Lyrics Analysis

Why: I have analysed lyrics of a song to show how a narrative could be unfolded from lyrics in order to make a video.


Artist: Brand New
Song: Limousine (MS Redbridge)

The song is about the tragic story of 7 year old Katie Flynn who was killed in a car accident in 2006, on the way back from her Aunts wedding, by a drunk driver.
The song is obviously named limousine as that is what the family travelled home in.
The song draws many parallels to the incident.
The beginning of the song is seemingly from Katie's mother's point of view, as it reads,
"Get your petals out and lay them in the isle
Pretend your garden grows,
And it's your own day to wed." It is said that Katie laid flowers in the isle of her Aunts wedding hours before they left to go home, so drawing on from this is could be said that from her mother's point of view she explains to her daughter to pretend it's her own wedding day, as we know that she never got that far."And I've only one more night to be your mother" also shows how it's in the perspective from the mother.

The song also shows other points of view, such as the drunk driver's that crashed into the families limousine
"Yeah, you were right about me.
But can I get myself out from underneath 
This guilt that will crush me
and in the choir I saw our sad Messiah.
He was bored and tired of my laments.
Said, "I died for you one time, but never again"
This could show how the driver felt about the situation, summing up his feelings for knowing what he did was so obviously wrong. As he explains that all the people at the trial and Katie's family were right about him being a 'murderer'. It almost seems as though he is asking the question 'Can he get out from underneath this guilt that will crush him?' as if he doesn't know himself if he can ever answer that question or if it is right to do so.
It also goes on to talk about a choir, which may often be used in funerals; along with talking about a Messiah, which is a religious figure, it then say's being bored of laments, which is a poem or song said to express grief, regret or mourning, which then in turn could mean as a whole that the driver is feeling like nothing can resolve his sins of what he did, not even religion could purge his sins, which obviously links to the lines before hand that expressed his confusion and questioning about ever being able to get out of the guilt he feels. The last line then says 'i died for you one time, but never again' this could link to being a religious term, as Jesus was said to die for our sins, however the use of the term never again states that even the Messiah or Jesus figure shows there is no help for the driver's well being or hope. It could also be stating to more than one thing, not only in this story and this one man's sin but humanities sins, as societies are now becoming more secular, it could be just a absolute statement.

The song then progresses into a series of verses that are similar but change by one or two words each time.
"One'll love you so much, but do me a favor baby, don't reply.
'cause I can dish it out, but I can't take it."
This continues until it says 'Seven'll' which reflects Katie's age, she was seven years old when she died.
It could also represent the seven sins, envy, sloth, gluttony, wrath, pride, lust, greed.
The seven deadly sins also originates from the bible, stating sins such as murder and drunkenness.

In the ending parts of the song this is sung in the background
"I'll never have to buy adjacent plots of earth
We'll never have to rot together underneath dirt
I'll never have to lose my baby in the crowd
I should be laughing right now"
This is said to be from Katie's point of view, expressing her adolescence, that now she is gone she will never have to buy adjacent plots of earth, or die with her love, or loose her child in a crowd, it says she should be laughing right now to express the relief and gratitude she could feel for not having to go through the pain that everyone does in life, with loosing people, etc., which could also draw a strong parallel because it shows how sad the song really is.

How this will help with my studies: This has helped with my studies because it shows how to break down the song in order to get a feel for the video and what it could be based on, which i have done for the video.