Recurring themes/imagery in David's music
DECEMBER 6, 2008, 5:34 pm
A few days ago, annie702 posted a list of things that she thought were recurring themes in David's songs on DCFC and D-C.org. I had been thinking of doing the same thing and was pleasantly surprised to find that she had done this, and that she had included many of the things I was thinking of and a few I hadn't. We began discussing this at DCFC and adding to the list. We ended up with 38 things that we thought were common themes/imagery, and today I went through all of David's songs to sort of tally them up. I included things he didn't write, like Incarcerate, Creep, and Time Of My Life, because they are all songs that he has recorded and embraced in some way.
What we found is included below:
This is a list of the imagery I tracked and how many songs each one occurred in:
heart (heartbeat, on sleeve) - 13 songs
songs - 12 songs
falling - 17 songs
truth/lies – 18 songs
crying/tears – 13 songs
home (finding, being carried back) – 8 songs
breath/breathing - 13 songs
resting head - 4 songs
circles – 4 songs
shadows – 3 songs
on ground/floor – 6 songs
bleeding/wounds – 15 songs
beaten/punches/fistfight – 7 songs
scars – 4 songs
pain/hurt – 12 songs
death/dying – 15 songs
light/dark – 16 songs
lost – 6 songs
empty/hollow – 7 songs
atmosphere – 3 songs
crawling – 4 songs
change/transition/letting go -23 songs
being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart – 21 songs
color/black&white – 9 songs
soul/souls – 11 songs
sun/rain – 11 songs
eyes closed/shut/blind – 13 songs
drowning – 3 songs
bombs/grenades/guns/bullets – 9 songs
dreams – 5 songs
right/wrong/sin/vice – 10 songs
fear - 5 songs
free/imprisoned/chained – 9 songs
arms/hands/reaching - 15
flying/wings - 3
alone/loneliness/alienation - 16
believe/faith - 11
waiting - 13
Imagery used in the most songs:
change/transition/letting go - 23
being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart - 21
truth/lies – 18
falling – 17
light/dark – 16
alone/loneliness/alienation - 16
bleeding/wounds – 15
arms/hands/reaching – 15
death/dying – 15 songs
All imagery appeared in at least 3 songs.
Songs with highest number of common images:
Me – 13
No Place To Go – 12
Somber – 12
Empty Again – 11
Declaration - 11
Why Do You Care? – 10
Hold - 10
All songs had at least one of the common images listed.
Last but not least, here's the breakdown by song:
Not Around – crying/tears, change/transition/letting go
Red Hot – light/dark, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, color/black&white, waiting
No Free Advice – shadows, sun/rain, right/wrong/sin/vice, free/imprisoned/chained, shadows, sun/rain, free/imprisoned/chained, right/wrong/sin/vice
Me – falling, truth/lies, crying/tears, breath/breathing, on ground/floor, beaten/punches/fistfight, pain/hurt, death/dying, empty/hollow, crawling, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, soul/souls, alone/loneliness/alienation
No Place To Go - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), truth/lies , breath/breathing, beaten/punches/fistfight, death/dying, empty/hollow, crawling, change/transition/letting go, soul/souls, sun/rain, right/wrong/sin/vice, free/imprisoned/chained
Somber - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), falling, truth/lies, crying/tears, pain/hurt, death/dying, light/dark, empty/hollow, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, alone/loneliness/alienation, waiting
Peace Of Mind - change/transition/letting go, free/imprisoned/chained, dreams
Empty Again - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), falling, pain/hurt, death/dying, empty/hollow, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, color/black&white, eyes closed/shut/blind, arms/hands/reaching, believe/faith, free/imprisoned/chained
Change - light/dark, change/transition/letting go, eyes closed/shut/blind, arms/hands/reaching
Why Do You Care? - truth/lies, crying/tears, bleeding/wounds, pain/hurt, death/dying, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, eyes closed/shut/blind, drowning, believe/faith
Close Your Eyes - crying/tears, pain/hurt, lost, soul/souls, eyes closed/shut/blind, fear, arms/hands/reaching
Matter Of Time - light/dark, change/transition/letting go, free/imprisoned/chained, right/wrong/sin/vice, fear, believe/faith
Clean Break - breath/breathing, bleeding/wounds, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, sun/rain, eyes closed/shut/blind, scars, alone/loneliness/alienation, waiting
Feed Your Ego - bleeding/wounds, eyes closed/shut/blind, right/wrong/sin/vice
Hold – songs, crying/tears, home (finding, being carried back), breath/breathing, on ground/floor, light/dark, fear, arms/hands/reaching, believe/faith, waiting
Just In Case - beaten/punches/fistfight, light/dark, change/transition/letting go, color/black&white, soul/souls
Leave Behind – falling, truth/lies, shadows, death/dying, light/dark, empty/hollow, soul/souls, right/wrong/sin/vice, alone/loneliness/alienation
Testament - pain/hurt, soul/souls, alone/loneliness/alienation
Therapy - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), falling, truth/lies, sun/rain, alone/loneliness/alienation
Thought You Knew - truth/lies, death/dying, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, dreams, drowning, alone/loneliness/alienation, wating
Truth Is A Gun - truth/lies, resting head, bleeding/wounds, death/dying, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, fear, arms/hands/reaching, wating
Still – heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, color/black&white, arms/hands/reaching, believe/faith, waiting
AC - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve, pain/hurt)
Balance – songs, falling, crying/tears, death/dying, change/transition/letting go, wating
Callout - being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart
Colors Of A Bruise - bleeding/wounds, pain/hurt, color/black&white, arms/hands/reaching
Holding Court - truth/lies, crying/tears, breath/breathing, circles, lost, eyes closed/shut/blind, right/wrong/sin/vice
Incarcerate - free/imprisoned/chained, bleeding/wounds, drowning, alone/loneliness/alienation
On The Floor – falling, on ground/floor, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart
Pecking Order – falling, circles, shadows, on ground/floor, pain/hurt, death/dying, flying/wings
Finish Line - being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart
Uncovered – falling, free/imprisoned/chained
Under Fire - home (finding, being carried back), bleeding/wounds, eyes closed/shut/blind, right/wrong/sin/vice
Unlucky – songs, bleeding/wounds, death/dying, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, eyes closed/shut/blind
Whipped - truth/lies, eyes closed/shut/blind, scars, right/wrong/sin/vice
Creep - crying/tears, pain/hurt, soul/souls
Wavelength – songs, truth/lies, home (finding, being carried back), on ground/floor, beaten/punches/fistfight, death/dying, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, arms/hands/reaching
Dear Heaven - bombs/grenades/guns/bullets
The Truth - truth/lies, resting head, circles, on ground/floor, change/transition/letting go
Porcelain – falling, bleeding/wounds, light/dark, change/transition/letting go, arms/hands/reaching
Let Go - change/transition/letting go, color/black&white, sun/rain, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, eyes closed/shut/blind, arms/hands/reaching
Makeover – falling, bleeding/wounds, light/dark, lost, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, color/black&white, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets, eyes closed/shut/blind, fear
Silver – songs, home (finding, being carried back), change/transition/letting go
Better Never Than Late - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), songs, crying/tears, home (finding, being carried back), being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, flying/wings
Straight Ahead – songs, truth/lies, breath/breathing, circles, beaten/punches/fistfight
Don't Say A Word - breath/breathing, death/dying, waiting
Fall Back Into Me - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), songs, falling, resting head, bleeding/wounds, beaten/punches/fistfight, empty/hollow, change/transition/letting go
Searchlights – falling, light/dark, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart
Stitches – songs, breath/breathing, bleeding/wounds, crawling
Declaration - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve) , songs, truth/lies, breath/breathing, bleeding/wounds, light/dark, free/imprisoned/chained, alone/loneliness/alienation, believe/faith, waiting
Heroes – falling, atmosphere, crawling, sun/rain, right/wrong/sin/vice, alone/loneliness/alienation, believe/faith
Light On - light/dark, believe/faith
Come Back To Me - change/transition/letting go, soul/souls, free/imprisoned/chained, waiting
Life On The Moon - home (finding, being carried back), beaten/punches/fistfight, light/dark, lost, empty/hollow, atmosphere, change/transition/letting go, alone/loneliness/alienation, believe/faith
BarBaSol – falling, bleeding/wounds, death/dying, light/dark, eyes closed/shut/blind, dreams, alone/loneliness/alienation
Mr. Sensitive - crying/tears, pain/hurt, sun/rain
Lie - truth/lies, light/dark, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, right/wrong/sin/vice, waiting
I Did It For You - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), pain/hurt, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, soul/souls, flying/wings
Avalanche – falling, breath/breathing, atmosphere, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, scars, arms/hands/reaching
Permanent - crying/tears, resting head, change/transition/letting go, arms/hands/reaching, alone/loneliness/alienation
A Daily AntheM – songs, falling, truth/lies, change/transition/letting go, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, believe/faith
Time Of My Life - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, soul/souls, dreams, arms/hands/reaching, flying/wings, believe/faith, waiting
Kiss On The Neck – songs, lost, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, bombs/grenades/guns/bullets
My Last Request - breath/breathing, arms/hands/reaching
Breathe Tonight - crying/tears, home (finding, being carried back), breath/breathing, light/dark, lost, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, arms/hands/reaching, alone/loneliness/alienation
We’re Only Honest When We’re Sleeping - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), truth/lies, being broken/in pieces/breaking down/falling or torn apart, dreams, color/black&white
Anodyne - heart (heartbeat, on sleeve), truth/lies, breath/breathing, death/dying, color/black&white, scars, alone/loneliness/alienation
It was interesting to me to see how many of these themes TOML included (8 of them). I can see now why he embraced that song the way he did. It was also interesting to me that the song that included the highest number of these common images/themes was titled Me.
Updated 2-29-09
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Comments for this Blog post
Nice List
I've never heard Better Never Than Late, is it on Youtube? or does someone know of a link?
thanx!
I'M IMPRESSED!
Seems like he goes to a very dark place when he writes. It's hard to believe that a person that appears happy and good-natured would have such dark thoughts but I suppose the writing is an outlet, a catharsis of emotions that would otherwise be crippling. When I went through a depression many years ago I turned to my piano. I used to think of it as my best friend. I'd get lost playing music, now that I think of it the music was very somber. I can't say that it completely cured me, but it was a form of therapy. I also remember that nobody had a clue what I was going through. TMI here. Anyway, David's lyrics are fascinating to me. I have tried to make sense of some songs and they puzzle me to no end. He has admitted that he writes cryptically. What I would give to pick that brain.
I'm impressed with the way you categorized the themes. I've noticed the recurring themes of atmosphere, bleeding, breathing, wounds, heart on sleeve, but you found so many more. I give you an A++.
Wow!!
I Love this!!!! Thanks!!! : )
Wow
This is really cool. I can't believe I hadn't seen this before. I will have to take some time to really read through this.
Did want to mention that I think he has also used the word pill/pills several times. (Unfortunately I'm not able to research it further at the moment...)
Awesome...
I kinda notice he did that a lot... The themes and all... And I kinda like it... I'm the kinda gal who like dark lyrics.... And lyrics are the better form of poetry to me anyway... Because I can the connection to songs thanjust written words. So David keep on being emo!!!!
Updated again....
....to include Anodyne, since David is singing it now and was involved in the writing.
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This looks amazing...
Wow, I'm definitely going to read all this when I get a chance, this is awesome. This is the kind of stuff I love about his music, noticing all the themes and metaphors and emotions in his lyrics. And yeah I've noticed that a lot of them are recurring, especially truth/lies.
Thank you so much for doing this!
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~ You're my inspiration as I stand alone against the world ~
Update
I just updated to add the lyrics for We're Only Honest When We're Sleeping.
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romeo and juliet
i just read Romeo and Juliet in school :|, we analyzed it in class. lots of these themes seem to be like the ones in Romeo and Juliet. creepy.
Thanks ellemarie
I'm glad people are finding this useful or interesting. I did too.
You're right, for sure, that other artists do this. U2 is a good example, and Eddie Vedder is another good example. I really just think it comes from the words/phrases/images that are meaningful to them.
Anyway......I plan on updating this weekend again with a couple more things that I thought of or that were suggested after I posted this.
I'll bump the thread again once I finish updating.
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This is awesome
I've had this blog open on my computer for a number of days now because I needed time to go through it and digest it all. Thanks for taking the time to put this all together and to share it with the rest of us.
I don't know whether David purposefully used similar imagery and language on DCTR as he did on past records or if he's just stuck on a few things because they speak to him. Regardless, I do find it comforting. Plus, it's great language so it deserve the extra mileage. He's also not the only lyricist to do this. There are a number of phrases that Bono has reused in U2 songs over the years.
So either David is incredibly smart and purposefully reminding us that he hasn't changed, or he's instinctively that consistent and connected. Either way, I think it's very cool and I'm glad to have something to bookmark and refer back to as evidence.
This made me laugh so hard!!
Like I said, I think using music to work though stuff is what keeps him happy, so this is for anyone who feels sad about the kind of imagery in David's music.......
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Nice job
I did this for DCTR, but hadn't gotten started on AH/Axium. Thank you so much for this!!
Hmmmmm.
I definitely don't think it's laziness, but I'm also not convinced that he made a deliberate effort to inject phrases from past songs into this CD for any purpose. The same imagery that this CD has in common with past music is pretty much consistent throughout the 50 songs that came before this record (and span a number of years). I really just think that this is the imagery that he connects with and that's why it appears so often, including on the new album.
Also, in response to the person who called this a labor of love, I think it definitely was. For both annie (I think) and me the lyrics in particular are a huge part of what draws us to David music. In my case, I've said many times that I love his writing and I think his lyrics are brilliant.
I feel that way partly because I also like this type of imagery. I listen to a lot of music that would be considered "dark." And when I have crap to work through, I almost invariably reach for either Pearl Jam's Ten, or the video if their performance at Pinkpop in '92. But the other reason is that I'm drawn to the unique way he uses words and phrases. My favorite author is Salman Rushdie because I just love the way he uses language. There's nobody quite like him. I also love Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont. It's extremely dark, but I'm completely captivated by the writing style. I feel the same way about both Eddie Vedder's and David Cook's lyrics, so it was definitely something I enjoyed very much.
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to a fault
Speaking of OTT, I am singing along to the iPod while I arrange books and hear the phrase in LOTM "self-conscious to a fault" which reminds me of "optimistic to a fault..." it's such an idiosyncratic phrase, I feel like throughout DCTR he's repeating these phrases we know and love, heart on sleeve, rest your head, as a way to, what? Say "Hi. It's still me." He's smart, he's doing it for a reason, I don't think it's because he couldn't think of different wording (you know he could have) he's doing it to be reassuring, I think. He knows how closely we are listening. It's either smart, or lazy or both. It's somehow related to his fondess for inside jokes, he's making all these connections to the listener all the time. Using these familiar phrases is so touching to me.
I've never known anyone, (using the term loosely) okay, *encountered* anyone so emotionally intelligent. OTOH, he uses the same phrases over and over again when he's talking: vibe, progression, love amidst distance, maybe it's just his palette. (Okay, OTT much?)
I wish I were putting all this energy into research paper or something, and what makes me feel helpless is, I really don't have much interest in anything but: David Cook. The last time I gave this much thought to an artist it was Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera and it was for a paper I never had published.
David Cook is a toy I can't stop playing with, he feeds me in so many ways.
A labor of Love
It must have been quite a labor of love as it surely took quite a bit of time and effort to compile all this and a lot of love to care so much to do this. Thank you so much to all involved and for sharing this with everyone.
I have always thought that reading something that someone wrote is like peeking into their minds and souls. This analysis certainly shows a lot about David and how he thinks. Many people would be surprised that he is indeed a dark and complex person but he has seen and is aware of some of the dark side of life.
It is good that he can use his songwriting as therapy and can appreciate the goodness of life as well.
Part of what attracts me to David is his complexity. He is seemingly contradictory in many aspects (serious/goofy, guarded/vulnerable, tears/laughter etc). The more you dig the more depths you find and the more he fascinates.
queenjacyln
Good question!
For the most part they seem to be consistent throughout. A couple of exceptions are shadows, on the ground/floor, and color/black & white, which are more common in the earlier stuff. References to songs seem to start later, and of course atmosphere is new.
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Therapy
He's a child of divorce... so these issues don't surprise me at all.
The good thing is that he uses his writing as a method of therapy instead of acting out negatively. I remember in one of his first interviews he said that he got into music because it was a good way to channel the negative.
Great job!
Thanks for compiling this, its extremely fascinating and something I'm going to refer back to for sure. I was just telling someone today that David's music is dark. Then this list pops up and its all here in written form.
One question, since you all studied this carefully to find all the themes, have you noticed any sort of change or progressing from the Axium themes to now or are they all similar or used in similar ways?
Alright, if David starts writing about daisies and dewdrops...
I'm coming after you guys! LOLCall me dark and all, but I LOVE these themes and I hope he's never deterred from them. I was left wondering how you guys classified things like "falling far away" and "ceasing to be"? and don't forget the stolen souls from Declaration. (Can a song be any more backwards???) Also did you ponder the theme of "being a fool/fooling": (Leave Behind, Unlucky, Therapy, Close Your Eyes)? Or "face" as in reading/seeing one? (Don't Say a Word, Fall Back Into Me, The Truth, Porcelain, Come Back to Me, Close Your Eyes, Peace of Mind, Therapy, Pecking Order)?
Yeah, I might have thought about this topic a little bit already... Funny I mentioned it back at AI(dot)com and half the people were aghast at the idea of calling DC dark. They were all like "but he seems so happy"?!? LOL
I saw a Mandi Perkins interview (that's who Kyle worked for before David) and she really explained it well in this video starting at 1:20. Kyle is in that video as well as most of her other ones. She has a law degree and passed the California Bar last year and it boggles my mind (for those who don't already know). Anyway, she basically said all the dark stuff goes straight into her writing. It's probably much the same for David.
Kyle's very lucky to have these 2 as bosses one after another.
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Sengels aka DC4breakfast | Rockstar4evah | WN# 1203 | Irrational Fan: ΦΣ | DCO FTW!
wow...
I'm not sure exactly why, but reading your lists brought me to tears. It really makes it clear how much David has been through, how hurt he's been, how vulnerable he is. He's an extremely complex person, and your lists of the most common themes are so eye opening. Thank you.
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Wow
Y'all put a lot of work in to this! It's really interesting stuff. "Me" is my favorite Axium song, so it was cool to see that it had the most imagery. "Somber" is another one of my favorites, too.
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Rolling Out Across the Desert Word Hero #293
"If I could have a super power, I'd like the ability to...fly...so I can, you know?...soar...with...the birds."