More Than Just a "Girl"

A very common lyrical perspective is direct address. Direct address is essential the same thing as second person. It is about a direct conversation between the "I" and some second person or "you." You'll often hear a combination of the pronouns "I" and "you" in a direct address song, but imagine the scene - does it actually sound like someone else is present in the situation? 

The benefit of using direct address is the immediate immersion of the listener into a situation. The situation needs to hold enough drama to engage the listener, and the singer has to make sure the emotion of speaking to someone comes through during the performance. BaileyShea address that pronouns allow for a listen to make a shift from a distant perspective to one of intimacy.

In Matthew L. BalieyShea’s From Me to You: Dynamic Discourse in Popular Music, he talks about the persona represented in songs. He talks about two important questions to be asked: Who is the song persona and who is being addressed? In the song Ophelia sung by The Lumineers, the singer talks about a girl named Ophelia who you would assume was an ex girlfriend but after some digging into the song's background, Ophelia's persona is actually an analogy for fame. 

One verse in the song is “I, I got a little paycheck / You got big plans and you gotta move." You can see here the relationship between you and I as the singer is addressing Ophelia. Essentially what this verse is saying is that the artist made money from their time in the spotlight but Ophelia (or fame) has to "move on" because she cannot stay with one person for too long. Comparing this to the analogy, it is basically saying that you are only in the spotlight of fame for a certain time before fame has to move on to someone else, leaving you behind. The Lumineers use pronouns to display the persona of Ophelia, that being fame. 

Connecting Ophelia to her persona, The Lumineers use this direct address to create a personal intimacy with the song relating Ophelia to relationships but also relating her to fame. Another line said is “Ah, ah, when I was younger / I, I should’ve known better / And I can’t feel no remorse / And you don’t feel nothing back." The singer here is talking to Ophelia and what we can get from this is that Ophelia is unable to feel emotion meaning that fame really doesn't give back to you emotionally. The message they are giving is that Ophelia is a cold, detached and remote person; basically someone you would not want to be in a "relationship" with. 

The person he’s talking to, Ophelia, is similarly unfeeling, which could mean that fame really doesn’t give back emotionally: she’s a cold and aloof person to be in a relationship with. By using this point of view, The Lumineers are able to display two persona's given off by one character, using direct address, making it more personal and more intimate.