Cliche Becomes Clever (see comments)
- "So tonight when you hold me tight we'll let the fire burn on / And we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning" (We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning, Gram Parsons)
- "It's not really that you can't see the forest from the trees / You've just never been out in the woods alone" (Philosophy, Ben Folds Five)
- "I was drowning my sorrows / But my sorrows, they learned to swim" (Until the End of the World, U2)
- "I don't want to see the light / I just want to see the flashlight" (Want, Rufus Wainwright) - thanks to endanubis
I realized the other day how much I like it when a songwriter expands on a cliche in a way that develops it while staying consistent to the metaphor. I'm not sure why, but it really appeals to me. I think it's very clever.
For example, in the Gram Parsons song, the image of fire is used to represent passionate love / sex. This image has been in use for millennia. Vergil uses the phrase "burn with passion" about fifty thousand times in the Aeneid. But continuing with the cliche, what happens after the sex becomes methodical, apathy replaces love, and the passion dies down? Well, what do you have when fire dies down? Ashes.
I hope I've explained this well. And I also hope to add more entries here. I haven't taken the time to think of any others yet.
My, my, AJ, wonderful exploration of songwriting there, and the fact that you've quoted the late, great Gram Parsons gets you a bucketfull of kudos in my book.
We ought to come up amongst ourselves with more of the same examples of cliches turning on themselves.
Thank you! I'd definitely like some help in coming up with more examples. I'm sure I've seen this trick many times before, but at the moment, I can only think of that great Gram Parsons song...
I have another good one by the wonderful Rufus Wainwright "I don't want to see the light, I just want to see the flashlight" (from the song Want)
Sounds good to me.