Poetry II: Songs

Rancid - "Ruby Soho"

Echoes of reggae comin' through my bedroom wall
havin' a party up next door but i'm sittin here all alone
two lovers in the bedroom and the other starts to shout
all i got is this blank stare and that don't carry no clout at all

[Chorus]
Destination unknown
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
[x2]

He's singin and she's there to lend a hand
he's seen his name on the marquee but she will never understand
once again he's leavin' and she's there with a tear in her eye
embraces with a warm gesture it's time, time to say goodbye

[Chorus]

Ruby's heart ain't beatin cause she knows the feelin' is gone
she's not the only one who knew there's somethin' wrong
her lover's in the distance as she wipes a tear from her eye
ruby's fading out, she disappears, it's time, time to say goodbye

[Chorus]

Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho

Destination unknown (Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho)
Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho
[x2]

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rancid/rubysoho.html

This song by Rancid is made up of three stanza's separated by the refrain of the chourus. Each stanza contains four lines and, with the exception of the first stanza, follows the ryhme scheme aabb. The meter is inconsistent but each line contains 10 or more sylables."It's time, time to say goodbye" is also a refrain and serves to hammer home the fact that "he" is actually going.

In this song I would assume that the speaker is the artist in 1st person. The target audience could be the general public, or perhaps the army. To me it seems as if the persona is empathetic and feels hurt for Ruby who is having her lover dragged away from her whom she may never see again. There is definitely a sad tone to the song. "Ruby's heart ain't beating, she's fading out, and she disappears are all analogous to how she is feeling and are not litteral.

The song is the artists account of his neighbour's plight. In which the couple is being broken up by someone or some people who are taking the man away to an unknown destination. The destination could be the military, prison, or perhaps a work term of some sort. Where ever it is it must be a bad or dangerous place that one does not want to go to or a place where one would not likely return. One of my first impressions was that it was related to the Holocaust and that the destination unknown could have been a work camp. This interpretation is false because it is not the first time that he has left under similar circumstances, and reaquainance is not conducive of a Holocaust story. Rancid is an American punk band and many of there songs are anti war or speak of social change, knowing that before hearing the song suggests that it is about a man going off to war.