"Funny the Way It Is"

            Along with the use of oxymoronic situations in “Funny the Way It Is,” Dave Matthews Band utilizes conflicting imagery, depressing irony and paradox, and a wishful tone to show how much is wrong with the world when you “remember how it used to be.”

Throughout the song, Dave Matthews Band uses a lot of imagery to help convey the point they want to get across. There are many descriptions of happy and beautiful scenes. The beginning of the song goes, “Lying in the park on a beautiful day, sunshine in the grass, and the children play.” This paints a picture of a wonderful day where everything is cheerful and bright. A second example of happy imagery is, “Like a pretty bird on a breeze or water to a fish.” This also creates a picture of a lovely situation. On the contrary, there are also lines in the song that convey images of disastrous or depressing scenes. The line right after the previously mentioned one is, “A bomb blast brings a building crashing to the floor.” This is by far the opposite of the beautiful scenes that Dave Matthews Band also uses throughout the song. This contradiction of situations helps to prove the narrator’s point that the world has changed. The differentiation of the examples of imagery in the song set up ironic situations that help to determine the universal idea in “Funny the Way It Is.”

There are many examples of irony and paradox that are expressed throughout the song to show conflicting events that happen in the world. A line in the song that shows irony is when Matthews says, “On a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born.” This shows irony because as a man is dying, his son is being born. No one ever expects this sad event to happen. If anything, people would be happy to wait for the time when the man comes home so he can meet his newborn child. In another instance, this example could also be argued. Since the man is fighting in a war, there is always the chance that he could be killed. One cannot expect a soldier to come home safely because they face the ever present threat of never being able to go home again. Another example of irony is in the line, “Someone’s house is burning down on a” beautiful day. If the weather is great and the day is beautiful, no one expects a fire to ruin everything. A paradox in the song is when a “war song is playing, ‘why can’t we be friends?’” War is a theme that goes hand in hand with enemies. In war there is death and suffering, things that are not involved with friendship. The line is a comparison of two situations that are opposite of each other. The use of irony and paradox in the song are used to show the different things that are going on in the world that contradict each other.

The wishful tone that is present in “Funny the Way It Is” conveys the feeling that the narrator has for the happenings in the world. Dave Matthews says, “It must’ve been much harder when there was no bridge just water.” He means that life now is much easier than it was back when. If there was no bridge, it would be very difficult to get across the water unlike now, when it is very easy to cross the bridge. Also, he says, “Now the world is small, remember how it used to be.” The oxymoron of the world being small shows the wish that the narrator has to have everything back to how it was; back to normal. The line, “Funny the way it is, not right or wrong” means that the contradictions in the world are ironic, but they do not make everything in the world wrong or bad. By saying that it is not right says that the narrator wishes that the world did not change how it did. No matter what goes on throughout the world, the things that happen are the things that make the world what it is. If there were no bad situations, then there would be no good situations. If there was nothing sad, there would be nothing happy. The wishful tone given by Dave Matthews Band helps to explain the reasoning for all the happenings, good or bad, in the world.

When you remember how everything “used to be,” you can see just how “funny the way it is.” As happy events are taking place in one part of the world, depressing scenes are being played out in another. The change that the whole world has been through may not be pleasing to everyone, but it must be accepted by everyone. This is shown in “Funny the Way It is” through Dave Matthews Band’s use of conflicting imagery, depressing irony and paradox, and wishful tone.

Song Analysis 1

Breaking up with someone you love can be a difficult thing to do. Depending on the length of the relationship and the connection the couple had, dealing with a break up can be very hard to cope with. With the help of a depressing tone in the song “Not Meant to Be,” Theory of a Deadman uses extreme hyperboles, demoralizing similes, and symbolic allegories to show the sadness felt by a man when he finally realizes that he cannot mend the relationship he had with his ex-girlfriend even though the two are “not meant to be.”

The extremities of the hyperboles throughout the song help to convey the severity of the sadness felt by the speaker. At one point in the song, Tyler Connolly says “I might just disappear.” The meaning of this line is figurative; it does not mean he will literally disappear. It means that the narrator is so depressed from the failed relationship that he might as well disappear. Also, there is a line that says, “I can’t give you what you want and it’s killing me.” The fact that the narrator cannot give the person they are talking to what they want is not going to physically hurt them at all. It is an exaggeration to express the amount of love that the narrator felt for their ex. In addition, there is one part of the song where Connolly says, “There’s no way out for you and me.” This is a stretch from the truth because there is a way out. It just means that it is impossible to fix the relationship between the two characters. The hyperboles in the song also contrast other lines from the song. In one instance, the narrator tries to fix the relationship but in another, he finds his efforts useless. At one point, the narrator says, “There’s still time to turn this around.” The hyperboles are all saying that the actions to help the relationship still lead to the fact that “There’s no way out for you and me.” Even though the hyperboles show the hopelessness of the man’s efforts, they contradict other aspects of the song. The use of hyperboles throughout the song by Theory of a Deadman helps to convey the seriousness of the problems that the couple being talked about is having.

The comparisons in the song “Not Meant to Be” help greatly to stress the sadness felt by the narrator. At one point, there is a comparison made between the failed relationship and a situation that gets nowhere. The simile says, “It’s like one step forward and two steps back.” If one does this, the result will be further back than when that person started. This situation is being compared to the relationship; it is heading in the wrong direction and the narrator wishes that it was not. A second situation that the relationship is being compared to is, “It’s like trying to turn around on a one way street.” The difference in this simile is that turning around on a one way street is possible, it is not, however, a good idea. This helps to show that even though the narrator could try to turn the fate of the relationship with his ex-girlfriend around, it is not a good idea. It would most likely end in failure again, just like it did previously. The comparisons in the song are very meaningful and they express the depressing truth that the narrator must face.

There are many allegories throughout the song that show the harshness of the struggle that the narrator is experiencing. One allegory in the song is, “I’m caught between what you wanted from me and knowing if I give that to you I might just disappear.” The part that says, “I’m caught between” does not mean that Connolly is physically “caught” in between anything. He is just in a situation where he is forced to make a difficult decision. Another line from the song that is an allegory is “There’s still time to turn this around.” “This,” being the troubled relationship, cannot literally be turned around. The expression is a saying that the outcome can be changed; the relationship can be saved. A third example of an allegory from the lyrics is, “Should we be building this up instead of tearing it down.” “This,” again being the relationship, can neither be built up nor torn down. It is not a concrete object. The phrase, “building this up instead of tearing it down” means that the narrator wants to try to fix and mend the relationship rather than terminate it altogether. The allegories throughout the song contradict each other in a way. Some of them are saying that the relationship can be fixed while others say that it cannot be fixed. The use of allegories in the song serve the purpose of showing the desire that Connolly has to fix the relationship and the depressing truth that he finally sees.

The frequent use of hyperboles, similes, and allegories in the song “Not Meant to Be” by Theory of a Deadman helps to convey the desire of the narrator to fix the relationship he used to have with his ex-girlfriend. The narrator wants to fix the relationship even though he knows in the back of his mind that it is just not possible. Even though splitting up with a loved one might be difficult, the truth just may be that letting go is the best thing to do for a relationship.