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Smallville's opening theme song, by the group Remy Zero.
Smallville is a Canadian TV series about the early life of Superman. Remy Zero is a Birmingham/Alabama-based alternative rock band.
You have probably heard this song many times at the beginning of each of Smallville episode, but have you ever paid attention to what the song is talking about. I bet you'll be surprised at the strong emotions expressed in this song. Just pay attention to it and also read the meaning of the song on the Song Meaning tab.
I feel my wings have broken in your hands
I feel the words unspoken inside
When they pull you under
And I would give you anything you want, oh
You were all I wanted
All my dreams are fallin' down
Crawling round (and round and round)
Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it
Just stay, stay, c'mon
I've been waiting for you
I see the world has folded in your heart
I feel the waves crash down inside
And they pull me under
And I would give you anything you want, no
You are all I wanted
All my dreams are fallin' down
Crawling round
Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through me
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it
Just stay, stay, c'mon
I've been waiting for you
All my dreams are on the ground
Crawling round
Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through me
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it
Just stay with me
I'll make this whole world shine for you
Just stay, stay, c'mon
I'm still waiting for you
WINGS= Birds don't have arms. Instead, they use WINGS to fly. So if somebody "breaks your wings", they imprison you, you lose your freedom (you can't fly).
THE WORDS UNSPOKEN= The words that I wanted to say but I never did (I still feel the need to express those feelings, but we never talked about it).
THEY PULL YOU UNDER= The metaphor here is like drowning in water, when somebody pulls you down under water and you can't breathe and feel you're going to die.
WANTED= He pronounces it /wɒnɪd/. Notice that in American English the T often disappears when it goes after an N.
CRAWLING= To crawl is to move slowly on the hands and knees or by dragging the body along the ground. To crawl around is to crawl from one place to another with no sense of direction or without any purpose. So if his dreams are falling down and now they are on the ground crawling round, it means that his dreams have been destroyed and now he has no sense of purpose in his life.
SOMEBODY SAVE ME= This is an imperative form, that's why SAVE has no -S. When the subject of the imperative is YOU, we don't have a subject (unless we want to emphasize):
- sit down! ("you sit down" would sound even humiliating because it expresses a great power to force you)
But when the subject is another person, not you, we use the construction LET+subject+Verb:
- Let them sit down.
Nevertheless, if the subject is indefinite, we can use SOMEBODY as a subject:
- Somebody open this door, please. (I don't mind who, just anybody, I just need the door opened)
BREAK RIGHT THROUGH= The word RIGHT is often used to emphasize adverbials of place or time (do it right here, right now = at this exact location and at this very moment). To BREAK THROUGH something is to move inside a place by breaking things. For instance, if you break through the wall you destroy the wall to move forwards. So the sentence "let your warm hands break right through" creates the mental image of a person breaking a wall with their own hands to get to you, to your soul, so you can be free from your prison. But he's talking about "warm hands", so in fact we don't get the idea of destruction (something negative), but of melting with love (something positive).
C'MON= (coll.) /kmɒn/Come on.
FOLD= To envelop or clasp; enfold; collapse.
If the world has folded in your heart, all my universe was reduced, like a paper ball, and is inside your heart. That's why he feels like suffocating, drowning (he can't breathe).
CRASH DOWN INSIDE= When the waves of the sea arrive to the coast, they crash on the rocks. But here he says "crash down inside", because he feels trapped inside (remember he was asking for somebody to break through him) and the waves are crashing down on him, so they are pulling him down under water. That's why he next says "and they pull me under" (under water), which is a symbol for getting depressed.
THIS WHOLE WORLD= All this world.
The words ALL and WHOLE can be used with singular nouns to mean "complete", and most of the times the only difference with ALL is the word order. WHOLE goes after determiners, not before:
- All the things = the whole things
- All the week = the whole week
- All my life = my whole life
- All this world = this whole world
I'LL MAKE THIS WHOLE WORLD SHINE FOR YOU= If you come to save me I'll make this world a wonderful place for you, so come and stay with me, whoever you are.
OPTION 1: This song is about total desperation and an ill relationship. This man feels this relationship is destroying him, destroying all his dreams. He should get away from it, he knows, but he can't because he's become so dependant on her. Now he's crying out for someone to come and save him, take him out of this, since he feels too weak to carry on by himself. Let's see some of the text references:
He was so in love with her (you were all I wanted) and he still is (I would give you anything you want) but now he feels she's destroying him because he's so dependant and she's totally controlling his life (my wings have broken in your hands) and all his dreams crumbled down (all my dreams are falling down, crawling round and round). His life is now reduced to her, with no freedom (I see the world has folded in your heart) and he feels like drowning, he needs some air to breath (I feel the waves crash down inside and they pull me under). In the beginning he thought this relationship would be great, fantastic, would make him happy... but now he found that "all my dreams are on the grown". So he desperately needs someone to come and save him in any possible way (somebody save me, I don't care how you do it). But this is not something that has happened just now, it's been going on for a long time (I've been waiting for you). And, finally, he promises next time he will do things good and proper (I'll make this whole world shine for you).
Alternatively, maybe the problem is not that he feels trapped in his relationship because she is controlling his life. Maybe she left him and he feels trapped inside a huge depression because he can't get over it and needs someone to help him feel alive again.
No wonder they chose this song as the theme song for the confused teenage Superman. Clark Kent, in this series, is discovering his powers and he feels so confused about it. He simply wants to be a normal boy with a normal life and a girlfriend and all that, but he just can't. His powers are not a blessing for him, but a curse, and he feels trapped in a life he hasn't chosen. The more he realizes he's not normal, the more he feels the anguish of being alone and trapped, so he could also cry, along with this song, "somebody save me!". 'Cause yea, even heroes also need to be saved.
OPTION 2: Alternatively you may consider it a kind of religious hymn. In the song, he's clearly talking about two different people: the person who destroyed his life, and the person he's crying for help, some kind of saviour who will redeem him and save him. If we consider this song under a religious point of view, the Saviour would be God and he'd be asking for divine help.
When your life is a mess and you just can't do anything to mend it up, you look high up to heaven and cry for help, just like the singer does on this video: Somebody save me!
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