Catcher In The Rye Lyrics:

[BabyGorilla]

Ok, first verse. Axl talks about the "old folks" reminiscing about the old days. The he says then when he seems them he wishes he had a gun? I'm lost.  Can you please explain that for me? Thanks 

[Freya]

Does anybody else hear "took our innocence beyond our [/b]steps" instead of "beyond our stance?"

To me it's "behind our stares". 

[BabyGorilla]

If you really like these lyrics as much as you say you do and if they mean so much to you then you should have no problem expressing why and also interpreting the meaning. You shouldn't have to come up with explanations just to counter what I think about the lyrics and you don't have to throw personal insults at me just because I feel differently about them. Hell, you can even start your own thread about the meaning behind the songs with verse-by-verse breakdowns. You don't have to go on the defensive and attack me just because I criticized Axl's lyrics. I also make a conscious effort never to bash anything by saying "teh r the suxxors!!" I said I was not fond of Axl's lyrics and a justified it by saying they lack direction and cohesion.

[killingvector]

Ya, I'm just too stupid to figure them out.   

Since you claim to be knowledgeable enough to interpret the lyrics, can you break them done for me so my feeble little mind could comprehend them?

You still have not proven how they are not cohesive and don?t flow well. How does Axl jump around in the song?  If you explain that maybe I can help you.

Nice way of shifting the argument. So are you going to breakdown the lyrics verse-by-verse for me or not?

Read the book, dude and you will understand. I don't think anyone here is required to give a book report.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

If you really like these lyrics as much as you say you do and if they mean so much to you then you should have no problem expressing why and also interpreting the meaning. You shouldn't have to come up with explanations just to counter what I think about the lyrics and you don't have to throw personal insults at me just because I feel differently about them. Hell, you can even start your own thread about the meaning behind the songs with verse-by-verse breakdowns. You don't have to go on the defensive and attack me just because I criticized Axl's lyrics. I also make a conscious effort never to bash anything by saying "teh r the suxxors!!" I said I was not fond of Axl's lyrics and a justified it by saying they lack direction and cohesion.

Read the book and you will get it. But you dont need to read the book to see the lyrics are cohesive, I dont see how you can claim they are not. You still have not given a legit reason how they are not cohesive and lack direction. Give a legit point?

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Does anybody else hear "took our innocence beyond our [/b]steps" instead of "beyond our stance?"

To me it's "behind our stares".?

That makes better sense.

[BabyGorilla]

You guys don't have to patronize me. I read the book in the 10th grade so my memory on the subject matter is somewhat fuzzy. Regardless, whether it if for the sake of argument or my benefit, I would be interested in reading anybodies verse-by-verse interpretation of the song. I am not irredeemably under the belief that these lyrics are incohesive. I can be persuaded in changing my opinion on the lyrics should someone come across and make sense of them.

[alternativemonkey]

Ya, I'm just too stupid to figure them out.? ?

Since you claim to be knowledgeable enough to interpret the lyrics, can you break them done for me so my feeble little mind could comprehend them?

You still have not proven how they are not cohesive and don?t flow well. How does Axl jump around in the song?? If you explain that maybe I can help you.

Nice way of shifting the argument. So are you going to breakdown the lyrics verse-by-verse for me or not?

Read the book, dude and you will understand. I don't think anyone here is required to give a book report.

Wrong! It is about Mark David Chapman murdering John Lennon. It is only tangentially related to the book.

Gave that boy a gun
Took our innocence
Beyond our stance
Some type of moment
There you got it
All alone in jail today

After John Lennon was murdered by Mark Chapman outside the Dakota Apartment building in NYC in 1980, Chapman started reading Catcher in the Rye over Lennon's dead body. It is believed Chapman loathed Lennon because he believed that Lennon was the ultimate "phony"; The main character in Holden Caufileld was a anti-social kid who looked at life like everyone was a phony (no guns in the book).

When all is said and done
We're not the only ones
Who look at life this way

Chapman was just acting out Holden's disturbed fantasy. Axl is identifying with both Chapman and Holden, but ultimately casts Chapman aside as going too far.

Here's where it ties into the book and why Axl uses the word "crazy" in the lyric:

"What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy." [Holden Caufield Speaking]

Either way the lyrics are barely deciperable. It should be more accessible to those that don't know Chapman or the book.

[BabyGorilla]

That was an interesting read. Much more productive than attacking my opinion. What do you make of the first verse:

When all is said and done
We're not the only ones
Who look at life this way
That's what the old folk's say
But every time I?d see them
Makes me wish I had a gun

Is he speaking in the perspective of Chapman? To me, this is an example of why I feel the song suffers from poor craftmanship and sounds like they were written as Axl went along. Going by the theme of the book about Holden's infatuation with labeling people as "phonies" and Chapman's reasons for killing Lennon because he viewed Lennon as a phony, do you feel the first verse reflects this theme? Does the speaker in the first verse view the old folks as phonies which would justify him wishing he had a gun because of his resentment towards them? Or does the reference towards the old folks deal with the second theme which is Holden's desire to mingle with the adult word?

From Wikipedia:

"Another theme is Holden's conflicted, obviously strong desire to be an adult and live in the adult world, though he is not yet ready and doesn't succeed, to his immense frustration. He repeatedly tries to fit into adult society, but in nearly each situation, he says something wrong, or is simply seen as a physical adolescent by the adults around him. After being rejected, Holden's response is an even stronger rejection of the people he was trying to fit in with a few seconds ago. This resentment, combined with his observations of "phoniness" in many of the people around him, cause him to be repelled by adult society and to sometimes view himself as a loner with outsider status ? though this attitude does not prevent him from trying to fit into adult society again."

Chapman, like many assassins before him, was viewed as a loner. In the first verse, perhaps Axl is trying to make this connection between Chapman and Holden by showing the reason for their loneliness is fueled by their rejection from the adult society ("old folks"). This rejection turns into resentment which justifies the labeling of them as phonies.

Over thinking? Perhaps.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Ya, I'm just too stupid to figure them out.? ?

Since you claim to be knowledgeable enough to interpret the lyrics, can you break them done for me so my feeble little mind could comprehend them?

You still have not proven how they are not cohesive and don?t flow well. How does Axl jump around in the song?? If you explain that maybe I can help you.

Nice way of shifting the argument. So are you going to breakdown the lyrics verse-by-verse for me or not?

Read the book, dude and you will understand. I don't think anyone here is required to give a book report.

Wrong! It is about Mark David Chapman murdering John Lennon. It is only tangentially related to the book.

Gave that boy a gun
Took our innocence
Beyond our stance
Some type of moment
There you got it
All alone in jail today

After John Lennon was murdered by Mark Chapman outside the Dakota Apartment building in NYC in 1980, Chapman started reading Catcher in the Rye over Lennon's dead body. It is believed Chapman loathed Lennon because he believed that Lennon was the ultimate "phony"; The main character in Holden Caufileld was a anti-social kid who looked at life like everyone was a phony (no guns in the book).

When all is said and done
We're not the only ones
Who look at life this way

Chapman was just acting out Holden's disturbed fantasy. Axl is identifying with both Chapman and Holden, but ultimately casts Chapman aside as going too far.

Here's where it ties into the book and why Axl uses the word "crazy" in the lyric:

"What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy." [Holden Caufield Speaking]

Either way the lyrics are barely deciperable. It should be more accessible to those that don't know Chapman or the book.

First off your lyrics are wrong, its not all alone in jail today. And 2nd yes the song is about MDC but the book and MDC have parallels.

[Mr.Intensity]

"You decide
If I don't have to
Then they'll find
And I won't ask you
At anytime
Or long thereafter
If it's cold outside
I?m imaging
How it?s gonna be
All alone"

I think that part is obviously about what Lennon's killer thought after he had committed the crime, pertaining to the fact he was going to be sentenced to life in jail, so obviously he wouldn't be concerned if it is cold outside, he would be living the rest of his life behind bars and "all alone."

[BabyGorilla]

The above verse is too disorganized for me to even begin to speculate on it's meaning. The thoughts never seem to be completed and jump around. If Axl's intention was to get into Chapman's mind after the shooting and reflect his state of confusion than he succeeded in doing so because I am completely confused.

On an ordinary day
Not in an ordinary way
All at once this song I heard
No longer would it play for anybody
Or anyone
That needed comfort from somebody
Needed comfort from someone who cared
To be
Not like you
Unlike me
And then the voices went away
From me
So that it set the wheels in motion
Haunts our memories

I think this part is Axl speaking for himself about what he endured after the loss of Lennon. He borrows a lot from Don McLean's American Pie.

I went down to the sacred store
Where I?d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn?t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

[killingvector]

Wrong! It is about Mark David Chapman murdering John Lennon. It is only tangentially related to the book.

MDC identified with Holden Caufield. If you want to understand why MDC felt the need to always have a copy of this text with him, then read the text. Catcher reveals tremendous insight into the mind of MDC.

[elevendayempire]

The above verse is too disorganized for me to even begin to speculate on it's meaning. The thoughts never seem to be completed and jump around. If Axl's intention was to get into Chapman's mind after the shooting and reflect his state of confusion than he succeeded in doing so because I am completely confused.

On an ordinary day
Not in an ordinary way
All at once this song I heard
No longer would it play for anybody
Or anyone
That needed comfort from somebody
Needed comfort from someone who cared
To be
Not like you
Unlike me
And then the voices went away
From me
So that it set the wheels in motion
Haunts our memories

I think this part is Axl speaking for himself about what he endured after the loss of Lennon. He borrows a lot from Don McLean's American Pie.

I think you're on the right track there; it's quite tricky to get the viewpoint right. I think Axl's presenting Chapman's own realisation of what he'd done, mixed in with Axl's own commentary on what the world lost when Lennon died ("All at once this song I heard/No longer would it play"). The "Someone who cared/To be/Not like you/Unlike me," is clearly meant to describle Lennon, while "And then the voices went away/From me" pops back into Chapman's mindset for a line or so. And then "It set the wheels in motion/Haunts our memories" jumps into the omniscient voice.

Whatever, it's bloody brilliant, powerful stuff. I just hope May's guitar is still on the album.

SG

[Reinaldo]

Isn't it
"I'm Imagining
It's me
All Alone"?

[kaddisonmoore]

great song and great book

[AmyRose]

I finally head it and wow......everyone was right.... awesome song.
Loved the words...and just everything.

[RoCoKiN]

Ooh, Catcher in the Rye again
Ooh, won't let ya get away from his gun

I have to disagree with this part...it sounds like "Ooh, won't let you get away from him"
It has the same amount of beats and fits in better with the whole symbolism of Holden wanting to catch all of the children before they go over the cliff...not letting them get away from him.

[elevendayempire]

Some type of moment
There we got it
All alone with her (hurt?) today

The end sounds more like "Sometimes the only thing we've got at all..." and then something I can't make out.

SG

[dave-gnfnr2k]

Ooh, Catcher in the Rye again
Ooh, won't let ya get away from his gun

I have to disagree with this part...it sounds like "Ooh, won't let you get away from him"
It has the same amount of beats and fits in better with the whole symbolism of Holden wanting to catch all of the children before they go over the cliff...not letting them get away from him.

For some reason I hear gun, and its under the chorus. Plus gun fits much better with the other lyrics.
Look

Ooh won't let ya get away from his gun
It's just another day like today

When all is said and done
We're not the only ones

You keep claimng he is saying HIM I dont even hear the word HIM at all in that line