From time to time I will post papers that I have written during my academic career along with the grade, if I remember what it is. This one was for English II, we had to analyze a poem or song. I chose "The Pillow" by UB40 and I remember that I did not get an A. In fact, i got far below an A. Something like a B-. I was upset.
Skank
An Analysis of “The Pillow” By UB40
“The
Pillow”, written by the band UB40 as a collective, is representative of the
band’s massive and exceptional talent that goes far beyond the reggae-fied
covers of popular tunes familiar to mainstream audiences. The song is a track
from their album Geffery Morgan, released in October of 1984. The only song to
see any measure of success from that album’s release was “If it Happens Again”
which made it to number 9 in the music charts, unlike “The Pillow” which never
got any significant air time.
“The
Pillow” is one in a long line of extremely competent, complex and original
songs in the band’s discography. From the first few lines, the listener is
completely aware of what the song is about. “A smile for every passing car /
And when it stops door ajar / She shrugs and whispers que sera”. The song is a
series of scenes from the life of a prostitute who can only find solace in “the
beauty of an empty bed”.
UB40
came together in the late 1970’s in working class Birmingham, England. “The
Pillow” was most likely inspired by the working women of the red light area
called Balsall Heath which was in full swing when UB40 hit the music
scene. Most of their early work is
reflective of their backgrounds as aimless young men who found that they had a tremendous
talent for music and, when they got themselves together, went on to become one
of the most successful reggae bands in the world.
The
rhythm of “The Pillow” obviously corresponds to a beat traditionally associated
with reggae. It has a slower tempo with the emphasis on the downbeat using a
combination of guitar, heavy bass, piano and the drums, which provide a
syncopated beat common to the genre. In addition, there is the use of a tenor saxophone
that provides a plaintive moan which suggests a seriousness in the overall tone
of the song, while the singer, Ali Campbell, often manages to give the lyrics a
whimsical, childlike feel. The effect is rather sad and creepy.
The pattern of octave and
quatrain alternately repeats 3 times (O, Q, O, Q, O, Q) which gives the lyrics
a visual structure. When sung the words have an obvious rhythm, and when spoken
the rhythm remains. The syllabic breakdown per line in most of the stanzas
follow an 88898889 pattern in the octave and in the quatrain it follows a 7887
pattern. Where the pattern diverges in some of the lines is probably for the
sake of making a word fit inside of the music. The first three lines in each
octave form a rhyming group and the fifth, sixth and seventh lines form another
rhyming group. The fourth and eighth lines end with the same two words that
echo the title song: “the pillow”.
Consider the image of a pillow:
soft, fluffy. The object itself alludes to the comfort she takes when she is
faced with the harsh realities of her daily life on the streets. She is
constantly turning her head, her thoughts, her face to the pillow so those
realities are less real in the moments where she most needs the comfort a
pillow brings.
All of the images in “The
Pillow” are at once familiar and striking “her face is etched with memories /
she finds no joy amidst the sleaze / it’s hard when you’ve been paid to
please”. The image of a prostitute almost is always a woman beaten by life. The
only option left to her in order to survive is to sell the only thing she owns.
It is not an easy life where dreams can come true. She has been beaten up and
arrested and made fun of, but she just continues on the best way she knows how.
“She’s swapped her dreams of shining knights / for pushers, bars and money
fights”, she probably had dreams like any little girl would, but whatever
reason brought her to the life she was leading in this song, she had to leave those
dreams behind. She only lets herself think about them dreams when she is alone
in her empty bed.
This hard existence, more
often than not, leads to a life of drugs which is not always recreational. In
“The Pillow” “it made her feel like going on”, the drugs numbed her, they had
become necessary to get her through the night. Being addicted to the drugs that
kept her going was just an occupational hazard. This addiction, perhaps had
finally robbed her of what little looks she had left, which affected her
prospects each night which, in turn, affected her drug usage. “And now it hurts
when it’s all gone”, she probably felt a hopelessness that she could not
overcome.
The end of “The Pillow” brings
the listener to the most arresting scene in the song. “She takes a blade and
breaks her skin / sweet life force flows from within / the white clouds in her
head grow dim / and she turns her head to the pillow”. The image of a “pale
beauty in a crimson bed” suggests, finally, that the singer was perhaps
familiar with this woman, or women like her, and was familiar with the scene.
There is no doubt that “The Pillow” is one of the heaviest songs to showcase
the human theatre.
