What does this mean?

I started listening to a song recently and I'm completely confused by the lyrics. They are just a little, what's the word?, weird.

The song is "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. I like Bob Seger and I enjoy the music. I've written before about how this song makes me want to buy a truck (Chevy commercials), but the lyrics are strange.

Here they are (notes in italic):

Like a Rock
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

Stood there boldly
Sweatin' in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I'd never been that strong
Like a rock

Okay, makes sense so far. The guy felt strong, rocks are solid. That makes some sense. I guess there are millions of rocks too. I'm not sure about a number one rock, but I'm willing to go a little farther.

I was eighteen
Didn't have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock

Well, rocks don't seem to care. I'm not sure where money is involved, but I do get that rocks are solid. Some might be lean. Some are not lean. Some are big boulders.

My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock

Okay, getting a little disenchanted here. Rocks don't walk. If rocks did walk, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't walk "quick and light". They are rocks! The holding firmly to what is right is something I can kind of see being a rock quality because they don't move, so I'll keep going.

Like a rock, I was as strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin' ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock

I'm with you for the strong and that nothing gets you down. Those make sense for rocks. Something to see? What are you, Mount Rushmore? I don't think of too many rocks where I'm just overjoyed to go, "Look! A rock! Don't you see?" Unless you're pretending it's a seed. Hmmm.

And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams

Now, I like the imagery here, but I'm not familiar with too many rocks that are "arrow straight". Who hustles rocks? Most rocks (unless you mean a mountain) are not "high above it all". Do rocks dream? I didn't think so.

Twenty years now
Where'd they go?
Twenty years
I don't know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone

Rocks don't really care about twenty years. Twenty years is not a long span of time for a rock! Oh, the artist is telling us that he's feeling old and that he wasted twenty years. Yeah, that's the ticket.

And sometimes late at night
When I'm bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall

I like the line, "When I'm bathed in the firelight". It doesn't pertain to a rock and it's just a neat image.

Like a rock, standin' arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin' from the gate
Like a rock, carryin' the weight
Like a rock

What? How do rocks charge from a gate? Wouldn't this be a bull? Rocks are inanimate objects. They only move when another force causes some inertia in them. This line may cause more damage to my logic than all the others.

Like a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock

These are pretty good smilies. I hope the artist meant that he sees himself as a rock and not that rocks check themselves out in mirrors. Then they would be narcissistic rocks. And that's not good.

2 Comments:

At 8:30 AM, CarpeDM said...

"I hope the artist meant that he sees himself as a rock and not that rocks check themselves out in mirrors. Then they would be narcissistic rocks. And that's not good."

Cute.

At 9:58 AM, Matt said...

Narcissitic rocks....I love it. I think it is sorta humororus how people that are narcissitic seem to be rock heads, do you think this is a coincindence? Perhaps we should do a study into it........