A suitably introspective opening to a very Romantic poem. Note: the Romantics were famed for their introspective musings and malaise. An aching heart is as good a place as any to start a poem on the transience of life…

The three words are monosyllables with long vowels, slowing the pace to suggest weariness.

Cas will sell you the cannabis in a vacumm pack & it will look like a bag of pesto.

Note: Also continuing the semantic field of food/ dining (which continues in songs such as ‘City Slicker’) Whatever he’s been up to for the past few years, eating has been involved.

He’s not letting up in his quest to convince women of his worth through wealth.

In a sense, there is something poignant in the desperation inherent in having to use riches as bait for ‘love’. Biggie is almost Gatsby-esque in this regard, offering money and the freedom it brings (cruise the world) as a lure for… a relationship.

It’s also a slightly mixed juxtaposition of wealth images, that borders on incoherent. Word cruises and alligator skin bots? Ok then… He’s having a ‘throwing colourful shirts at daisy’ moment here. Confident and flashy yes, but also needy.

Clear funeral imagery here. There’s something quaint about insignificant gnats mourning the passing of summer, but, as a Romantic, Keats takes this minor observation and explores it.

Autumn music can be heard in the sad or melodious songs of gnats, and this song is echoed by the hills present near the river bank and by the willow trees.

Keats was skilled at manipulation of words; the clever and concise ‘wailful choir’ is a marvellous example.

This is subtly sinister. In the previous line Keats paints a fairly standard picture of summer tranquillity (bees pollinating flowers). In this line however, he suggests that warm days WILL cease by stating that the bees ‘think’ they will never cease.

The dramatic irony here is deliberate. Through his illness, Keats was well aware of his own mortality and thus knows that the ‘warm days’ of his life’s summer are coming to an end. Dark, sad and poignant poetry, simultaneously wise and unknowing…

Gotta love the artistic integrity of Rakim. He spells it out - this rhyme took him time to craft; the live performance is a mere recital of what has already been written.

In an age where rappers are reluctant to expose the craft in writing lyrics, it is refreshing to see a pioneer like this regaling the crafting process. His mic skills are explicitly rooted in poetry.

The imagery has developed from a kind of coquettish confidence/ blossoming sexuality (‘girl’ – ‘model’) into a fairly humiliating picture of sexual degredation. Here, America is brought down to a grimly visceral reality, a dirtiness that Byrne is happy to stoop down to, if it means more gratification. The sad state of affairs here is that we (symbolised by ‘I’) are so drawn to the allure of America that we’ll take her in even the dirtiest, least appealing circumstances.

The following reference to proper, rugged Americana encapsulated in the hyper individualist rogue cop with a heart of steel (Dirty Harry) takes the song into a place of almost random pop culture. Which, of course, America is good at.

At this point, everyone involved appears to be a victim. The best we can do is recreate something exciting from ‘the movies’ itself a fabrication of real life where gloss trumps reality.

ACCEPTED COMMENT: Byrne could have been saying that even with America exposed (…your pants are round your ankles), and her imperfections revealed to the rest of the world , she would still be his ‘super-model.’

Again, Byrne’s intimate knowledge of America is implied in this metaphor, extended from the super-model imagery above.

At this point, you have to wonder who the ‘I’ is here? Is Byrne providing the voice of the everyman/woman? Could someone tweet him to find out please? Thanks.

ACCEPTED COMMENT: He uses superficial imagery (the platform shoes) and that could have been a reference to America’s faults. She is portrayed on a platform above most countries but she also has her flaws; Byrne knows America without all the superficiality.