The Misfit Commentary - Word Patterns
By: Erick Nelson
Last Updated: May 1, 2002
Introduction
This will only be interesting to people, like me, who tend to see patterns in everyday things. After the album was complete, I was thinking about the words to the songs, and started to notice patterns.Patterns
First, since this album presents a story, it's not at all surprising that there is a dominant concept with supporting threads throughout. This is the story of a journey - so you'd naturally expect to see journey metaphors; moving from lost to found, from darkness to light, etc. There are many, many of these kinds of references.The way this album came about was definitely not to start with a story and write songs about it. All we did was take the songs we had, select what we thought were the best of them, and put them in a logical order. I don't recall specifically adding a song or taking anything out in order to fit the story. It just fell together.
And since I wrote most of the songs (and chose the rest), again it's not unusual that you'd see recurring themes. However, when I noticed the actual words in the songs, I was really struck by how they appeared throughout the work.
If you're really interested in this, the best thing to do is to print out the lyrics and circle or highlight things you see. It's a lot more fun to discover them yourself than to read a chart. But after you've done that, or for those who just want to see what's there, see the table below.
Word Patterns
There are two patterns that really stand out to me. I call them "symmetrical words" because there is a one-to-one match between one context and the other.The first is LOVE and HURT. The Misfit wants to get as far away as possible from the hurt in his life, and hopes that finding love will do that. But when he does find love, he discovers that love hurts! But love, which can bring pain, can also give us the power to transcend pain. Jesus' love caused him to wear a crown of thorns, but he rose (literally) above it. The martyrs went through horrible suffering on the way to death, but they experienced a living Power that overcame their pain.
The second one, completely unintentional, was the notion of MISFIT and LAUGHTER. Part of the torment of the Misfit was that his friends made fun of him; he hopes that love will end that. Instead, as he finds Love, it causes him to be a Misfit in a different way: now, the cruel ones have additional ammunition, and others who are less cruel simply shake their heads and smile at this wacky guy. Yet, the Martyrs have the last laugh, don't they? Even as they are being killed, they laugh at the crack of doom, "bathed in distant light." And they - not the cruel ones - sing the song of Freedom.
Shadow of Things to Come
The thing that surprised me the most was that Stand's introductory verse specifically mentions the major themes to come:I've live in cottages (The Misfit, asleep upon the floor)
I've sailed the sea (Sail On/Can't Find My Way Home)
I know what love can do, how deep its pain can be (Love Hurts/He Gave Me Love)
I've walked among the tombs of young men that have died (Martyr Song)Word Comparisons
Here are the ones that jumped out at me.
Love Misfit Love is on my mind (major theme) Moon It's hard to love her well Love Hurts Love hurts He Gave Me Love The whole song! Rain Misfit Ease the rain in this heart of mine Hurting People Rain, rain go away! Love Hurts Love holds a lot of rain Friends Misfit His friends laughed at him He Gave Me Love His friends all let him down Laughing Misfit His friends laughed at him; he laughed along with them He Gave Me Love Sometimes they laugh and are unkind, and others smile and say I've lost my mind Martyr Song Laughing at the crack of doom Hurt Misfit Wants to "never hurt no more"; that's part of his problem Love Hurts Love hurts He Gave Me Love All he got was a thorny crown Martyr Song Broken bodies, falling by the score Fool Misfit The Misfit plays the fool Martyr Song Like fools upon the stage Blindness Carry Me Along The blind still lead the blind Cant Find My Way Blinded by the storm; I know that I've been wrong but I can't see the light Martyr Song Singing in the darkness, marching through the night ... I cannot see the sun Calling Carry Me Along When my Father calls me to his home Stand I can hear their voices ... calling for their brother; hear me calling He Gave Me Love Jesus called me and I must obey Standing Stand The whole song First Prayer Help me make a stand Circle Can't Find My Way He circles through the endless night Take Me to the Light One step over the circle; Living my life in a circle; when the circle falls around you Fire Love Hurts Love is like a stove, burns you when it's hot Martyr Song The flames swept through their broken bodies
+
It was the Son of Man Himself that they had. Jesus. And he found himself grinning as he remembered that the devil himself flees and the demons tremble at the sound of that Name.