Saturday, July 29, 2023

"Of You"

I recently listened to the deluxe edition of More of the Monkees and noticed an interesting structural feature in "Of You," which is included as a bonus track.

The third verse is:
And when the skies are once more blue
I get that old longing to
To be held in the arms of you
The first two lines complement each other since they're the same number of syllables ("old" is sung with two syllables, so each line has eight) and they rhyme, but the placement of the second line break creates an interruption in the meaning.  The "to" of the infinitive "to be held" must be completed, and this need for semantic resolution mirrors the "longing" that the lyrics themselves describe.