Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Analysis of "It's a Wonderful Life" by Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution

Well first off, I had first heard this song when it started playing on my boyfriend's iPod while we were driving one night. The version I heard was by Streetlight Manifesto (which is the version on my little playlist, it just says it's by BOTAR). I absolutely love this song, and sometimes it makes me cry, because the message of love is just so strong. The analysis is italicized.

Once again I wake up alone on the wrong side of my bed/And once again you begin your dancing nakedly on the right side of my head/It’s for a lack of better words that I can hardly speak my soul/And I’m feeling what I’m feeling when I’m feeling when it’s time to lose control, my love

He wakes up from a bad night's sleep/ He imagines his lover dancing next to him like she would when he was with her/He can't say the words that express what's going on in his mind/He's feeling like he's going to go crazy.

And once again we’re off to war/But I can’t agree with what we’re fighting for/And that’s not all, because every time she smiles I see her soul/When I smile what a wonderful life.

He's going back out to war (being deployed)/He realizes that he doesn't really want to be a part of the fight /Not agreeing with what the fight is for is not the only reason he wants to leave, he wants to go back to his love/He remembers how good it is back home.

It’s true I used to try/But then I gave up, I learned it doesn’t really matter/What I do ain’t enough to appease or to please/All my well meaning deeds seem to all go up in smoke/And every time I look into these smoke filled skies I wonder what she’s doing, why I volunteered to die/But tonight I will fight for my life so I might see my wife again.

He originally wanted to be a part of the war and tried his best with fighting/He learned that it's not making a difference/What ever he does do isn't right or enough/When he tries to do something well, it just turns out poorly/When he looks at the mess he's made, he thinks of his wife and what made him sign up for this/He pushes that thought away so he can fight so that he'll live to see his wife again.

I explained to her that I’d be back/When I gave my word that the fighting wouldn’t last/But despite my pact, I know that every breath I draw might be my last/And I smile, it’s been a wonderful life

He told his wife that he'd come back/He promised her that the war would end quickly/Although he has promised her this, he knows that he could die at anytime/He smiles because he knows that he's had a great life with her, and he loves her.

Goddamn, another summer in the city and I never seen a girl look so pretty as you/When you smile oh you’re wild for a while/I was hoping I might see you again/And I know that everybody is willing to go/And I find I’ll turn it all and leave on a dime/If I leave tonight, screw what’s right, I can make it home by dawn

He reminisces about when they first met/He remembers her pretty smile/And how he hoped he would see her again after they met/He says about how he knows that everyone knows that they are risking their lives/He will realize that he'll turn his back and leave/And if he leaves, he doesn't care if it's wrong or right, and he'll be home soon enough, because that's all that matters to him.

And I was told, “Boy, prepare for war!”/But they failed to mention what I’d be fighting for/So I fight for this:
The fact that as I pass away, I’ll feel her kiss/When I smile, what a wonderful life Me oh my, what a  wonderful life/Oh, to die for such a wonderful life

He was sort of forced or convinced to go to war/They never told him exactly what he was fighting for/He makes up that his reason is for his wife and that as he dies, he'll feel her kissing him/ He says that he has such a wonderful life/ And lastly, basically says that his wife is his life, and that he would die for her.

This is such romantic song, I feel that it also sums up what it's like to miss someone so much. I feel that this song can be relevant to the troops overseas and how they're away from all their loved ones. Give it a listen, it's the second song on the playlist.

Lyrics courtesy of: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/It's-A-Wonderful-Life-lyrics-Bandits-Of-The-Acoustic-Revolution/B3D4D7BCB40262BE48256E39000ACF6B

1 comment:

  1. This is such a cute song and im glad you decided to analyze it!!

    I think you did an amazing job, and you were right, it did make me tear <3

    I think the last verse is just so powerful, it makes it seem like this is the ideal love, a love in which you would be willing to die for the person :)

    ReplyDelete