Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Song Analysis #1

Song Analysis #1: George Jones – He Stopped Loving Her Today

            Shifting from song to spoken word in “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, George Jones uses captivating imagery, solemn narrative, and intense hyperbole to convey the melancholy situation in which a man pursues a woman, but after many attempts all to no avail, realizes she will never love him back, and submits to the inevitable disappointment of being rejected and becomes depressed for the rest of his life; only to “smile” for the first time “in years” upon his death.
            Throughout the song, Jones incorporates various different examples of imagery, each captivating the listener and drawing them further into the raw emotions of the piece. The first and most prominent example of imagery he uses is in lines 9-12 when it says “kept some letters by his bed/ dated 1962/ he had underlined in red/ every single I love you”. Within those four lines, Jones is able to trigger a tidal wave of emotion by exemplifying just how much this man loved the woman, and how important it was to him to let her know that he loved her. In addition, when Jones says “he kept her picture on the wall/ went half crazy now and then/ he still loved her through it all/ hoping she’d come back again”, it really demonstrates to the reader the intense passion that he possessed for this woman, because despite the fact that she had rejected him, he still kept her picture on the wall which caused him to occasionally go crazy and become depressed. Finally, in lines 15&16, it is said that the man was “all dressed up to go away/first time I’d seen him smile in years”, which refers to the attire one is wearing when being buried; and this line alone creates a vivid image in the listener’s mind of the man in a casket, dressed in his best clothes, smiling with great relief.
            The shift in point of view right in the middle of the song leads to a more solemn, grave narrative that recounts the experience of the woman the man was madly in love with. She says that she “went to see him just today/ oh but [she] didn’t see no tears/ all dressed up to go away/ first time [she’d] seen him smile in years”, meaning that she attended his funeral but didn’t see him crying or pleading with her to stay for a change, while he was all dressed up in his burial clothes she saw him smiling because he was at peace; no longer haunted by the fact that she didn’t love him back. At the end of the song, the very last lines say “you know she came to see him one last time/ oh and we all wondered if she would/ and it kept running through my mind/ this time he’s over her for good”, and this summation ends the song with a bold statement that refers back to the very first line where “he said I’ll love you till I die”. By referring back to that first line, it solidifies the theory that the man has actually died, and his death releases him from the prison of pain his life had become due to the rejection shown to him by the woman he so dearly loved.
            Although the imagery and solemn narration play a vital role in developing the universal idea, the intense hyperbole Jones uses provides a more powerful, extreme undertone within the song. Lines three and four state that “as the years went slowly by/ she still preyed upon his mind”, where she is not literally preying on his mind, but it is meant to be perceived as the way in which she is always there in the back of his mind, and he can never get rid of her. The last example of hyperbole that presents itself in his song would be the line where it says that he “went half crazy now and then”, which doesn’t literally mean that he went half crazy and was therefore put into a mental institute, but his love for her caused him to do irrational things and act in ways that he normally would not. Overall, by using captivating imagery, solemn narrative, and intense hyperbole, George Jones does a good job of portraying how love can lead to heartbreak and sickness within a relationship that is destined only to be cured by the death of one of the lovers.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today"
He said I'll love you 'til I die
She told him you'll forget in time
As the years went slowly by
She still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on his wall
Went half crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all
Hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed
Dated 1962
He had underlined in red
Every single I love you

I went to see him just today
Oh but I didn't see no tears
All dressed up to go away
First time I'd seen him smile in years

(Chorus)
He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

(Spoken)
You know she came to see him one last time
Oh and we all wondered if she would
And it kept running through my mind
This time he's over her for good

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