example, an EP which only has 7 tracks and every track is great musically and maybe brings you a little into a new world. It's not perfect: first and foremost, it doesn't try to be the utter best it can be. Yet it has no actual detractions. You can't say the music is bad, even if it's not better than it is. There are some interesting themes, even if they aren't explored completely or aren't expansive enough. It's quaint.

  The issue I have? I've become very picky and demanding in my art. I will certainly enjoy the piece. But it's not something I can show someone to fully experience the true power of art. If we're looking and aiming for the best - well, it's not it. It's the difference between the breath-taking experience of Reasonable Doubt vs. Straight From the Lab EP. So, I'm immediately pulled to the song. And that's another one of the wonderful contradictions I love about "Trouble In Paradise" - it's deceptively simple. Sure, the instrumentation (very much) is. But the themes (and, if you couldn't tell by now, the emotions it can evoke) aren't.

  So, while the song sounds catchily upbeat...well, the first bar and a half starts with:

   

  You do the drying
       I'll do the dishes...
  Who'll do the crying when all them wishes don't come true?

   

  Uplifting, yes? The song deals with relationships and the responsibilities therein. Yet, the lyrics are just as simplistic and quaint as the music as well as delightfully abstract. As you might glean from the bar and a half above, it starts with washing and drying dishes...and then talking about crying over unfulfilledwishes??? Yes, honey, I know I promised you a new washing machine, but we just can't afford one yet (because all wives want new home devices for doing chores at home - all women; silly feminists).

  No, rather the chores and jobs littered throughout the song ("You do the washing/I'll do the folding"/"You did the dusting/I did the sweeping") stand for basic jobs that might occur throughout a relationship (caring for the other person, being receptive, doing favors for them, etc.). Likewise, a series of similarly abstract disasters occur throughout the song:

   

  You do the washing
       I'll do the folding
  Whose heart is breaking when whose arms are holding someone new?

  Sittin' on a peaceful lakeside
  Didn't hear the roar of the waterfall come in
  When it's all a storybook story
  When it's all so easy and nice

  Here comes Trouble in Paradise

  [...]

  You did the driving - oh, and I did the sleeping a little too long

  On a picnic 'neath a sky so blue
  We didn't see the rain and heartache coming through
  When it's all a black and white movie
  And you're sure you've seen the ending twice

  Here comes Trouble in Paradise

   

  I just love the imagery. I remember, back in probably around middle school (kinda weird thinking it's actually been that long since I read it), I read this book. I would actually like to re-read it, if I ever I remembered what it's called. But, towards the end of it, in trying to convince this boy to come out and be social (his brother abused him for the longest time), she remarks that the movie is an old black-and-white where everything turns out alright in the end and life is good.

  And it's such a great symbol, in that light. Everything was fine and dandy, right? Just go on auto-pilot, fall into comfortable routines and things will proceed just fine? But no...you were sleeping too long, imbuing neglect. And the rain came down in showers. The language is, in essence, very simplistic - but I just love that vivid second to last stanza above.  It evokes such images and emotion.

  And, speaking of, Bruce once again demonstrates his ability to nail a performance just right, in a way that really aids in how you see the song. In as close to literal as the song every gets, he delivers perfectly:

   

  You said everything was fine
       I'm sorry, baby, I didn't see the signs
  Oh, so beautifully you read the lines...
  In a play where the hero has no vice
  And love comes without a price

  So does Trouble in Paradise

   

  That second line - it's like the line "I'm a thief in the house of love and I can't be trusted!" in "Roll of the Dice". It's delivered so perfectly, capturing the frustration and desperation as well as the regret all together, and then followed by the next line in regretful defeat.

  It's all so beautifully descriptive, so that even the abstract way of telling it adds to the message it's trying to convey, in how it tells us how easily "all of love's glory and beauty/Can vanish before you think twice" from forgetting that basic notion of any relationship - it's give and take. There are certain obligations when it comes to caring and leaving the mess cleanup for the other guy (metaphorically speaking), whether intentional or accidental, obviously isn't going to leave him or her feeling satisfied or cared about. Even that simple title does the excellent job of getting to the emotional root of it all - Trouble in Paradise.

  It's really a great song and I won't ruminate on the rest of the lyrics so you can enjoy them yourself.
  

  • 5:26 am
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