What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
I can't really tell my feet from the sawdust on the floor Jimi Hendrix – Somewhere
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
The third verse comes from the point of view of a returning soldier, drowning his sorrow and post-traumatic stress with alcohol.
Many returning veterans from the Vietnam war and in the present day suffered with alcoholism, unemployment and subsequent homelessness.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Self-Titled Record (often called “Gatefold”), 2002, Ebullition Records
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Chaos is Me, 1999, Ebullition Records
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
That I could ever subscribe to
That is all that I can do Interpol – PDA
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Lead Vocalist Daryl Palumbo begs the question: What portion of his pain does he indirectly cause through the way he treats those around him?
He ought to consult Schopenhauer’s Metaphysics of Love for the answer…
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
First published in 1916 in the collection Mountain Interval. The title alludes to a passage from Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy, “Macbeth” V.v.23-28:
…Out, out, brief candle!
Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Macbeth’s speech in relation to the Frost poem suggests that life is short and transient, lacking meaning and purpose. The boy in the poem dies needlessly and his death has little impact on the community and its values; his life too lacks meaning and purpose.
The poem is one continuous stanza, unbroken, broadly unrhymed iambic pentameter, apart from occasional internal rhyme. A noticeable feature is the thoughtful use of punctuation to reinforce the drama.
The voice is that of a third person narrator, we may assume the poet, and the tone is largely conversational, though with a lyrical interlude from lines three to six. Yet there is high drama at the end when the boy loses his life. The composition is skilled and subtle, as the detailed annotations show.
1