Words in a song: “How every mouth sings of what it's without so we all sing of love”
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}
It is from Iron and Wine song "Innocent bones". As a non native English speaker, I struggle to understand the exact meaning. It is thoroughly a grammatical question.
- Does it mean that, because everyone is singing about things they lack, "we" simply sing about love, and lack nothing? or
- Does it mean that everyone is singing about things they lack and "we" too sing about a thing we lack - love?
I think I do not understand the meaning of "so" in this sentence.
meaning meaning-in-context translation songs
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 6 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
It is from Iron and Wine song "Innocent bones". As a non native English speaker, I struggle to understand the exact meaning. It is thoroughly a grammatical question.
- Does it mean that, because everyone is singing about things they lack, "we" simply sing about love, and lack nothing? or
- Does it mean that everyone is singing about things they lack and "we" too sing about a thing we lack - love?
I think I do not understand the meaning of "so" in this sentence.
meaning meaning-in-context translation songs
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 6 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15
add a comment |
It is from Iron and Wine song "Innocent bones". As a non native English speaker, I struggle to understand the exact meaning. It is thoroughly a grammatical question.
- Does it mean that, because everyone is singing about things they lack, "we" simply sing about love, and lack nothing? or
- Does it mean that everyone is singing about things they lack and "we" too sing about a thing we lack - love?
I think I do not understand the meaning of "so" in this sentence.
meaning meaning-in-context translation songs
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
It is from Iron and Wine song "Innocent bones". As a non native English speaker, I struggle to understand the exact meaning. It is thoroughly a grammatical question.
- Does it mean that, because everyone is singing about things they lack, "we" simply sing about love, and lack nothing? or
- Does it mean that everyone is singing about things they lack and "we" too sing about a thing we lack - love?
I think I do not understand the meaning of "so" in this sentence.
meaning meaning-in-context translation songs
meaning meaning-in-context translation songs
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
edited Oct 16 '18 at 21:15
Laurel
34.8k668121
34.8k668121
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
asked Sep 16 '18 at 18:29
VictoriaJenVictoriaJen
22
22
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 6 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 6 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15
add a comment |
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
To sing about what we are without. To sing of something. meaning: a topic
To be without= to lack, to be without food.
Ergo, if a mouth sings of what it is without, it sings about what it lacks.
And here the songwriter says that is love. The mouth lacks love.
Presumably kisses,which can signify love in some way, I guess.
It is not the greatest line I have ever read......
The reason this is not great is: the mouth might lack teeth...
Anyway, mouth here apparently stands for any person.....that is called synecdoche in poetry. Using a word associated with something to name the thing.
Here,mouth=person, or person in need.
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
add a comment |
If you think about a mouth as representative of an entire person, because it is the part of the body that has the function of communicating, whether by song or by speech, a "mouth singing of what it lacks" could also mean a "person talks about what they don't have".
When you use this wording, consider it to mean, then:
"How a person talks about what they don't have"
Talking about what they don't have is followed by "so they all sing of love", where so here is a conjunction meaning therefore, so (and I just used it here in the same sense) it means that they talk about love.
All together, this is saying "People don't have love so they talk about it."
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f464553%2fwords-in-a-song-how-every-mouth-sings-of-what-its-without-so-we-all-sing-of-l%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
To sing about what we are without. To sing of something. meaning: a topic
To be without= to lack, to be without food.
Ergo, if a mouth sings of what it is without, it sings about what it lacks.
And here the songwriter says that is love. The mouth lacks love.
Presumably kisses,which can signify love in some way, I guess.
It is not the greatest line I have ever read......
The reason this is not great is: the mouth might lack teeth...
Anyway, mouth here apparently stands for any person.....that is called synecdoche in poetry. Using a word associated with something to name the thing.
Here,mouth=person, or person in need.
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
add a comment |
To sing about what we are without. To sing of something. meaning: a topic
To be without= to lack, to be without food.
Ergo, if a mouth sings of what it is without, it sings about what it lacks.
And here the songwriter says that is love. The mouth lacks love.
Presumably kisses,which can signify love in some way, I guess.
It is not the greatest line I have ever read......
The reason this is not great is: the mouth might lack teeth...
Anyway, mouth here apparently stands for any person.....that is called synecdoche in poetry. Using a word associated with something to name the thing.
Here,mouth=person, or person in need.
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
add a comment |
To sing about what we are without. To sing of something. meaning: a topic
To be without= to lack, to be without food.
Ergo, if a mouth sings of what it is without, it sings about what it lacks.
And here the songwriter says that is love. The mouth lacks love.
Presumably kisses,which can signify love in some way, I guess.
It is not the greatest line I have ever read......
The reason this is not great is: the mouth might lack teeth...
Anyway, mouth here apparently stands for any person.....that is called synecdoche in poetry. Using a word associated with something to name the thing.
Here,mouth=person, or person in need.
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
To sing about what we are without. To sing of something. meaning: a topic
To be without= to lack, to be without food.
Ergo, if a mouth sings of what it is without, it sings about what it lacks.
And here the songwriter says that is love. The mouth lacks love.
Presumably kisses,which can signify love in some way, I guess.
It is not the greatest line I have ever read......
The reason this is not great is: the mouth might lack teeth...
Anyway, mouth here apparently stands for any person.....that is called synecdoche in poetry. Using a word associated with something to name the thing.
Here,mouth=person, or person in need.
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
answered Sep 16 '18 at 18:49
LambieLambie
7,57511034
7,57511034
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
add a comment |
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
You didn't explain 'so' (= therefore) -- the writer implies that we all lack love.
– AmI
Oct 17 '18 at 5:34
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
So is ergo=therefore.
– Lambie
Oct 17 '18 at 12:33
add a comment |
If you think about a mouth as representative of an entire person, because it is the part of the body that has the function of communicating, whether by song or by speech, a "mouth singing of what it lacks" could also mean a "person talks about what they don't have".
When you use this wording, consider it to mean, then:
"How a person talks about what they don't have"
Talking about what they don't have is followed by "so they all sing of love", where so here is a conjunction meaning therefore, so (and I just used it here in the same sense) it means that they talk about love.
All together, this is saying "People don't have love so they talk about it."
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
add a comment |
If you think about a mouth as representative of an entire person, because it is the part of the body that has the function of communicating, whether by song or by speech, a "mouth singing of what it lacks" could also mean a "person talks about what they don't have".
When you use this wording, consider it to mean, then:
"How a person talks about what they don't have"
Talking about what they don't have is followed by "so they all sing of love", where so here is a conjunction meaning therefore, so (and I just used it here in the same sense) it means that they talk about love.
All together, this is saying "People don't have love so they talk about it."
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
add a comment |
If you think about a mouth as representative of an entire person, because it is the part of the body that has the function of communicating, whether by song or by speech, a "mouth singing of what it lacks" could also mean a "person talks about what they don't have".
When you use this wording, consider it to mean, then:
"How a person talks about what they don't have"
Talking about what they don't have is followed by "so they all sing of love", where so here is a conjunction meaning therefore, so (and I just used it here in the same sense) it means that they talk about love.
All together, this is saying "People don't have love so they talk about it."
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
If you think about a mouth as representative of an entire person, because it is the part of the body that has the function of communicating, whether by song or by speech, a "mouth singing of what it lacks" could also mean a "person talks about what they don't have".
When you use this wording, consider it to mean, then:
"How a person talks about what they don't have"
Talking about what they don't have is followed by "so they all sing of love", where so here is a conjunction meaning therefore, so (and I just used it here in the same sense) it means that they talk about love.
All together, this is saying "People don't have love so they talk about it."
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
answered Nov 15 '18 at 23:02
psosunapsosuna
2,086316
2,086316
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f464553%2fwords-in-a-song-how-every-mouth-sings-of-what-its-without-so-we-all-sing-of-l%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is off-topic.
– Hot Licks
Dec 16 '18 at 0:15