Grex Music2 Conference

Item 245: Torn: Clues for the Clueless?

Entered by polygon on Tue Mar 28 17:40:32 2000:

Michael Delizia's comments about recent pop music inspired me to enter
this item.

In my travels across the radio dial, one song I hear a lot is "Torn" by
Natalie Imbruglia.  It's a fairly listenable song, even after being
overplayed for a couple of years.  Its popularity is also reflected in the
fact that hundreds of sites feature the lyrics.

However, I don't understand the story.  This sounds like more than regrets
over a faded love affair.

Could someone please explain, or at least discuss, what is going on in
these lyrics?  A copy is included below.


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TORN, by Natalie Imbruglia


I thought I saw a man brought to life
He was warm, he came around like he was dignified
He showed me what it was to cry
Well you couldn't be that man I adored
You don't seem to know, don't seem to care what your heart is for
But I don't know him anymore

There's nothing where he used to lie
My conversation has run dry
That's whats going on

Nothing's fine I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late, I'm already torn

So I guess the fortune teller's right
Should have seen just what was there and not some holy light
To crawl beneath my veins and now

I don't care, I have no luck, I don't miss it all that much
There's just so many things that I can't touch

Nothing's fine I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late, I'm already torn 

Torn (I'm already torn)

There's nothing where he used to lie
My inspiration has run dry
That's what's going on 

Nothings right, I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I'm ashamed bound and broken on the floor
You're a little late, I'm already torn

21 responses total.

#1 of 21 by jp2 on Tue Mar 28 18:18:23 2000:

This response has been erased.



#2 of 21 by cconroy on Tue Mar 28 22:07:21 2000:

Funny, I haven't heard that song for probably a year.  The NYC stations 
of course overplayed it to death when it first came out, but I guess 
there's a pretty quick turnover for catchy new music around here.


#3 of 21 by ric on Wed Mar 29 00:52:41 2000:

It sounds like she was suckered by first love.


#4 of 21 by katie on Wed Mar 29 04:45:14 2000:

It's a regular old broken heart song. What is the mystery, Larry?

I like the song a lot. I was going through the exact same thing and
feeling the same way about it when it came out 2 Springs ago.


#5 of 21 by booter on Wed Mar 29 16:20:28 2000:

The song is an elaborate code for "Paul is dead."


#6 of 21 by gypsi on Wed Mar 29 20:15:26 2000:

Whiny yucky song.  Blecch.  The bridge in it sounds a lot like it's sampled
from a James song, to boot.


#7 of 21 by jules on Thu Mar 30 01:16:26 2000:

im kind of sick of that song actually.


#8 of 21 by polygon on Thu Mar 30 01:58:47 2000:

Re 4.  Do women with broken hearts lie naked on the floor, even when it's
cold there?  This custom had somehow escaped my notice.


#9 of 21 by orinoco on Thu Mar 30 02:41:04 2000:

It's one of the top medically recognized signs of a broken heart, actually.
You really should pay attention to these things.


#10 of 21 by krj on Thu Mar 30 04:27:45 2000:

    ((( spring agora #48  <--->  music #245 )))


#11 of 21 by beeswing on Thu Mar 30 04:32:27 2000:

natalie annoys me. she just does. I don't believe her at all.



#12 of 21 by katie on Thu Mar 30 04:42:15 2000:

Um, it's a metaphor, Larry.


#13 of 21 by n8nxf on Thu Mar 30 13:21:46 2000:

Perhaps she has radiant floor heating?


#14 of 21 by keesan on Thu Mar 30 23:42:22 2000:

Blood circulates better when your feet are level with or higher than your
head, so lying on the floor might help with a broken heart.


#15 of 21 by aaron on Fri Mar 31 15:48:40 2000:

I heard the songwriter interviewed a while back, when I was driving to
Grand Rapids. She explained that the song is about a woman who has just
made the decision to end her relationship, as her hopes and illusions had
come to be replaced by a colder reality. She then performed a version,
demonstrating that it is possible to interject some degree of emotion into
the performance (as opposed to the Imbruglia version, where she might as
well be singing "The Good Ship Lollipop.")


#16 of 21 by gypsi on Sat Apr 1 20:13:55 2000:

<falls down laughing>


#17 of 21 by lumen on Wed Apr 5 23:56:29 2000:

I hate that song, but I can imagine the songwriter did it much more 
justice.  Too bad-- I figure Imbruglia to be just a pretty face, 
something more eye-popping supposedly than whoever the songwriter is.


#18 of 21 by mooncat on Tue Apr 25 20:12:50 2000:

Yanno... I really rather like the song... or maybe it's more the words 
and music than her singing... <grins>


#19 of 21 by jules on Wed Apr 26 01:25:22 2000:

its a good song, it just got way way way overplayed


#20 of 21 by carla on Thu Apr 27 03:03:35 2000:

make my boobies one more size


#21 of 21 by jules on Thu Apr 27 12:04:29 2000:

dirty deeds done with sheep


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