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Every time I close my eyes, I see you in front of me
Pretending in a love like this
I have no choice but to put you in back of me
Don't cover my footsteps
Dead weight all right, I know you're no good for me
Dead weight all right, I know you're no righteous leader
You're dead weight all right, that's fine, you get your hands off me
You have to touch me with kid gloves
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These lyrics feature a common colloquial phrase that is considered to be an error in diction according to the rules of standard American English.
While the adverb phrase "in back of me" is antithetical to "in front of me," the proper idiom is "behind me." Employing the standard phrase would break the parallel structure of the antithesis, and the rhetoric of the chorus would be compromised. Remember that songwriters can flout the rules, but students should exercise caution when choosing words.
Also note the correct use of "all right" in this unofficial transcription. The commonly used "alright" is not a standard word and is acceptable in a colloquial context only.
dictionary.com: colloquial diction antithesis rhetoric flout
Download "Fresh Feeling" here.
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You don't have a clue,
what it is like
to be next to you.
I'm here to tell you,
that it is good,
that it is true.
Birds singing a song,
old paint is peeling,
this is that fresh
that fresh feeling.
Words can't be that strong,
my heart is reeling,
this is that fresh,
that fresh feeling.
Try, try to forget,
what's in the past,
tomorrow is here.
Love, orange sky above,
lighting your way
there's nothing to fear.
Some people are good,
babe in the hood,
so pure and so free.
I'd make a safe bet,
you're gonna get,
whatever you need.
That fresh feeling.
This is that fresh feeling.
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One interpretation of these lyrics is that the singer is encouraging someone to forget the past and focus on the "fresh feeling" of the present and the promise of the future. He uses imagery that can suggest a feeling of happiness: "birds singing a song." The image of old paint peeling can bring to mind the idea of walls needing a fresh coat of paint or a snake shedding its skin.
The line "I'm here to tell you that it is good, that it is true" contains an example of anaphora.
The phrase "fresh feeling" is alliterative.
The idiom "babe in the woods" refers to an innocent, naive person; it originated in a 16th century ballad about two children who get lost in a forest. The phrase "babe in the 'hood" is a pun that modernizes the concept by replacing "woods" with a shortened form of "neighborhood" and furthers the sentiment that some people are good by virtue of being pure.
- imagery: the use of descriptive language to create mental pictures or represent ideas
- anaphora: the repetition of a word or set of words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences
- alliteration: the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words in a group
- idiom: a term whose figurative meaning does not reflect the literal definitions of the words it contains
- pun: a play on words suggesting different meanings of either the same word or phrase or words or phrases that sound alike
