Nothing Compares

Nothing Compares To You is a song written by Prince in the 1980s, though it never had much publicity then as it was never released as a single. When Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor recorded it as a single, however, it took off and gained her global fame. I think we need to take a look at the lyrics and discuss their meaning, as there is so much hidden meaning.

Please carry on to the end of this. Its interesting quality increases as you read on.

It's been seven hours and fifteen days
since you took your love away.
I go out every night and sleep all day
since you took your love away.
Since you've been gone I can do whatever I want.
I can see whomever I choose.
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant,
But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues,

'Cause nothing compares,
nothing compares to you.

It's been so lonely without you here,
like a bird without a song.
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling.
Tell me baby where did I go wrong?
I could put my arms round every boy I see,
but they'd only remind me of you.
I went to the doctor guess what he told me,
guess what he told me.
He said girl you better try to have fun
no matter what you do,
but he's a fool.

'Cause nothing compares
nothing compares to you.

All the flowers that you planted, mama,
in the backyard
all died when you went away.
I know that living with you, baby, was sometimes hard,
but I'm willing to give it another try.

Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you (3x) 


You read these lyrics and, assumedly, you link it to a harrowing tale of love and the loss of it. The fact that only a fortnight has passed since the departure (whether over death's boundary or just out of the singer's life) of the beloved means that the pain is all the more evident. On the topic of death or break-up, I would say that is up to the listener to decide for themselves. "Where did I go wrong?" could mean what did the singer do to deserve sudden self-willed desertion of the loved one, or it could mean 'what have I done to deserve this?' in some sort of karma-esque manner, as in the partner has died. I really don't know.

Perhaps this lover even had a bad effect on the singer. The fact that now he or she can go wherever he or she wants signifies a potential restriction of free will, yet the addressee is still a preciously loved one. That's loyal love for you.

It is particularly confusing when the singer says he or she is "willing to give it another try". Then you think: 'oh so the lover's not dead?' Because when the singer mentions the doctor, we assume it is due to a case of depression.

Right?

Wrong.

Prince wrote this song about cigarettes.

Isn't that wonderful? I love eccentricity. Perhaps Sinéad O'Connor sang this about the loss of a loved one, but it was on BBC Radio 2 the other day that Prince had indeed written this song about his love of cigarettes.

Priceless. Do leave a comment below if this twist of events humoured you as much as it did me.

Enjoy the respective performances of Prince and Sinéad O'Connor below:





By Jess

Word of the Day

The word for today is one I happened upon whilst whiling away my free time (yes that's right, I am a FREE woman,) on YouTube and Google.

Exegesis:

Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text

Sentence Example: To understand her homework assignment it would take an exegesis of the source and she was tired, therefore she instead watched the dancing cockatoo on YouTube.

I have included a link of the dancing cockatoo, since it really is highly entertaining.

By Talia

Imagine

This momentous song by the one and only John Lennon is one that will never be forgotten. Even Glee has done a cover of it.


Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


This song is asking for something so simple, yet something so unattainable. To have peace in the world is something we all desire, but we don't want to have to sacrifice anything we have already to gain it. A world without government, religion or possessions means that all potential opportunities for fights are ruled out, if only people could be happy with all being equally nothing. If we could only hold onto emotions and nothing material, Lennon is saying, we could all coexist harmoniously.


This will most probably never happen.


Imagine is so relevant to everyday life it is rather disturbing. The song was written during the height of the Vietnam War, as well as the Nixon Administration and the Peace Movement. Yet it still manages to relate to the horrors of today: the war against terrorism, for one, as well as the war in Gaza and the war in Afghanistan and the war that is everywhere else.


And the most troubling thing is that it is us as humans that are the ones who provoke these problems. Yes, earthquakes in Haiti and Japan and New Zealand are trembling the earth with their horrific effects, but essentially it is our human brains which cause our troubles. Heaven and Hell are only in the human mind. To be at one with everything would mean a stop of time: only when things change and our memories detect the change do we decide that time has passed. To be at one with the Universe would an eternal bliss.







Thoughts? We at the English review would love to hear anything you have to say on such a philosophical topic.


By Jess

You've got the F.E.A.R

So today is a new day, which of course means a new idea. Today dawns a whole new era at T.E.R. Today is the day when MUSIC is added to our repertoire. Because although we are surrounded by highly poppy and predictable music these days (don't misunderstand me, I adore Justin Bieber as much as the next tween,) there are still some genuinely talented song writers out there.

My selection for our first song is F.E.A.R by Ian Brown. This is one of the most impressive songs I have heard in many years, purely because of the lyrics, and after all, this is an English blog, so it's the lyrics we're interested in. However, I should warn it does contain some expletives so I have *'d them for our younger/more conservative readers (I'm looking at you Dad.)


F.E.A.R Lyrics:

For each a road
For everyman a religion
Find everybody and rule
F*** everything and rumble
Forget everything and remember
For everything a reason
Forgive everybody and remember

For each a road
For everyman a religion
Face everybody and rule
F*** everything and rumble
Forget everything and remember
For everything a reason

You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)

Finding eternity arouses reactions
Freeing excellence affects reality
Fallen empires are ruling
Find earth and reap

Fantastic expectations
Amazing revelations
Final execution and resurrection
Free expression as revolution
Finding everything and realizing

You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)

(Fantastic expectations
Amazing revelations
Finding everyone and reuniting
For everything a reason)

F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
F.E.A.R. (You got the fear)
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear
You got the fear

In case you haven't picked up on it, all of the lyrics spell FEAR. And in case you think this is an easy task, try it. T.E.R promises to post their attempts at writing one to the word ENGLISH.

Enjoy the sweet sound of Ian Brown above.

By Talia