Dear Bryan,
First of all, l’m a big fan. The fact that you spent your evenings down at the drive-in in the summer of ’69, when you were only nine years old, is truly awesome.
But I have an issue with “Heaven,” your first big hit. The lyrics of the chorus have always bothered me:
Baby you’re all that I want
When you’re lying here in my arms
I’m finding it hard to believe
We’re in heaven
To me, that always sounded like:
Baby, you’re all that I want when you’re lying here in my arms. I’m finding it hard to believe we’re in heaven.
Which makes it sound like you’re really underwhelmed and being sarcastic about it. “This is heaven? If you say so.”
That’s not you, Bryan.
Of course, it’s actually supposed to be read this way:
Baby you’re all that I want. When you’re lying here in my arms, I’m finding it hard to believe. We’re in heaven!
But to me, it just never scanned right.
So here’s my suggestion – just change the lyric “I’m finding it” to “It isn’t.” So the revised quatrain reads:
Baby you’re all that I want
When you’re lying here in my arms
It isn’t hard to believe
We’re in heaven
I think that would clear up a lot of confusion. Thanks, Bryan.
Sincerely,
Matthew Belinkie
Matthew,
Outstanding work! Now you’ve got the ball rolling, how about a letter to Andrew Lloyd Webber for his effort in Jesus Christ Superstar? (This one’s bothered me since I was a kid, and my parents owned all of three records…)
Mary Magdalene: I’ve had so many men before / in very many ways / he’s just one more.
It took me a long time to figure out that it should be punctuated:”I’ve had so many men before. In very many ways, he’s just one more.” Not “I’ve had so many men before in very many ways…” Well, she was a working girl.
Oh, that’s funny — I just assumed that’s just what Tim Rice meant.
Maybe it’s sort of ambiguous on purpose. Isn’t there a poetic device where one line can either be read as part of the previous line or the next line? Fancy name for that?