Words Intended for Songs

Your Song
Elton John

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

When I read, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, I saw that there were a lot of allusions that took place regarding other text that I had read before. I also noticed that this poem has a lot of similarities with Elton John’s song, Your Song, as well as it also has many differences.

As I read the poem, I went on the internet to look for the translation of the preamble that this poem has in Italian. When I found it I realized that it was actually part of Dante’s Inferno. This segment can be found in Canto XXVII lines 61-66,

"If I thought my answer were given
to anyone who would ever return to the world,
this flame would stand still without moving any further.
But since never from this abyss
has anyone ever returned alive, if what I hear is true,
without fear of infamy I answer you.”

This relates to the poem because here the person who is in hell knows that nobody will ever return to the world after being in the inferno, and therefore he shall never speak up what he knows. The relationship between this and Elliot’s poem is that Alfred never tells the reader about his true feelings. This is very different from Elton John’s son because in this musical piece he does express his feelings to the person he has dedicated this song to.

“It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide...
How wonderful life is while you're in the world”(1..13)

In those parts of the song it is logical that the narrator is expressing his feelings completely. He is not hiding hi emotions and he isn’t keeping anything to himself as Alfred is doing in his song.

Alfred seems to be talking to another person may it be the reader or the woman to whom he is dedicating this song to. I would also interpret it as an inner conversation inside his brain, were he debates weather or not to declare his feelings. He wants to ask an important question. I personally would say that he wants to ask a woman’s hand in marriage because of the context.

“LET us go then, you and I,”(1)
“To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, ‘What is it?’”(10)

In the song, Your Song, the narrator is directing these lyrics to another person and he is definitely not afraid to speak his mind. This song is being dedicated to another person. This is not as secret, like it is to Alfred, and he wants everybody else to know.

“And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world”(9-13)

Here we can see that there is no fear whatsoever in the words because they are being exposed to everybody and it is obvious that they are meant to express love.

Although this two songs have a lot of differences, they also have some similarities like the use of a frustrated tone and the impotence of the individual to do some things on its own. There are certain barriers that keep the narrators from telling the reader what they want to say at times. In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Prufrock is very reserved and he avoids expressing his feelings because of his frustration and fear. I would say that he is an old man due to the fact that he mentions so much that he is growing bold and thin, and that he has already lived everything.” I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled”(120) He has very low self esteem and he knows he has too little to offer.

“Do I dare
Disturb the universe...
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.”(83)

In Your Song, the narrator also shows that he has very few to offer and that he is also frustrated with his situation. But, differently from Alfred, he still has the courage to declare his love to that person and to offer them everything they posses, although it’s very little.

“I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you” (3-9)

Both of these songs have the same inconsistency in meter. They have different number of syllables in each line which vary within each stanza. This represents the inconsistency of the life of the narrators, and how they have so many problems. This shows that their life is completely unstable.

These songs also have a very big difference which consists of them not following similar rhyme schemes. Your Song, has a scheme that follows the pattern of ABAB, while other song has schemes such as AABCCDDEEFGG in one stanza, and then AABBCDCEFE on another, changing all the time. This also shows inconsistency in Alfred’s life as well as it emphasizes on certain ideas when the scheme is broken between stanzas. This gives more importance to the lines that don’t rhyme to the rest of the stanza.

“Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.”(18)

Finally I can say that both of the poems have an accent that is consistent. This is iambic. When it accents every other syllable, the author is giving that text a voice and a rhythm that will keep the reader intrigued and interested in the lyrics. Writers seem to implement the use of iambic a lot in their texts, probably because of those reasons.