Lost and Found
BET YOU THOUGHT I HAD FALLEN OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!
This island has become
An ocean and my boat’s too small
The waves are crashing in
And I can’t save this sinking ship
I sent out signal flares
But no one out there seems to care
Now the voice inside my head
Is the only thing that I have left
[This is the second song in which I examine the theme of literary conceit through imagery of a ship at sea (see an analysis of Brand New’s “Play Crack the Sky” here). I believe that the song operates on a literal and metaphorical level—the narrator experiences the literal sinking of his ship, while his subconscious, emotional self drowns in a figurative manifestation of its guilt. Senses Fail singer Buddy Nielsen chooses an interesting transition to open “Lost and Found”—the change of an “island” to an “ocean.” Although both words denote loneliness (isolation in an island, and seclusion in vastness in an ocean), Nielsen chooses not to reveal the metaphysical basis of this song; as far as the listener is concerned, this story is still a narrative. Nielsen then contrasts his view of himself (represented by the boat that’s “too small”) with the immensity of the ocean. The sinking ship is metaphor for a still-unnamed conflict, as the narrator is beaten while he’s already down (“the waves are crashing in”), and he desperately tries to attain external help (“I sent out signal flares”). At this point, the narrator relinquishes all worldliness, and introduces his subconscious (“the voice inside my head”) as the only essence of his being that he still can grasp.]
This is the part where I’ll admit
I’m getting what I deserve
And now I’m lost at sea
I’m drowning in what I won’t be
I’m haunted by the sound (Sweet sound of my last breath)
[Transition to the narrator’s conscious as the primary speaker in the story. Interesting use of antithesis to highlight the sharp contrast between the idea of “drowning” (i.e., immersed in too much of something) with “in what I won’t be” (i.e., the absence of character traits that makes the narrator feel guilt). Nielsen follows with another paradoxical statement that the narrator is haunted (therefore still alive) by the “sweet sound of my last breath” (his own death).]
Twenty days at sea
My skin is blistered from the heat
I can beg and I can plead
But what I get is never what I need[…]
Whoa whoa
I’m going down I’m going down
Whoa whoa
I’m going down I’m going down
[Transition back to the literal, the narrator in person suffering at sea. However, before returning to the chorus, Nielsen employs another sharp contrast by antithesis, which was previously reserved for the rhetoric of the narrator’s subconscious—“What I get is never what I need.” After the chorus repeats, Nielsen has blended the two aspects—his literal being and figurative guilt—of the narrator together. Because they are intrinsically interwoven, the downfall of one is the downfall of the other. Both the narrator’s ship is sinking in the literal sense, while in the figurative sense he is paying atonement for his character flaws.]
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notcoolenough4this reblogged this from rockgenius and added:
almost exactly what...distract me from whatever...bothering...
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rockgenius posted this
