hey hey! just one more and i'll walk away all
the everything you win turns to nothing today
and i forget when to move when my mouth is this
dry and my eyes are bursting hearts in a blood-
stained sky oh it was sweet it was wild and oh
how we...i trembled stuck in honey honey
cling to me so just one more just one more go
inspire in me the desire in me to never go home
oh just one more and i'll walk away all the
everything you win turns to nothing today so
just one more just one more go inspire in me
the desire in me to never go home
one of my favorite cure lines - maybe THE favorite lines:
inspire in me the desire in me
to never go home
i'd very much like it to be differently and i'd very much like to be able to notice one day that i am finally somehow content with where i am and what i am. but so far, i seem to be never completely at ease anywhere. when i'm at home, in my "regular" life, i feel like i'm just wasting time, like there is some sort of horrible crime in progress, something completely unforgivable. that i should be somewhere else, i should do something else, be something else. and then looking at it from the opposite angle, i don't miss back home when i'm away from there. i don't really know what i should miss or why i should miss it. BUT if i stay too long in someplace else, i start feeling i should be in some third place. so it's like i'm in place A, i seem to miss place B. and when and if i get to the place B, i feel i should in place C.
so these lines always remind of the unability to really be at ease anywhere, at least for a long time. the best times in your life are those when you're moving, changing, when things flow; when you notice that for several days (or better: weeks) you haven't felt the usual tiredness and dull boredom of realizing that you are actually "placed", located somewhere.
maybe it's the frustration of being stuck with yourself, in your body. and just as long as you can forget that, as long as you can forget yourself and not pay attention to who and what you are, you can be happy. but just as soon as your "location" hits you, and regardless of whether it's "mental location" or "physical location"(!), just as long as it hits you it's game over again, you are back to square one, to start all over again. the feeling never stays - oh, by the way:
"this dream always ends" I said
"this feeling always goes
The time always comes to slip away"
"this wave always breaks" I said
"this sun always sets again
And these flowers will always fade"
"this world always stops" I said
"this wonder always leaves
The time always comes to say goodbye"
"this tide always turns" I said
"this night always falls again
And these flowers will always die"
to me that's about the very same thing.
anyway, this kind of "nameless homesickness", wanting to return someplace where you've never even been: i don't think there's a cure for it, at least not outside yourself. and that's why the lines are so powerful to me. i think there's a "common" way to read these lines and that's an interpretation where you are hoping for someone else, some other person to "save" you, to make you forget. but i do NOT think the lines are powerful because of this - because nobody can "save" you. one person cannot ever really help or "save" another person that way, in any way... that is only an illusion at its best. and since it's only an illusion, if you try it then it's also bound to turn out to be a disappointment in the end. you can only ever hope to help yourself. and even that is very hard, very difficult. but there's no cure, no aid, no help outside yourself, nobody or nothing in this world is evr going to come to your rescue. you are alone, always were and always will be.
and there is the power in those lines: to inspire that hope - even when it's a futile hope. because that's your only consolation anyway.
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 04, 2008, 12:28:47
homesick:
i'd very much like it to be differently and i'd very much like to be able to notice one day that i am finally somehow content with where i am and what i am.
I'm not actually sure it's in everyone's nature to be able to reach that stage, and I'm not even sure that this inability is an entirely negative thing. For some people contentment equals boredom, they only feel alive when change is happening and unpredictability (is that a word?) is on the horizon.
It's a theme I find recurring often in Robert's lyrics, it's one of the first things that struck me when I started listening to The Cure.
"it's always the same" "again and again and again" "is it always like this?" etc. -- the frustration and hopelessness of repetition and
sameness.
Quote from: robiola on January 04, 2008, 14:03:08
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 04, 2008, 12:28:47
homesick:
i'd very much like it to be differently and i'd very much like to be able to notice one day that i am finally somehow content with where i am and what i am.
I'm not actually sure it's in everyone's nature to be able to reach that stage, and I'm not even sure that this inability is an entirely negative thing. For some people contentment equals boredom, they only feel alive when change is happening and unpredictability (is that a word?) is on the horizon.
It's a theme I find recurring often in Robert's lyrics, it's one of the first things that struck me when I started listening to The Cure.
"it's always the same" "again and again and again" "is it always like this?" etc. -- the frustration and hopelessness of repetition and sameness.
yes i see what you mean. but i think that the problem lies in the fact that since let's say something like 95-99% of your life is bound to be more or less sameness and repetition, then those people who
do manage to find happiness in that can be considered somewhat "lucky". at least they have means (or some kind of skill) to escape lots of futile frustration in their lives.
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 04, 2008, 14:16:15
yes i see what you mean. but i think that the problem lies in the fact that since let's say something like 95-99% of your life is bound to be more or less sameness and repetition, then those people who do manage to find happiness in that can be considered somewhat "lucky". at least they have means (or some kind of skill) to escape lots of futile frustration in their lives.
I just wonder how many people actually manage to be happy that way, and how many people just convince themselves that they're okay with it because they have no choice or are too afraid of change. Anyway, maybe we're drifting off topic now.
This is a brilliant "conversation"..I actually became a little "agitated" when I read JB's comments...for no other reason than I thought how restless she feels, inside and out...how "unsettled" she appears to be...then Robiolas return comments, her "take", her interpretation of what JB was trying to explain and her own very coherent answers.....I asked JB to make this a topic all of it's own, as I think it's one that many people can join in on, and find very interesting...to relate to lines in a Cure song so strongly..intruiges me, it honestly does...
I guess I am one of the "lucky" ones...I am content and at peace with my inner soul..Oh sure, I get angry and sad at times, that's just part of life...but inside, I can honestly say I am "settled"....
Sooo...please join in..either on this particular conversation, which is really, really good, and it would be great if it could be expanded by others... or create your own....the lines of a Cure song and how you interpret them in regards to your life.. :smth023
You know, after rereading japanesebaby's posts in this discussion, I looked at her icon and was struck by how much the image reminds me of what she was saying... Always reaching for the apple but never quite managing to grab it, so you just keep reaching endlessly. But at least you keep striving for it...
When I first got into The Cure I was going through a phase that was more like standing in front of the fridge waiting for the apple to jump out at you and knowing that it won't, and knowing that reaching for it is useless because you won't be able to touch it and so you don't even try. It's like being only halfway alive. That's why as I was saying earlier Robert's songs really spoke to me -- nobody does hopelessness and quiet desperation like our man Robert.
I crouch in fear and wait
I'll never feel again
If only I could remember
Anything at all
Not just through the lyrics but through the music -- some songs from the Faith period for instance sound like... being lost in a sea of grey fog that slowly suffocates you and takes your will to live and fight. (Geez Robiola, no wonder you love listening to them.)
The line " you the one that looks like christmas" which was being discussed in the "talking about lines" thread has evoked two totally different "interpretations"...personally, I feel that it's relating to someone all bright, happy, all wrapped up with verve.... but I suppose it's how a person relates to christmas? If you despise it, then you could look at that line negatively...or opposite, like me..... I guess a lot of lines are interpreted differently by lots of people, particularly when you can relate it to what's happening in your life at the time...or, indeed, a simple line can bring happy or sad memories back like an avalanche...there are not many artists who are expert at this...Robert being right up there with the "can do"...makes you wonder sometimes just what HE has or is going through?
Quote from: melly on January 09, 2008, 09:22:12
... I guess a lot of lines are interpreted differently by lots of people, particularly when you can relate it to what's happening in your life at the time...or, indeed, a simple line can bring happy or sad memories back like an avalanche...there are not many artists who are expert at this...Robert being right up there with the "can do"...makes you wonder sometimes just what HE has or is going through?
Well, that's part of the magic, isn't it....The Cure's music and lyrics are so evocative. We interpret them according to our feelings and experiences. That's why so many people have a strong emotional reaction not only to the music but to the person who wrote it... it's "Oh, he has put into words exactly what I feel, which means he feels the same, we are twin souls destined to be together, if only he knew." I for one, when I was a teenager, was certain that Robert was my soulmate... :lol:
looks like it's just you and I on this Robiola...which surprises me, as, going by what I have encoutered reading peoples comments throughout the forum, I expected many to come here, talk about what lines they particularly love and just how it "fits in" with their life...ah well..I thought it was good, anyway!!
I had to laugh re your comments about why people may think they and Robert should be "one"...there's nothing wrong with "connecting" to him, that's just a natural feeling...BUT there are some straight out loons who HONESTLY think Mary should be expelled and they take her place...it is indeed, a fine line bewteen passion and obsession (take a look in the "official site..if you dare...there are some "beauties there!! :shock: )...and I'm not talking about teenagers either!! hey, I wanted to marry David Bowie when I was a young un!! :smth050
Quote from: robiola on January 09, 2008, 10:29:30
Quote from: melly on January 09, 2008, 09:22:12
... I guess a lot of lines are interpreted differently by lots of people, particularly when you can relate it to what's happening in your life at the time...or, indeed, a simple line can bring happy or sad memories back like an avalanche...there are not many artists who are expert at this...Robert being right up there with the "can do"...makes you wonder sometimes just what HE has or is going through?
Well, that's part of the magic, isn't it....The Cure's music and lyrics are so evocative. We interpret them according to our feelings and experiences. That's why so many people have a strong emotional reaction not only to the music but to the person who wrote it... it's "Oh, he has put into words exactly what I feel, which means he feels the same, we are twin souls destined to be together, if only he knew." I for one, when I was a teenager, was certain that Robert was my soulmate... :lol:
Hey ladies, I've actually been thinking about this topic for a few days now. There are so many lines I really strongly identify with...guess that's why I'm still a Curefan after all these years.
What really strikes me is the "honesty"(?) in Robert's lyrics. There are so many that completely reflect how I'm feeling or have felt at times, but I wouldn't necessarily voice these feelings to someone for fear of..well, I don''t know exactly, maybe them not understanding?
Anyhoo, I also had a giggle at Robiola's comments about emotional reactions and Robert being "the one" (yep, also guilty of that as a youngster :oops:). Now though, I find "comfort" in the fact that at least one other person - well, judging by the comments in this forum, loads of people actually - have had the same feelings as me. So, these feelings aren't wierd or strange or inappropriate, they're actually perfectly natural..I hope that makes sense?
And on that note, I'm off to have more of a think about it and come up with some specifics.... :)
P.S. Melly - I stay well clear of the forum in the official site these days...waaaay too scary for me :shock:
Oh good! someone else is going to join in!! Like I said sues777 there is absolutely nothing wrong in feeling a "closeness" to Robert, through his music and the words...that's why we all "love" him so!! And it is great that so many of us interpret even the same lines differently... I guess one way to look at it, is from when he was so young, to now, people have been privy to Roberts' thoughts, feelings, through his music. How many of us would DARE to do that?
Anyway, looking forward to your next post... :smth023
believe me,,,I do not post "over there"...never...ever... :smth068 :smth048
if talking about people's identification with robert's lyrics, i suppose there are (at least) two kinds of it. you can either identify to his point of view or identify to the object of (some of) his lyrics.
and surely, some people only seem to focus on the latter and seem to think that that's what identifying is about (and that's why we have all the "i love you robert forever and ever please marry me!" sort of loonies).
but this is a narcistic way to identify with the lyrics - or better say, a narcistic misinterpretation of what "identifying" is/should be about. it doesn't really try to "understand" the writer or consider what he/she's saying.
i'm not saying there's something completely wrong with it, but there's very little anything in it, very little to discuss - because a person who identifies like this is focusing on himself/herself, not on what the writer is trying to say.
and especially songs like 'homesick': because there isn't even anything "fancy" or "tempting" in this song, in terms of trying to identify oneself with the object of the lyrics - this isn't 'lovesong' or 'just like heaven'. i'd dare to say that here you MUST set yourself into the position of the writer here, if you want to be able to reflect this song at all. if people focus on identifying with the object of the lyrics here, the lyrics suddenly become totally banal somehow. it's easy to import some kind of rimantic aspects into it, about the difficulty of separation and blahblahblah, if one takes that side. yet i would see it as a misinterpretation. there's nothing romantic in this song.
(should we have a thread for "lyric interpretations in general" instead?)
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 10, 2008, 09:26:39
(should we have a thread for "lyric interpretations in general" instead?)
YES!! good idea.... not sure where it should go, so I will leave that decision to you jb, ok?...
I see what you are getting at there; but I feel that if a person identifies with the words of Homesick, it may be because that person is feeling just that way.. by listening to what he is saying in the song; which, to me, IS identifying with the writer..not just "OH that's me at the moment"...surely, by thinking that, you are listening, absorbing, what the writer is putting across, his words..that at THAT moment, when the lyrics are sung, you listen, think " I know what he means", therefore, then being able to match it with whatever you may be, or have been through yourself. So, to me, you are identifying with what he is saying, his point of view AND relating them to yourself. 'Romanticism ' is not the only thing people search for in Roberts songs, actually, far from it...the total opposite, I would have thought. Despair, pain and hopelessness is something most can relate to, by hearing what he is saying, understanding it, then having that feeling of " that's how I am, at this very moment". That is why, when going through a bad time, a lot of people WILL play a song from the Cure collection, as not only do they take comfort in the knowledge Robert is singing what they are feeling, they actually understand most of its meaning...
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 10, 2008, 09:26:39
you can either identify to his point of view or identify to the object of (some of) his lyrics.
and surely, some people only seem to focus on the latter and seem to think that that's what identifying is about (and that's why we have all the "i love you robert forever and ever please marry me!" sort of loonies).
but this is a narcistic way to identify with the lyrics - or better say, a narcistic misinterpretation of what "identifying" is/should be about. it doesn't really try to "understand" the writer or consider what he/she's saying.
I find this a rather unforgiving point of view, and I can't entirely agree with it. It's true that there is a more "emotional" way of listening to a song, where you just let the beauty of it "flow" over you without thinking too much, and of course the bits that are going to strike you and take on a particular meaning for you are the ones that have a strong echo of personal truth for you, they will instantly paint a more vivid picture for you. But I wouldn't call it narcissistic or too self-involved, it's just one of the levels at which you can enjoy one of Robert's songs, a more instinctive one. And if you never indulge in it, you are missing part of the experience.
At other times you can choose a more cerebral approach, in which you "keep you brain plugged in" as we say here, try to view the lyrics as a whole and reflect on possible meanings and on the writer's intent. This is also rewarding, on a different level, and if I didn't think so I wouldn't have majored in English Lit in college! But one thing I learned is that you should never fool yourself into thinking you are being objective, because you will inevitably still be filtering everything through your personal experience, because that's what human beings do. The question "What does the writer mean to say here?" always had many different answers, many of them plausible, only one which felt true for each person. (This is especially true with rather cryptic texts, as Robert's lyrics tend to be at times.) That's why we say we "interpret" a text or poem or song lyrics, we don't decode or decipher them. Maybe if one keeps this in mind, it doesn't all seem so "black and white", "right and not-competely-wrong-but-almost" anymore.
What do you think?
hhmm, i think you both might misunderstand me a bit(?). i was referring to these people meantioned above, people who "want to overthrown mary" and who create a fantasy world where they imagine themselves in her place. that's waht i meant with "identifying with the object of robert's lyrics", that's why i mentioned songs like 'just like heaven' and 'lovesong'.
i wasn't saying it's "wrong" to identify this way. i suppose especially teenagers (i don't mean you! ;)) all around the world need to do it somewhat, so you find it everywhere, on most every kind of fan sites. people confessing their eternal love to their idol and being 200% certain that they themselves are THE person in their idol's songs. so i'm not sayin that sort of thing is wrong or bad, all i'm saying is that that sort of identifying is really not very interesting starting point to discuss the lyrics (not saying you were doing so here, though). because it only leads to "ooooh i love you robert!" and really nothing much more. and it's a pretty narcistic way to reflect the lyrics because it's not trying to "see inside" the lyrics and reflect them in your own, real life, instead it's about projecting yourself as some kind of character in some kind of fantasy world. instead you're consciously misintepreting something (the lyrics), in order to create your own nice fantasy world where you live with robert, happily ever after etc.
and THAT is not the same as focusing on correspondences between your own life and what the lyrics are saying to you, it's not the same as having these "oh, i understand what he means" moments. if you want to see clearly and really reflect what's being said in the lyrics, you need to be yourself and maintain your own identity - thus, keep your distance to the art/artists. otherwise you cannot really see clearly, you cannot reflect the "message" of the song/lyrics/literature/art/all that sort of things.
so i do think the difference there is huge. and i was simply trying to point out possible different interpretations of "identifying with something". there are several kinds of it. and whereas one cannot say that some are more valuable than others, some of them definitely do have more meaning what comes to using them as basis of conversation.
and if it needs to be said: i wasn't referring to either one of you (melly or robiola) or anyone else here. i was simply pointing out that very often, when we talk about lyrics and their meaning to us, the conversation seems to go into this direction, a direction where people forget themselves and confuse identifying with fantasizing being the object in a song/in the lyrics.
and i also brought it up because i think this is a completely different conversation than a conversation about the song called 'homesick'.
so, what about 'homesick'?
Yes, your meaning is clearer to me now.
I didn't actually think you were talking about me, don't worry. ;)
You're right, the conversation is drifting, but when I find a thought-provoking post I can't help but jump at the chance for a nice juicy discussion!
Will try to get back on track.
I certainly didn't think you were referring to me either jb, not at all! I see what you are saying, and I guess, as a teenager, we tend to not really look at lyrics in the way we possibly do when we are older...I know when I was a teenager ( in days of old when knights were bold) I honestly couldn't have cared less what came out of the mouths of some of my "idols"...oh, I enjoyed the lyrics, but never, ever, took it any deeper...I just knew I loved that artist/band, so anything they produced was generally, ok with me. I know that's not very sophisticated, but, at 13-17, that is one thing I definately was NOT!! haha.. As for "drifting off" the origianl topic, Homesick, maybe, we could encourage this type of conversation anyway, maybe in a new thread, if you would prefer.
ps..some of my "idols" were David Bowie, T-Rex, Black Sabbath...no Bay City Rollers for this little black duck!!
I have to admit I've been listening to Homesick a lot over the last month or two and I think my own interpretation of it is very much line with jb's. To me it's about the feelings of restlessness within oneself, not knowing where you should be, who you should be, what you should be doing, to the point of being somewhere, doing something and trying to will that situation into making you believe it's what's you want ("inspire in me the desire in me to never go home") because you believe you should be happy and settled, but you're not.
To me it echoes feelings of self doubt and frustration, but not hopelessness and despair, as you're still looking for that "inspiration".
Along the same lines for me is -
"No I won't do it again, I don't want to pretend
If it can't be like before I've got to let it end
I don't want what I was, I had a change of head
But maybe someday....
yeah maybe someday
I've got to let it go and leave it gone
Just walk away, stop it going on
Get too scared to jump if I wait too long
But maybe someday....
I'll see you smile as you call my name
Start to feel, and it feels the same
and I know that maybe someday's come
maybe someday come's again"
For me it's all about realising you're in a situation you used to enjoy but don't love anymore (and I'm not necessarily talking about a relationship). You know it just isn't right, and you should do something about it, but then something good happens/goes your way and it's all ok again because you feel you should be happy and satisfied and you're just being difficult in always trying to find something more....But that feeling only lasts for a while...
I also agree there are many different ways to interpret lyrics. I really don't know if I looked for the "real" meaning behind lyrics or tried to look at them from the writer's perspective as a teenager ('twas a long time ago) but maybe that's just because I didn't have the life experience to draw on and just couldn't really identify as I hadn't lived through it yet.
However, although the depth of Robert's lyrics is probably the main reason I'm still listening to the Cure (I do also think they're brilliant musically by the way), I must confess there are some songs I adore that I love to simply be entertained by - Burn immediately comes to mind. To me, these lyrics embody the grandest romantic gestures and perfectly fit the spirit of the movie they were written for (buildings burn, people die but true love never dies). But then again I can be a right soppy git at times.... :smth050 (but please let me be clear - I don't want anybody expelled...)
oops, sorry, I think I've taken up a lot of space and have probably drifted off topic but this is a great discussion!!
Robert has indeed, with his music, created the soundtrack of my life and many others around the world. Certain songs hit home harder than others, certain albums remind some of their need and longing for a loved one, their first kiss, their first love, their life as a whole. My favourite album is Disintegration followed my Pornography. But I believe if I had to pick an album that best sums up my life so far I would choose Bloodflowers. Robert has captured those moments of longing and of lost in a way that few in the world have ever done. Like a poet, he has given us his soul in music. Music that is timeless because it always deals with an ongoing and everlasting theme, love and loss. Is there an outdated song?? No, The Cure's music will always remain relevant and continue to make my heart smile just like the first time I fell in love with them.
I suppose the fact that the song is called "Homesick" and at the same time its most important line is "inspire the desire in me to never go home" has to be interpreted in the following way: the writer misses home but at the same time he doesn't want to feel that way. This is a very basic conclusion, but if we agree on this then we can start from here and speculate on the its possible meaning/implications...
Why does the writer feel homesick?
Maybe he's just far away from home, feeling isolated, estranged, and since "home" means, even if only on a general level, "comfort" and "belonging", this is just the basic immediate feeling-response to his current situation.
Maybe he really loves home for more substantial or particular reasons, because he loves someone that has stayed back there. Maybe the word "home" could even just stand for the "loved one", instead of meaning a particular place.
The "desire to never come home" is the opposite of homesickness. Now, why would the writer want to feel this "negative desire" instead of feeling homesick, which is a sad feeling but has a "positive" meaning?
Maybe just because homesickness is a feeling that hurts. The writer doesn't want to feel that hurt and therefore he is merely searching for something that may alleviate the pain.
But maybe the writer thinks that for some reason he shouldn't be feeling this homesickness, not because of the pain involved, but because he more or less rationally believes that home isn't really the place for him. He misses it because he is emotionally attached to it (maybe because of a person or persons he loves but maybe also because it is simply the place where he always has lived), but in his mind he thinks that he should me moving on, maybe because home somehow is preventing him from achieving all the things that he thinks would truly fulfil him.
Now, going into more specific details in the lyrics, the writer has clearly found a romantic partner away from home. He has enjoyed the experience of being physically with her and wants to repeat it, hoping that it will help him get rid of homesickness. Depending on the circumstances, this could mean that he is cheating on his lover/wife, but it could also simply mean that he has found someone to fill, if only for a brief moment, a space that was previously occupied by no one. And because this experience was a powerful one, he is hoping that it will be enough to help him break the chains of his life-up-to-now (these chains could have a real, objective meaning – the binding ties that come with matrimony or any sort of relationship based on compromise, but they could also be merely psychological – the mental inertia that comes from living a life on repeat-mode).
Well, I think I have more or less covered the most important stuff. I would only like to add, on a more general level, that I'm sure that sometimes illusions can save. Love (is it only an illusion?) or religion can save people from falling in despair, giving them strong reasons to live. Even if these reasons are merely illusory, as long as a person believes in them, their power can be enough to "save" them.
Also, the fact that someone has never found "true love", or a feeling that proves to be deep and enduring, doesn't necessarily mean that this feeling does not exist or is merely a powerful illusion. I suppose much the same could be said about God, but, as an atheist, I won't be developing this last line of thought...
PS: Analysing songs this way eventually becomes a bit geeky, but then all kinds of analysis eventually will make you a geek if you carry them too far... :-D
Quote from: revolt on September 12, 2008, 14:15:06
I suppose the fact that the song is called "Homesick" and at the same time its most important line is "inspire the desire in me to never go home" has to be interpreted in the following way:
the art of all analysis is not to force things to pre-existing moulds and not to feel
any pressure to choose the obvious interpretations (which are often if not entirely wrong at least not the most exciting ones), but to let the subject matter take its own shape within us, just by themselves. the only analysis that can truly speak to us is the one that comes from within us, not from outside. therefore it's actually more or less unimportant what the writer of the lyrics "meant", what it "meant to him: the writer is forever in the outside, whereas we're left within ourselves and ourselves alone in the inside. we need to reflect and not to explain, that's all that matters (if anything at all).
for me the most important thing in the lyrics is the concept of home, the impossibility of its existence. and the cruelty of that.
and of course it's clear that home is never a place. is it a person then? no: 'home' is a code word that should not be explained or interpreted, unless it's an interpretation from within. and there's a sign saying "no trespassing" there for anyone who tries to enter from the outside.
Quote from: japanesebaby on September 12, 2008, 14:48:57
Quote from: revolt on September 12, 2008, 14:15:06
I suppose the fact that the song is called "Homesick" and at the same time its most important line is "inspire the desire in me to never go home" has to be interpreted in the following way:
the art of all analysis is not to force things to pre-existing moulds and not to feel any pressure to choose the obvious interpretations (which are often if not entirely wrong at least not the most exciting ones), but to let the subject matter take its own shape within us, just by themselves. the only analysis that can truly speak to us is the one that comes from within us, not from outside. therefore it's actually more or less unimportant what the writer of the lyrics "meant", what it "meant to him: the writer is forever in the outside, whereas we're left within ourselves and ourselves alone in the inside. we need to reflect and not to explain, that's all that matters (if anything at all).
for me the most important thing in the lyrics is the concept of home, the impossibility of its existence. and the cruelty of that.
and of course it's clear that home is never a place. is it a person then? no: 'home' is a code word that should not be explained or interpreted, unless it's an interpretation from within. and there's a sign saying "no trespassing" there for anyone who tries to enter from the outside.
The art of discussion is also to agree on some sort of basis from where to start, otherwise you'll find yourself running around larger and larger circles without getting anywhere.
All interpretations come from within, at least in part. But at the same time, all the meanings that you find in yourself have one time or another been outside, before you made them your own. You are born a blank page and throughout your life all sorts of meanings eventually get printed on that page. And where do all these meanings come from? From the outside. When they eventually get in your page, they might be somewhat changed, specially because the richer in experiences you become the more there will be in you to eventually interpret and modify the new meanings that you come across.
Anyway, all the possibilities I have posited I know them by personal experience (except that I'm not a cheater, but that doesn't matter). I was just trying to rationalise it and simplify it all to make it discussable here. It doesn't matter, anyway.
PS: I can read all the "no trespassing" signs, I'm not blind. I'll just offer this as a last general thought: there is no such thing as absolute safety. Trying to reach it will only eventually lead you to absolute loneliness. Is it something anyone else should care about? Maybe not.
Quote from: revolt on September 12, 2008, 15:40:19
I'll just offer this as a last general thought: there is no such thing as absolute safety. Trying to reach it will only eventually lead you to absolute loneliness. Is it something anyone else should care about? Maybe not.
very well put, i agree. although i'd go a bit further and say that regardless of whether we try to seek safety, we're absolutely alone. always were, always will be. anyway, trying to seek safety can surely enhance this realization - sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it isn't. because it might become a tragedy to some. your life depends on how well you can cope with the realization of being absolutely alone: if you can't, you're doomed.
(and this also explains why god keeps being popular: under such grim circumstances just about any promise of absolute safety, however obscure and faint and well, of however unsecure nature - it will sell. even if it's something postponed so that you need to die first to obtain it - still, it will sell. why? because for many anything is better than facing the reality of absolute loneliness. any fairytale will do.
and should anyone else really care? like you said, maybe not. there's the great irony in it!)
*edit:
this is also why i personally do feel that 'homesick' is the saddest song of the cure:
http://curefans.com/index.php/topic,3284.msg20315.html#msg20315
'all cats are grey' gets very close lyrically but it doesn't quite deliver musically (by that i mean the music doesn't quite dwell on the grief, there's too much hope in it (=the music), whereas 'homesick' has none).
sometimes when i;m drunk ill start analysing :D
up to now ill limit with saying only that ive spent hours and hours wondering why it is called homesick as Robert has the 'desire to never go home again'
but that's being homesick actually...wanting to never return...to stop missing home...one of the most painful experiences one can suffer is being away from home...only once who have been ripped from the place where even walls have sentimental value can understand
and oh how we...
what to do you think follows
what has Robert hidden in your opinion :)
Quote from: sickboybg on October 19, 2008, 21:25:32
sometimes when i;m drunk ill start analysing :D
up to now ill limit with saying only that ive spent hours and hours wondering why it is called homesick as Robert has the 'desire to never go home again'
No, Robert doesn't feel that desire in the song, he is only hoping that the person he is with will inspire that desire in him...
Quote from: revolt on October 20, 2008, 11:30:53
Quote from: sickboybg on October 19, 2008, 21:25:32
sometimes when i;m drunk ill start analysing :D
up to now ill limit with saying only that ive spent hours and hours wondering why it is called homesick as Robert has the 'desire to never go home again'
No, Robert doesn't feel that desire in the song, he is only hoping that the person he is with will inspire that desire in him...
how exactly do you know what robert was thinking when he wrote this song? to assume makes an ass out of u & me.
Quote from: sickboybg on October 19, 2008, 21:25:32
but that's being homesick actually...wanting to never return...to stop missing home...one of the most painful experiences one can suffer is being away from home...only once who have been ripped from the place where even walls have sentimental value can understand
That's it.I remember the day when I walked with my father through the empty rooms
of a house-OUR house and I found it hard to imagine that I lived there for sixteen years.
It was so strange and I felt relieved when we left it.I couldn't believe that this house was my...home.