The Book Of Love

Many times, the images that appear in my head when listening to a powerful piece of music are far different that what the artist may have intended to evoke. I don't see that as a fault, just as I don't see what others interpret my art to mean as incorrect if it does not match up to what I had in mind. I will sometimes go YEARS interpreting a song one way only to find out that the artist meant something entirely different. Sometimes even if the lyrics spell it out for you, your interpretation of a given song, what the song means to you, can be vastly different than what it means to everyone else. Your "movie" may not match up to one that may already exist out there.

And then there's •The Book Of Love• by Peter Gabriel. While watching the series finale of Scrubs (which has brought me a vast number of my favorite songs) we see the main character JD imagining his future as home movies projected on a large sheet in front of the hospital. It is the perfect set of images for the song, and I present it thusly.

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures
and instructions for dancing
But I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything

The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
But I
I love it when you sing to me
And you
You can sing me anything

The book of love is long and boring
And written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
And things we're all too young to know
But I
I love it when you give me things
And you
You ought to give me wedding rings
And I
I love it when you give me things
And you
You ought to give me wedding rings
You ought to give me wedding rings