"Drops of Jupiter" Close Reading
Drops of Jupiter"
Now that she's back in the atmosphere With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey, hey She acts like summer and walks like rain Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey, hey Since the return from her stay on the moon She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey But tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded And that heaven is overrated? Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star– One without a permanent scar? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? Now that she's back from that soul vacation Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey, hey (mmm) She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey, hey (yeah) Now that she's back in the atmosphere I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane Told a story about a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day And head back to the Milky Way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken? Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversation? The best soy latte that you ever had and me But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day And head back toward the Milky Way? And tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded And that heaven is overrated? And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star, One without a permanent scar? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself? Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na And did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day? Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na And did you fall for a shooting star, fall for a shooting star? Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na And now you're lonely looking for yourself out there.
The song “Drops of Jupiter” by Train can be interpreted many ways. With just listening, it gives off a romance vibe, but as the lyrics are analyzed the theme is interpreted as: The best things in life are right in front of you, you don’t have to travel to “The Milky Way to find them. The song begins with:
“Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey, hey”
This can be interpreted as a friend went on a journey and in coming back she has brought some form of this journey back with her. Then the song says:
“She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey”
This is understood, through the personification of weather and seasons as well as similes, to mean the she is bright, warm and happy with grace and beauty. As she returns from her journey she reminds him that he can still change his life. Ever since she has returned she listens to him with a passion that was not there before and she has amazing stories to tell. The next three stanzas can be clumped together:
“But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star–
One without a permanent scar?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey, hey (mmm)
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey, hey (yeah)”
These stanzas are about things not being as good as they were thought to be. As we all know things like the sun, the Milky Way and the stars are unreachable by most humans. And some even fall for the illusion that shooting stars are unique, when in reality they are common things that aren’t are great as we thought. Heaven is portrayed as all things that we think are amazing and that we think we need, when heaven can be right in our back yard. A soul vacation can be seen as searching for you. It can lead you to find new interests and grow as a person.
“Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land”
This section of the song is explaining his fear of seeming boring to her as she returns from her amazing journey and has seen many wonderful sights. He also admits that he was afraid to reach for his wants in life and cannot grasp it.
“But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day?
And head back to the Milky Way?
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? “
In this stanza he is just trying to understand how “perfect” her journey was which leads to the next lines:
“Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken?
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversation?
The best soy latte that you ever had and me”
which are explaining that no matter what type of perfectness she experienced they will never amount to things that really matter in life, such as love, pride, fried chicken, friends, romance and soy lattes. You can let the little things in life pass by because they’re what truly matter. Then the rest of the song is repetition of previous lines. A neutral tone of questioning is evident throughout the song in the many questions present in the song. The title of the song “Drops of Jupiter” was chosen for the title to show the questions she brought back from her journey about life itself.
*****If this did not make enough sense, the hard copy of my close reading will be on your desk awaiting your return as well as scanned on to my blog.
