Re: "Careless Love"
Harrison Hill
> As far as I understand it, »love« can refer to both an
> non-tangible concept as in
>
> »This kind of love I'm so sick of it«
>
> or to a person as in
>
> »My love she speaks softly.«
>
> Now, what does it refer to in »Careless Love« (the song)?
>
> Has »Careless Love« some kind of idiomatic meaning
> or is it up to everyone to interpret this noun phrase?
If it is this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP87IH_FEn4
...then Love doesn't care less what the Evil consequences are:
"That's why I sing this song of Hate"!
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
I interpret it differently. It is her emotion of love that is careless.
She has fallen in love without stopping to think about what she is
doing.
That interpretation seems to fit the final verse:
http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/madeleine_peyroux/careless_love/
Love, oh love, oh careless love,
Night and day I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
For my sins till judgement I'll atone
She has been attracted to the wrong man and she has carelessly fallen in
love with him.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Harrison Hill
And to answer your question:
1) Yes, interpret any song in any way you like, unless the person who
wrote it tells you what was intended.
2) This is not the "My Love" who is the person I love, it is the
"love" I have for that person and (hopefully) they have for me.
The theme of that song is that love can cause an enormous of
unhappiness.
Harrison Hill
...I mean enormous *amount* of unhappiness...
CDB
man, but the others are all ambiguous. "Careless" can be intepreted
as "unconcerned". Why have a language that's so good at being vague
and then not make use of it?
>>
<http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/madeleine_peyroux/careless_love/>
Roland Hutchinson
> 1) Yes, interpret any song in any way you like, unless the person who
> wrote it tells you what was intended.
And even if they do. Reader-centered criticism, innit.
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
CDB
> "CDB" <belle...@sympatico.ca> writes:
>>
>> I think it's both. The verse quoted leans toward the emotion, not
>> the man, but the others are all ambiguous. "Careless" can be
>> intepreted as "unconcerned". Why have a language that's so good
>> at being vague and then not make use of it?
>
> You, who are so good with words
> And at keeping things vague
>
> 'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
> It's all come back too clearly
> I once loved you dearly«
>
> from »Diamonds and Rust« by Joan Baez
>>
Addressed to Dylan, I suppose, by that time.
Donna Richoux
[snip]
> Now, what does it refer to in »Careless Love« (the song)?
>
> Has »Careless Love« some kind of idiomatic meaning
> or is it up to everyone to interpret this noun phrase?
The Madeline Peyroux lyrics referred to by other posters are almost
nothing like the version I learned in folk circles, although the tune is
similar. The version we sang at the Boston Folk Song Society was more
like this:
http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=1091
And this version is even more specific about the pregancy that results
from careless love:
http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=9441
Love, oh love oh careless love (3x)
See what careless love has done to me
When my apron strings were long
You passed my window with a song
Now, my apron strings won't tie
You pass my cabin door right by.
What oh what will mother say
When I come home in the family way
She'll tear her hair and bite her tongue
Cause she did the same when she was young
--
Best -- Donna Richoux