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Music as Poetry

Project
“Please Bleed”
by Ben Harper
The song

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The Artist
Ben Harper

Combining shuddering, groove-laden funky soul and folky handcrafted acoustics,


singer/songwriter Ben Harper enjoyed cult status during the course of the '90s
before gaining

wider attention toward the decade's end. As a young artist, Harper combined
elements of classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists, Jimi Hendrix, and such
'90s jam bands as Blues Traveler and Phish, which meant that he was embraced
by critics and college kids alike. Despite the commercial success of the radio
single Steal My Kisses" in 2000, Harper continued to explore different musical
textures into the 21st century, enjoying a solid fan base at home and a
considerable amount of fame in Europe, where was named 2003's "Artist of the
Year" by the French branch of Rolling Stone.
A native of California, Harper grew up listening to blues, folk, soul, R&B, and
reggae. He started playing guitar as a child, and began to perform regularly as a
preteen. During his adolescence, he turned toward acoustic slide guitar, which
would eventually become his signature instrument. Harper scored a deal with
Virgin Records in 1992 after a steady schedule of shows in the L.A. area; two
years later, he released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, to positive
reviews.
Interpretation
•    This lyric poem is a reflection on how one person feel when
betrayed by another in a relationship.  The tone is frustrated
to the point incredulity and angry.
    It seems the person in the poem is experiencing a break-
up or some other type of extreme hurt caused by a partner.
One can assume that the speaker feels totally desperate,
having to beg for attention by the other person, but hating
feeling this way. The song is thus not a fatal attraction or
obsessive reaction, but rather the speaker dislikes him/herself
for feeling this way. It’s an unconscious reaction.
• He or she is struck in such disbelief at the other’s coldness of action that
he/she is asking if the person is even real, if he/she even knows what he/she
has done.

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Interpretation
• Speaker • Tone
• Not much is indicated about the • The tone of the song is
speaker of the poem other than it desperate and angry. The
is a person feeling betrayed and lyrics “So as it stands
desperate because of the action, I remain on my knees” show
or rather, inaction of the other that the speaker is
person. The gender of the
speaker is unknown, and as the desperate, while the words
situation could occur to either, is “Never said thank you
not relevant. One can assume Never said please “ illustrate
either position, as the song is the speaker’s anger. Finally,
obviously sung by a male, but the title of the song and the
stereotypically a female could feel
subject to these emotions.
repetition of “Please
Bleed/So I know that you are
real” illustrate the speaker’s
disbelief and hurt.

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• Theme • Title Signficance
• The theme of the song • The title of the poem
seems to be that in signifies how the speaker
relationships, wishes to know if the
person recognizes what
sometimes people can
he or she has done to
become so cold and
the speaker-after how
hurtful that they don’t what they may have
even realize what they been through, if the
are doing to other person recognizes
people. his/her own
destructiveness.

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• Figures of Speech/Poetic
Devices
Song Lyrics
Make me feel like a beggar
Make me feel like a thief
• Similes-the song begins with
Make me feel like a battle, that several similes which illustrate
cannot end in peace
how the actions of the other
person have made the speaker
feel, like he/she is desperate

• Paradox-this line in the song demonstrates


a paradox, that a good lover can also be a
great enemy, which is an opposite idea but
contains a truth. Generally two people
Good lovers make great that are very close can not only love each
enemies other, but also know what buttons to push
to facilitate opposite emotions.

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Why this song?
• I think this song is emotionally charged and
listening to the singer perform the song always
evokes a sentiment in me. I have a personal
connection to the song because I have been in
relationships where I was desperate for the
person to understand how I’ve felt, but I think I
have also been the person who did not
understand the damage I’ve caused another and
can see that aspect in the lines “to myself I am
numb”. Also, I just love Ben Harper!

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