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Today I would like to discuss the song show me where he inserted the blade by Black Country, new road (bcnr). This song is often seen as a song about cheating but I think that is an oversimplification of this song because it’s so much more and deeper than that. While I do agree you could interpret the song like that since it is about one partner trying to help the other work through their trauma from a previous relationship which could be cheating, but I think this is to specific.
- I think what we first need to do is distinguish the two people in this story we have the narrartor (the singer), the person who sings the song and we have the partner the person who the words in this song are meant for (you could interpret this person as yourself the listener). The narrator is the person who is trying to express their view and emotions. They are addressing their partner incredibly tender and whit a willingness help, but we also see the narrator go through periods of frustration and vulnerability especially at the end of the song. Secondly we have the partner the person the narrator speaks to, this is the person with the emotional trauma. While the trauma isn’t explained in the song we can see in the lyrics that it plays a huge part in their dynamic. Specifically here :
You're scared of a world where you're needed
So you never made nice with the locals
But you tied me up slow with your vine, stuck
It takes a few years, but they break bones
It takes a few months, but our bones heal
We're stronger, we tell all our school friends
And they sign our cast in the playground
Darling, the rest of my body
It's yours, then
- I want to look at the lyrics with a similar pattern there we can perfectly see how the narrator gets increasingly more frustrated as the song continues.
I know you're scared
Well, I'm scared too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my head
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
Good morning
Well, I'm scared too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my head
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
Good morning
We see that this is the start of the journey where both sides are scared of what this will do to their relationship and to them personally. In specific here the narrator who is scared of how this will affect him and he has his doubts about how long he can keep holding on, so there is from the start a certain insecurity and vulnerability. But directly after that we see that he can’t think of anybody else than his partner showing his loyalty and willingness to help and to keep holding on to their relationship. And then the fragment ends with good morning. I see this as an announcement from the narrator to try and help his partner again and to ask them what the cause of their trauma is and how he can help, he wants to know where it hurts, the place where the blade is inserted. But he also wants to see how that wound was created.
-now we go to the second pre chorus where the lyrics change slightly, but whit an immense impact on the meaning.
And I know
You're tired
Well, I'm tired too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my head
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
Good morning
You're tired
Well, I'm tired too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my head
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
Good morning
We see here that we are further in their work through of the partners trauma, but clearly there is something up whit the narrator. He is conflicted because he sees clearly that their partner is struggling with communication, but the longer this drags on he becomes tired too and frustrated. But after that the same lyrics occur again showing that he still loves his partner and can’t stop thinking about them and that the good morning comes again where they get to start anew.
- but let’s dive deeper in the origins of his frustration which we see in the bridge and verse 2.
A bridge often occurs at the emotional Height of the song but here it shows us the emotional switch in the narrator. He starts to become frustrated.
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
Good morning
Where is your light?
Am I home?
I will hold to my chest
Where the wind can exist
I will try
Not to keep you too long
Good morning
Where is your light?
Am I home?
I will hold to my chest
Where the wind can exist
I will try
Not to keep you too long
The narrator starts to clearly struggle with the partners inability to open up and their reluctance. It even begins to take an emotional toll on him. They continuously make an effort to help their partner work through their trauma but it remains stagnant, and that is what takes its toll on him. But a common misconception is that he is mad at the partner, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The narrator is mad at situation the partner has been put in and the Barriers they were forced to build.
- in verse 2 we see an escalation starting to take form and the narrator frustration starts to build up even more.
So, clean your soup maker and breathe in
Your chicken, broccoli, and everything
The tug that's between us
That long string
Concorde, Bound 2
And my evening
The good hunter's guide to a bad night
Darling, I'll spoil it myself
Thanks, you're leaving
Well, I tried just to stroke your dreams better
But darling, I see that you're not really sleeping
Your chicken, broccoli, and everything
The tug that's between us
That long string
Concorde, Bound 2
And my evening
The good hunter's guide to a bad night
Darling, I'll spoil it myself
Thanks, you're leaving
Well, I tried just to stroke your dreams better
But darling, I see that you're not really sleeping
We see that this verse starts very calm with the narrator doing a mundane task, but if you look closer we can see that the cleaning he does is a metaphor for trying to provide stability for his partner, even when he knows deeper issues are hiding beneath the surfaces by both of them. It could also represent their desire to heal and start anew.
The tug that is between them and the long string could represent the partners distance to the narrator and their inability to communicate in a sufficient way. But also that the partner pulls away abruptly causing the narrators frustration to slightly spike.
The good hunters guide to a bad night tells us that the narrator hasn’t stopped searching for the place where the blade was inserted, but that the only thing he finds is frustration. What is surprising is that in the next line the narrator says “darling, I'll spoil it myself” by which he shows us that he takes ownership for “the bad night” and this means that he is aware of the cycle and his growing impatience.
The next line however is very abrupt which tells us that the narrator gets frustrated again, because the partner pulls away again which intensifies his feeling of failing to reach his partner on a deeper emotional level.
In the next line of the verse we see that the narrator tries to comfort their partner in subtle and tender ways, however in the last line of the verse we see that their partner is not truly sleeping which suggest that there is an deeper underlying issue: his partner is completely engulfed by their trauma to the point that even resting becomes unattainable. This part of the verse shows us that the narrator his frustration stems from the idea that no matter how hard he tries to help his partner, his efforts are simply not enough.
so these two part of the songs paints a picture of how the relationship looks like and lays the groundwork for the frustration and the fatigue in prechorus 2.
-Now let’s look at the chorus itself
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
I'll praise the lord, burn my house
I get lost, I freak out
You come home, hold me tight
As if it never happened at all
Good morning
I'll praise the lord, burn my house
I get lost, I freak out
You come home, hold me tight
As if it never happened at all
Good morning
We have already discussed the first line so let’s look at the second one.” I’ll praise the lord” tells us that the narrator is asking for strength from an higher power showing us his desperation for improvement. “Burn my house” shows us that he is willing to sacrifice anything in the proces of helping his partner even if that is his own sanity. In the next line we see the narrators insecurity peek through again he admits to us that even though he tries to be the strong and supportive figure in the relationship, he too has moment of panic. What he also admits here is that he can’t hold up all the weight this relationship is putting on him he tries to show us his humanity.
The next line “you come home, hold me tight” is an important one it shows us how there is a short moment of connection and temporary resolution. After this the narrator expresses how his partner acts as if there was never any tension at all which reflects on the partners reluctance to address their trauma, but also to their tendency as couple not to confront the deeper lying issues .
The chorus shows us every time it appears how the cycle goes and continues. The last chorus ends with a good morning, which shows us that this proces starts anew under the disguise of a fresh start.
The last part shows a change in approach from the narrator Instead of trying to tenderly show his support in his own way he asks his partner what to do
Show me the fifth of the cadence you want me to play
Good morning
Show me where to tie the other end of this chain
Good morning
Show me where to tie the other end of this chain
The first line here shows us a direct tie to music theorie where the fifth cadence often refers to resolution this could refer to the narrators longing for clarity in the relationship. He also tells us how only his partner has the key for how this relationship will turn out. He asks his partner for guidance.
The last good morning shows us again how the narrator start anew, but in the context it means a lot more here. The narrator tells us that he is ready for a different approach to the situation even if he doesn’t fully understand what his partner needs. The reoccurrence of the phrase symbolises the proces of trial and error in the relationship.
The last line of the song talks about a chain this chain can symbolize their connection and how incredible complex it is, but it also shows how restrictive and heavy their connection is. He asks their partner “where to tie the other end” this tells us he wants to solidify their relationship, but needs the guidance from their partner how to do that.
It believe this song is so beautiful and if you read this far thank you for reading and please comment your thoughts on the song!!!
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